15 days of UX Writing challenges
It was the Spring of 2019 and I was just starting to research about UX Writing, sending DMs to professionals that I found on LinkedIn and googling about it like crazy, trying to figure out wether this role could be for me. Then I came accross Ryan Farrell ’s 15 daily UX Writing challenges. It was as easy as signing up with your email, and you would be all set to receive a daily UX Writing exercise to your inbox for a couple of weeks. I was very excited to start writing messages for different situations and digital products. Ever since I started the challenge, I’ve been coming back to iterate and rewrite it as I gain perspective and experience. The work just never ends!
This 15-days challenge helps you cover a myriad of scenarios and products: error messages, alerts, notifications, medadata… And even a fire alert.
I’m a native Spanish speaker and did the challenges twice, so I could practice my English skills as well. If you are interested, you can see the results of the challenge in Spanish here.
I designed the UI with Sketch and based the layouts mostly after existing apps and also from my project Mentor.
If you are just taking your first steps in this discipline, or you just want to train and refresh your craft, I strongly recommend you to signing up to the challenge.
Disclaimer: I’m not a native English speaker. I’m just someone who happens to have a very solid romance with the language of Shakespeare and The Beatles. If you find any typo mistake, feel free to drop me a comment. Thank you!
Day 1: Cancelled Flight
🤔 A traveler is in an airport waiting for the last leg of a flight home when their flight gets abruptly canceled due to bad weather.
🧗🏻♀️ Write a message from the airline app notifying them of the cancellation and what they need to do next.
- Headline: 45 characters max.
- Body: 100 characters max.
- Button(s): 25 characters max.
- Layout: Skyscanner
- Process: to research what happens when a flight is cancelled due to bad weather, and what the consumer can do. I add a calming message to make it easier to digest.
- Difficulties: the constrain of 100 characters. I would have prefered to enphasize how sorry we are, because nobody likes to experiencie a flight cancellation.
Day 2: The Sports App
🤔 A user is a working parent, and a big sports fan, in the midst of their favorite sports season who can no longer attend games.
🧗🏻♀️ Write a promotional screen for an app that lets a user choose teams, sends game reminders, real-time score updates and highlight videos.
- Headline: 40 characters max.
- Body: 175 characters max.
- Button(s): 25 characters max.
- Layout: Facebook ad about the app Scores.com
- Process: to condense the main advantages of this app in 175 carachters.
- Difficulties: to play around with football and sports jargon.
Day 3: Wrong Email Adress
🤔 The user entered the wrong email address to sign in to their account.
🧗🏻♀️ Tell the user to enter the right email.
Body: 40 characters max.
- Layout: my app project Mentor
- Process: to write a clear, concise and useful error message. This kind of error is pretty common, it can happen to anyone of us, so I just remind the user to check if the email address is correct.
- Difficulties: some questions come to my mind as I go through the challenge: is this error happening just when they tap on the “Take me in” button? It could be interesting to keep an alert message while the email is typed, to prevent this error from happening, sort of “make sure your email is right”. I’ve seen some interfaces that they even mention to include an @ and .com/whatever extension, and this prevention message could be adapted after the data that has been collected about the users failing to enter their login information.
Day 4: Supermarket’s New Service
🤔 A user is in their favorite supermarket. They open the supermarket’s app on their phone to see what’s on sale and are greeted by a promotion.
🧗🏻♀️ Write a promotional home screen for a subscription service that delivers groceries to the user once-a-month for a flat fee.
- Headline: 45 characters max.
- Body: 175 characters max.
- Button(s): 25 characters max.
- Layout: Mercadona Supermarket’s app
- Process: I’ve researched subscription web sites like Birchbox, especially to find out how they have written their CTAs. I’ve included the word “susbcription” both in the body and in the CTA, to ensure consistency. For the Header, I had to decide between “subscribe to your monthly grocery shop” and “New: would you like a monthly grocery shop?”. Finally the second option won because it’s emphasized that it’s a new service. As for the CTA, first it was just “Active susbcription” but I changed it to “See susbcription plans”, so I don’t force a susbcription and let them to see if this is for them. I understand this is a custom service that can include a range of fees, personalized after the data we have about past purchases.
- Difficulties: to avoid the temptation of using dark patterns, making the secondary button as “No, I prefer to spend more money every month”. We must not shame the user.
