Daily Ux Writing Challenge Day 14 — Navigating App Downtime with Empathy

In today’s daily UX writing challenge, we encountered a scenario where a user engaged in shopping using a price comparison app faced an unexpected issue with real-time pricing. The challenge was to craft a message that informs the user about the app’s downtime without specifying the cause, ensuring they understand the situation while encouraging them to continue using the app.

This sounds straightforward, yeah? Let’s see!

Photo by Arturo Rey on Unsplash

Day 14

Scenario: a user is shopping using a price comparison app that boasts “real-time” pricing on items. As they are checking the price of an item, something goes wrong. The problem is unknown.

Challenge: write a message that informs the user that they cannot access the app right now. You cannot specify “why” the app doesn’t work, you also want them to continue using the app.

Headline: 30 characters max
Body: 120 characters max
Button(s): 15 characters max

I really like this challenge as it lets me dig deep and be creative. For my user, I pictured a young woman of 20–25 exploring a fashion price comparison website and getting excited about the deals she’s saving, then she realizes she can’t compare prices again and is stuck.

I can imagine she is:

1. Upset
2. Confused
3. Doesn’t know what to do next and is wondering if this is permanent.

For my challenge, I’m going to take all that into account.

The Problem:

Informing users about the temporary unavailability of a core app feature without causing unnecessary concern or frustration.

Possible Solutions:

1. Informative Communication: Clearly communicate the issue without detailing the cause. There’s no need to try to deny what the user can clearly see, the platform is down — say it!

2. Provide an Alternative: Suggest a temporary solution, such as favoriting items, to keep users engaged and to let them know they can keep exploring and come back to finish up what they were doing.

Here’s my copy highlighting that:

Thought Process:

While interpreting the challenge, the specific reason for the app downtime wasn’t disclosed. The primary goal was to convey transparency, reassure users that the issue was being addressed, and offer a temporary solution to keep them engaged. The chosen approach draws inspiration from Kevin Bui’s methodology, aiming to balance transparency while maintaining the app’s reputation. The wording emphasizes the ongoing effort to resolve the problem and encourages users to explore other functionalities of the app, like the “Favourite” feature.

Possible Solutions:

1. Informative Communication: Clearly communicate the issue without detailing the cause.

2. Provide an Alternative: Suggest a temporary solution, such as favoriting items, to keep users engaged.

Voice & Tone:

Voice (Helpful & Informative):

Similar to a guiding figure, the messaging aims to assist users through a temporary hiccup. Remember this platform is one to help users in the first place, so it’s important that the voice all through is helpful and comes off as a guardian.

Tone (Concerned):

Acknowledging the inconvenience, the tone expresses empathy, reassuring users that the issue is being addressed.

Conclusion:

The resulting message effectively communicates the temporary unavailability of real-time pricing, assures users that efforts are underway to resolve the issue, and encourages them to continue exploring other features of the app. This approach maintains transparency, upholds the app’s reputation, and ensures users feel supported during this temporary disruption.

And as a woman in her early 20s who enjoys window shopping virtually, I know I’d be pleased if I were the user.

So, what do you think? I’m happy and quite open to suggestions and feedback. Btw, on LinkedIn, I share my challenge in a fun and visual way. I also share trivia and jokes at the end of each challenge, if you want to check that out, connect with me — I’m sort of cool, I promise ;)