15-Day UX Writing Challenge — Day 3
Remember that time you had difficulty logging into your account on a mobile app or website because your email address seem to be incorrect? You may also recall seeing a brief message on your screen that reads something like “incorrect email or password.”
We have all been there and most times, we found ourselves in that situation because we typed in our login details absentmindedly or in a haste. Encountering this kind of error message can be frustrating, especially when urgently need to access our account.
It even gets worse when it’s a platform that doesn’t offer much help on how to navigate that situation.
Today’s challenge requires me to intervene in such a situation and provide a microcopy that would help a user solve that problem.
Let’s get started…
Scenario
The user entered the wrong email address to sign in to their account.
Challenge
Tell the user to enter the right email.
Constraint
40 characters max.
To write my microcopy, I would take a cue from Kinneret Yifrah in her book titled “Microcopy The Complete Guide.”
According to the writer,
The perfect error message in 2 steps
1. Describe the problem and what went wrong as precisely as you can.
2. Provide a constructive suggestion on how to solve the problem and carry on forward. If the problem can’t be solved at that moment, tell the user what can be done to help them, and who they can turn to.
User persona
Voice and tone
Straightforward: Chiamaka needs a direct explanation of why she can’t log into her bank app.
Helpful: She needs a useful message that will help her navigate the current situation.
Human: To err is human. Chiamaka shouldn’t be blamed for the error, but assisted. A human and natural voice should make her feel better, not worse.
Simple: Anxiety and frustration can make us feel pressured and disoriented. A simple and clear solution should be provided. Not necessarily a good time for jokes.
Draft copies and testing
I would experiment with 5 microcopies among 10 selected people. Look at them below;
Draft 1
While many concluded that this was too wordy, one person chose this because they considered it “more helpful.” The participant agreed that the exclamation mark made it frightening, but it was useless and specific. A participant particularly said the use of ‘sorry’ made their heart sink upon reading it as the first word of the sentence.
Draft 2
Only one participant went with this because “it’s direct, one sentence and concise.”
Draft 3
Five participants chose this because it lessened the blow for them, gave them a choice, made them feel in charge of their life, it’s a short sentence, conversational, lacked the frightening exclamation mark, more personal and friendlier. There was however the concern of it being “too casual and not as helpful compared to others. It’s fitting for a Gen Z app.”
Draft 4
One participant chose this and this was their reason: “It makes me want to check again if the email is correct. And where I have multiple emails, this makes me want to try them.”
Draft 5
Two participants chose this. In the words of one of them, “it forces me to have a re-look at what might be incorrect. Also, using the word ‘please’ appealed to me.”
Analysis and result
During the testing phase, I received 10 responses and 5 out of them chose the 3rd copy.
“Hmmm… your email address doesn’t seem right. Want to try again?”
Final solution
While most of the participants chose the 3rd copy, I made a little adjustment by changing “that” in the copy to “your email address” in order to rid it of any confusion or ambiguity.
Below is the final result:
While I had my bias towards the 1st copy, as a UX writer, my job is only to guide the users, and testing the copies made me realize that the opinions of prospective users matter.
What are your thoughts about my ideation process and the final result? Let me know what you think.
Kindly check out my previous UX writing challenge entries.
See you!
