UX Writing for AR — The Cat Version

As Dropbox UX writer John Saito puts it,

“The goal of UX writing is to not have your words be noticed, so it becomes a seamless experience.”

🤓Defining the two keywords:

UX writing is being increasingly recognized these days and UX Writer has become a specialized job title. Their real aim is to increase conversation, alleviate the worries of the users, guide the users, raise user confidence, appreciate them, and so on. UX writing might seem a mundane job but it requires the knowledge of design principles, user needs, and technical skills too. UX writing basically bridges the gap between the visuals and usability with the use of perfect set of words, images, methods and other digital components in order to come up with a narrative.

Augmented Reality displays superimpose sound, video, graphics, and other sensor-based inputs on real-world objects in order to form an interaction so that virtual elements become a part of the real world. UX comes into play when we actually realize that the user’s devices are an enhanced window to the real world or imagining “what’s not there” and lets us immerse in the whole new atmosphere while being in our comfort bubble.

Pokemon Go

💡 Quick Shot:

UX Writers are not the same as UX copywriters. UX Writing is product-oriented, which helps users to traverse through the interface whereas UX copywriting is sales-oriented and focuses on attracting new customers.

Nowadays, we see a lot of companies getting into this space and are becoming really competitive. This hints that there is a lot of potential to create real consumer products that bring contextual computing to a heads-up display and not be bound just to AR filters. This serves as a reason for the content designers to talk about AR.

💡 Quick Shot:

Contextual Computing is collecting data and information from the world around us and being able to take actions on the basis of those data.

“I do think that a significant portion of the population of developed countries, and eventually all countries, will have AR experiences every day, almost like eating three meals a day. It will become that much a part of you.” — Tim Cook

AR is also a technology that has immensely improved the experiences of people with disabilities. The best example could be a speech-to-text conversion for a person who is deaf.

📝 Writing For AR

While working with a comparatively newer technology and environment, users and designers both ought to face challenges. Some of the experiences while writing for AR could be:

• content challenges
• defining the environment
• ministering to the screen real estate
• understanding gestures and interactions
• the challenge of educating the users, informing them about their safety, and solving the privacy concerns

I noticed that users and AR interfaces tend to have a cat to cat communication. Yes, not clown but cat to cat. So, let’s dive into the principles!

😼Writing Principles

1. One of the biggest goals of AR and VR is to make the user feel completely immersed in the experience and as a UX Writer, one must make sure that the user’s presence is not broken with the content. This can be achieved by:

• timing the messages or notifications correctly
• knowing or considering how much content is displayed across the entire experience
• lengthy pieces of text and scrolling should also be avoided to the maximum extent

We as users hate the little things that keep annoying or irritating us, and guess what? So do cats! All the pop-ups and messages must be very strategically timed and at no cost must become a hindrance to the user’s experience with the AR.

2. AR when the UI is a layover on our surroundings. This signifies that the. field of view cannot be occluded.

• The “Less is more” principle is to be applied
• Place microcopy sparingly
• Placing the content tactically so that it does not disturb the focus of the user and ensures user safety.

All of us know that cats are very alert creatures. While writing and designing for AR, it is the duty of writers and designers to make the user feel alert. As the user is adventuring a whole new space, we can expect him to commit ample of mistakes during his first-time experiences, and thus one of the most important points to keep in mind while AR Designing is safety.

• Iconography starts having a big role

3. AR and VR must help the users interact with the experience using elements like voice, controller, haptics, and gestures and make them feel more involved and occupied.

• The users must be made familiar with the interactive elements in an accurate manner so that they do not tend to commit any sort of mistakes.
• Content must be used if they commit errors and small appreciation messages for completing the job.

Just like cats, the users hate getting discouraged. It is always considered a moment of joy for humans when one is praised.

• Content Designers must also consider the environmental errors and display the same.

4. User is the protagonist and every content must revolve around him.

• All the messages and text must be on-point as not all users have the patience and time to go through a lengthy procedure.
• Content Designers must be very mindful of the user personas.
• Personify the product or give it a voice that is appropriate to guide the users. Jargons could be avoided.

A groomed cat

Cat reference: The users love to have a well-groomed interface just like how cats are obsessed with grooming. Content when written well, it becomes unnoticeable and smooth for the users to follow, in order to achieve the best flow.

🤯Conclusion

While developing a huge product, there are so many things going around in the minds of the team members, that often UX Writing is an afterthought. But it makes or breaks a good product and that’s where a lot of companies in today’s date are realizing its power. Companies like Spotify and Airbnb are soaring heights with UX Writing and Content Designing. It is the lubrication between the user and the machine.