Day 5: Graphic Design App
🤔 The user works in graphic design. While critiquing a design in a mobile app, their phone abruptly turns off. When they restart the phone, they reopen the app.
🧗🏻♀️ Write a message that the user will read immediately upon opening the app. What do they need to know? What steps (if any) do they need to take to recover their content? What if they can’t recover the content?
- Headline: 40 characters max.
- Body: 140 characters max.
- Button(s): 20 characters max.
- Layout: Dribbble app
- Process: I made two versions, one when the content could be recovered and another where it wasn’t possible. If it can be recovered, I’m giving also the option of composing a new comment. If it cannot be recovered, I just give the option of writing a new comment, clarifying that the lost draft wasn’t posted at all, just in case they wonder.
- Difficulties: I struggled a bit in the Spanish verwion of this challenge with the CTA, as the character restriction wasn’t working on my favour and made me lose consistency.
Day 6: Fire Alert
🤔 It’s Monday. A user has just gotten into their car to drive to work. They plug their phone into the car and start driving.
🧗🏻♀️ How would you let the user know there’s a fire happening in a nearby town that is causing road closures? The effect on their commute is unknown, but there is a definite danger if the fire gets closer. How do you communicate this to them? When? Write it.ç
- Headline: 30 characters max.
- Body: 45 characters max.
- Layout: Google Maps app.
- Process: the user has a pre-saved route that follows every morning to go to work. I decide to offer an option to recalculate the route, just to check if there’s any possibility at all to go to work with the current fire situation, or they can’t go at all.
- Difficulties: Once again, the character constrain. I must go straight to the point. I would have preferred being able to include a safety message but the character limitation is extreme, just like this situation.
Day 7: Your Team Scores
🤔 A sports fan is at a wedding while their favourite team is playing against their arch-rivals. Their team scores.
🧗🏻♀️ How would you, quickly, let the sports fan know about the latest play, the current score, and the key players? Write it.
- Headline: 30 characters max.
- Body: 45 characters max.
- Layout: Apple devices
- Process: The info needs to be concise and straight to the point. I’ve decided to use a modal because this message is shown on the notification center. Also, I’ve decided to use emojis to give more info with less: the ball to indicate the game, and the clock to indicate the time when they scored. In my opinion, it gives much more context.
- Difficulties: Again, the character restriction. This would have to be expanded as the teams and players could have names with longer characters.
Day 8: The Music Concert
🤔 The user is a casual music fan and (on occasion) goes to live concerts. They have a music player app on their phone.
🧗🏻♀️ Tell the user that one of their favourite bands is playing live in their town. How would you compel them to want to go?
- Headline: 30 characters max.
- Body: 45 characters max.
- Button(s): 25 characters max.
- Layout: Bandcamp app
- Process: I’ve researched about music media like Pitchfork or Jenesaispop (a Spanish music magazine) to gain inspiration from their headlines. I’ve been editing a lot from the first version to make it fit the character restriction.
- Difficulties: The constrain makes it to be very concise, leave the essential information in the body, and make the CTA. bit more catchy, “I want my ticket” instead of “Buy ticket”. AS for the restriction, it could be possible that it would be surpassed depending on the names of artists, venues and cities.
Day 9: The Car Rental App
🤔 The user is trying to rent a car using an application but the credit card on file has expired.
🧗🏻♀️ Write them an error message so that they can correct the problem.
- Headline: 30 characters max.
- Body: 45 characters max.
- Layout: Ubeeqo app
- Process: When writing an error message, it’s important not to shame the user and express that the problem is with the payment card, they just have to check it again or to use a different card.
- Difficulties: The character restriction didn’t allow me to write the message in a more friendly tone, more in brand. If I had more space, I would have writen “Sorry, the payment couldn’t be completed”, and in the body I would also have suggested to contact their bank and/or try a different card.
Day 10: Buying A Car
🤔 The user is trying to view a website to help them buy a car. But, the content can’t load without the user’s location. They need to enter their ZIP code and first name.
🧗🏻♀️ Ask them where they live and who they are without sounding like you’re unnecessarily mining their data.
- Headline: 25 characters max.
- Body: 45 characters max.
- Button(s): 15 characters max.
- Layout: Clicars.com web site
- Process: To make it more friendly, I’ve written the messsage as much conversational as possible.
