UX Case Study: How a UX Writer Can Help Resolve Issues in 15 Minutes
I’m pleased to see Indian companies recognizing the value of having a UX writer on their teams. When it comes to creating an effective user interface for your customers, collaboration within the team can produce remarkable results.
Recently, when attempting to upload the latest version of our app on Google Store, we faced an objection from Google. Despite having a consent pop-up on our app, the Google team wasn’t convinced that our app users were adequately informed about how we use their phone contact data.
My task was to address this issue by adjusting the text of our consent pop-up. After all, making changes in the backend or redesigning the UI requires much more effort than refining the wording.
To provide some context, we run an IPL (Indian Premier League) Cricket contest called “Predict & Win,” where users can vote on which team will win the day’s game. As part of this, users can invite and challenge their friends. To facilitate this, we ask users to grant us access to their contact list, allowing us to find Dineout users and send them challenges. We use this data solely for identifying Dineout app users. It was crucial to clearly communicate this purpose and usage to users in the pop-up message while seeking their consent.
Old Copy vs New Copy
While I personally feel the pop-up is text-heavy, we included all the necessary information that Google required in a single pop-up. We also added a link to our Privacy Policy page in case users wanted to learn more.
Heading
The original heading, “See your Contacts,” was confusing. It wasn’t clear if we were asking to see the contact or instructing users to see their contacts. The heading didn’t explicitly state that we were requesting “Access.”
I changed it to “Need Contact Access,” which is more likely to be understood as “Dineout needs to access your contacts.”
Body
The existing body was a statement; there was no question asking users if they agreed to give their consent.
I began the sentence with “To help you,” drawing attention to the fact that we need this information to help the user. I concluded the sentence by explicitly stating that we needed contact access. The second sentence clarified how this data would be used, building trust. The third sentence provides our Privacy Policy link, making it readily available and conveying transparency. The fourth sentence posed the consent question without ambiguity.
CTA
The previous CTA was a simple “Yes” and “Maybe Later.” However, this was a consent pop-up, so it was important to use words like “Allow,” “Yes, I agree,” etc.
Since the original body was a statement and lacked a question, I introduced a question: “Do you agree to give Dineout access to your phone contacts?” The CTA options were either to keep it as “Yes” and “No” or change it to “Yes, I agree” and “No, maybe later.” I opted for the latter for clarity and transparency.
In a limited time frame, our goal was to make quick fixes to receive approval from Google and update the version, which we achieved. Our users receive the right and necessary information before giving their consent. Transparent communication about data builds stronger trust with customers.
