Offer informative feedback when writing
Ok, I just wrote my article's brief in the title. But it doesn't mean I don't have more to say. Give me a chance and let's dive into it.
People using our product should know where they are and what is going on at all times.
Imagine you are using a grocery store application, you are selecting a specific soap brand to buy, and when you are adding it to your cart a message appears:
O-kay… I'll try again, but:
- What happened? Are they out of stock?
- What should I do? Buy another brand? Add more than one unit? Should I reset my cart?
- Why this happened? Is my cellphone, or computer, with any problem?
- Where should I go to try again?
- How can I solve this problem?
It's crazy, right? And we need to avoid anxieties, the world is already too difficult for some folks.
For every action, there should be appropriate and human-readable feedback within a reasonable amount of time.
Again, imagine you are using an interface and this error message appears:
I don't know by heart what code 404 means. If you know you probably work with it or someone told you this, but the majority of your audience doesn't know what to do and what is code number 404.
The only thing they are saying is: Page not found
So, should I try to find it? Should I reload the page? Did I type it wrong?
This article is not THE ARTICLE about error messages, and yet 'Oh, another article about error messages'. It's a simple and modest example of trying to avoid bad, bad bad copy.
And this is how I work, what I like to do and a bit about my process. And how I like to think and use as a process while writing copy is this:
How I would write an error message, using the Grocery app as an example:
Keeping in mind: Being clear and concise. You must know that UX writing should be easy to read, understand, and act on.
Be confident. There's no secret here, you have a big chance to write a good copy following these tips.