- Difficulties: I found character restriction more struggling when doing the challenge in Spanish than in English.
Day 11: Buying Contact Lenses Online
🤔 An elderly user is doing a Google search to find an easy way to buy contact lenses online.
🧗🏻♀️ Write a title and meta description for a website that sells subscription contact lenses delivered to a user every 30 days — convince them to try it.
- Title: 60 characters max.
- Meta Description: 160 characters max.
- Layout: Google.com
- Process: I’ve consulted resources about good practices in SEO. “It should do everything possible to drive someone to make that decision and click. Our focus has to be on persuading the searcher to click — while still maintaining accuracy”.
- Difficulties: To make an elder person confident enough to buy online.
Day 12: Creating An Account
🤔 A user is creating an account. When they come to the step where they are asked to enter their name, they get an error message. A fraud detection software thinks their name is fake — but it’s wrong 5% of the time.
🧗🏻♀️ Write an error message that prompts them to fix the error without shaming them for having a fake-sounding name.
- 45 characters max.
Layout: my design
Process: I’m choosing to emphasize not to use an alias, and going for their full name, but also trying not to suggest that they have an uncommon name. I started and edited from “Check that you have written your name correctly, without any alias. If the problem persist, contact us and we will help you complete the registration”.
Difficulties: I would like to give an option to fix it, but alas, the character constrain!
Day 13: Truck Delivery
🤔 A short-haul truck driver has a phone app that monitors his route, schedule, fuel & deliveries.
He has 6 more deliveries before stopping for fuel and lunch. Due to unexpected traffic, he’s behind schedule.
He can choose to stay on his planned route for a few more stops, but risk running low on fuel and missing lunch, or he can get fuel and lunch now and finish the deliveries later.
🧗🏻♀️ Write a push notification alerting him of this dilemma and options.
- Headline: 30 characters max.
- Body: 45 characters max.
- Button(s): 25 characters max.
Layout: Apple devices
Process: The user is driving, they won’t have a full attention so this message has to be straight to the point. I think about using emojis but discard it later, so I don’t add any noise to the message.
While I study the briefing, a question arises: does this worker clock in with this app, and then it notifies them when should they have lunch? Or is it notifying that they are running out of gas?
I decided to make it a message about the lunch time, because a pause to stop and rest is very important for drivers in terms of safety and rest.
Difficulties: It would have been great to have more space so I can remind them about the remaining deliveries.
Day 14: Comparing Prices
🤔 A user is shopping using a price comparison app that boasts “real-time” pricing on items. As they are checking the price of an item, something goes wrong. The problem is unknown.
🧗🏻♀️ Write a message that informs the user that they cannot access the app right now. You cannot specify “why” the app doesn’t work, you also want them to continue using the app.
- Headline: 30 characters max.
- Body: 120 characters max.
- Button(s): 15 characters max.
Process: This is a message for an unknown, unexpected error, probably coming from the server or data base, or from the connectivity. The app just has to reconnect to keep showing prices.
Difficulties: Because I had more characters than in the previous challenges, and also because this is not a severe error and, hopefully, won’t come up often, I decided to play around with the tone of voice and write a carefree error message. And have fun in the process.
Humour in microcopy can be used when 1. it makes sense with the brand’s voice 2. it shows up in a moment where this error causes a minor friction.
Using this little joke of “it’s not you, it’s us” I’m trying to communicate that this error has come on the app’s side.
Day 15: A Driver With A Hearing Condition
🤔 A user needs a ride to the airport. They use their favourite ride-sharing app to schedule the ride. The driver who accepts is hard of hearing.
🧗🏻♀️ Write a lockscreen notification that tells the user that their driver is hard of hearing. Include all relevant information (including links) in the notification.
- 110 characters max.
Layout: Apple devices
Process: I have been checking The Conscious Style Guide to learn more about accesibility and make sure that the message would be aligned with the best practices.
Difficulty: From all the challenges, I found this to be the most difficult one, as I struggled to find the right tone and words, so I can avoid any misunderstanding and also doesn’t result offensive, and complies with the character constrain. I think this one is going to be a work in progress, so if you have any suggestion, feel free to add a comment, I will be happy to read your opinions.
This Is a Warp!
What do you think about the processes behind each solution? If you do the 15 day challenge, tell me about it in your comments. I would love to hear about other proposals and points of view.
