YOU are the UX Writer (and what to do about it)
Early in college, I thought I wanted to be a photographer. I remember my photography professor telling us that we are responsible for everything in our photos. No matter how small it was or far in the background, if we let it into the shot, it needed to contribute positively to the overall picture.
So often the written content that accompanies our otherwise carefully crafted experiences is an afterthought — filler text left open for another team to write at the last minute.
As User Experience matures as a discipline, we will see a rise in specialist roles, like UX Writer. In the meantime — as someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes your customers’ needs & wants, YOU are the perfect person to fill this role — YOU are the UX Writer.
Now that we have that out of the way, here are some tips to get you started in your new role.
1. Make Friends with Microcopy
As a UX designer, the majority of the text you’ll be working with is considered microcopy — buttons, links, error or alert messages, instructions, etc. Though small, microcopy can have a profound impact on the success or failure of a product and will benefit from your user-focused perspective.
Buttons & Links: Provide Direction
Buttons and links should tell the customer where they are going. Be mindful of where your customer is in their journey and provide more specific call-to-actions when appropriate.
For example, if this is the first time the customer is hearing about this credit card feature, Learn More is appropriate.
But if the customer has shown more interest, for example by clicking into a landing page, something more direct like Set Up Chase Pay would work better.
Errors or Alerts: Be Specific & Positive
Whenever possible, spell out the issue and show the error in close proximity to where the customer is already looking. Instead of simply telling the customer something is wrong, try telling them what they can to do to fix it, as Meetup does here.
Bullet Points & Sentences: Ditch the Lorem Ipsum
When it comes to design, we are used to keeping things lo-fidelity at first. But the earlier you can get real content into your design, the better feedback you will be able to get.
Even if you’re planning to outsource a few lines of text — just take a stab at it first. This will help you think through the content strategy and know what specifically to ask a copywriter for if needed.
2. Understand & Evolve the Tone
In addition to giving instruction and addressing concerns, microcopy is an opportunity to help customers get to know your brand. Chances are, if your company has a marketing department, they have some guidelines around how to speak to customers. This may be a good jumping-off point, depending on the audience and purpose of your product.
“Using fancy words to bring people to a product is normal. Using the same words to keep them is not.” — Anastasiia Marushevska”
A solid voice and tone guide should help designers address customers appropriately throughout all stages of their journey. Pluralsight’s Voice & tone guidelines encourage designers to be confident, enthusiastic and clever when writing messaging, as well as gives tangible examples of how to apply these principles within the platform.
If your brand isn’t quite there yet, use what you’ve learned about your customers to evolve the tone for your product. Take note of the differences in mindset between a new customer and someone well-versed in your product. Between what your company has already developed and the research you’ve done, you can start to get a feel for how to speak to your customer, what level of formality is necessary, etc.
InVision’s email newsletter is targeted at digital-savvy designers. Instead of the standard Read Article or See More that is common for link text in this format, they use jokes and puns to show their personality and engage the reader from the start.
In contrast, Intuit’s Turbo Tax app attracts a wider audience. To accommodate this, they’ve implemented a simple questionnaire at the beginning of the tax process that delivers tailored messaging based on a customer’s feelings around filing taxes this year.
Both work well because they each have taken the time to understand their audience and adjust their tone accordingly. As with design, the more you understand your customers, the better your copy will be.
3. Write Like a Human
Somewhere along the way, we were taught a robotic, overly-professional way to write. Keep it simple — your product is not the place to show off your SAT words.
Even if your product is catered to a very specialized audience, take care with how and when you use industry specific terms. In some cases, like enterprise software, there may be a large difference in technical background between the employee buying the tool and the one who will use it. Asana does a good job of communicating their value with simple, friendly language that could be easily understood by a wide audience.
When in doubt, read your copy out loud. Ask yourself, “does this sound natural? Would a real human say this?” If it sounds weird to you, chances are it will sound weird to your customer. Still not sure? Get your copy in front of your customers. User testing, such as a comprehension test, can uncover what might be confusing or take the customer longer to process and help you distill your message down to the most important content.
Adding UX writing to your skillset will help you to take more ownership for your product and in-turn better fulfill your customers’ needs. Your product, like a photograph, should be well thought out. No matter how small — don’t leave the details up to chance.
