What is UX writing?
An inside look at the words that help you find, click, and buy.
UX writing is everywhere. It’s in your search results. It’s in your app notifications. It logs you into your accounts, gives you map directions, and takes you from homepage to checkout wherever you shop online. Unless you’re currently reading this article on a piece of paper in the wilderness, you’ve been reading UX writing all day!
Many people outside of product design teams don’t know how UX writing works. The words that help you find, click, and buy are easy to miss — especially if they’re written well. Behind those intuitive words are hours of intentional research, strategy, and refinements to get them just right. Read on for an inside look at how UX writing comes to life!
🤔 What is UX writing?
User experience (UX) writers create the words within digital products. Also called content strategy or content design, UX writing is a design discipline that views the user experience as a conversation, empathizing with the user and communicating the information they need in each moment. UX writers ensure that the conversation is clear, cohesive, and conversational at every step. (Check out this 1-minute explainer video)
🤩 What does good UX writing look like?
Good UX writing equals good information strategy. It all starts with knowing what the user wants to do in that specific moment. It takes into account user data, competitive research, and business goals to create a streamlined information architecture. It prioritizes the right message at the right time, communicating in the clearest way possible.
Some of the best UX writing is invisible, so tuned to what the user wants that you don’t even notice it’s there. With strong UX writing, users can find what they want faster. For businesses, that means improved site metrics, better brand perception, and more returning customers.
🤯 What does bad UX writing look like?
Bad UX writing wastes time. It’s business-centered instead of user-centered, vague instead of direct, and cluttered instead of organized. Without intentional UX writing, users are more likely to get confused. They might even feel insulted that you wasted their valuable time when you had the chance to help them. If they can’t understand what you’re saying, they’ll just leave!
✅ UX writing checklist
UX writing seeks to improve every touchpoint of the user journey, from landing pages to transactional emails. This short list gives you an idea of what UX writers look for to evaluate copy:
Clear
- Is it as short as possible?
- Would someone just learning English understand it?
- Is the user benefit immediately clear?
Cohesive
- Are terms consistent (ex: favorites)?
- Is sentence case consistent?
- Is punctuation consistent?
Conversational
- Would a member of our audience say it?
- Is this the right level of info for this moment?
- Is this the right tone for this moment?
🤝 UX writing vs. marketing copywriting
UX writing and marketing copywriting sometimes get mixed up. Although these disciplines share many common goals, they differ in a few key ways:
⭐ UX writing at Vestiaire Collective
Our UX writing team currently consists of me, Lauren Lamperski, a senior UX writer on the product design team. I work closely with product designers and product managers to strategize, write, and refine copy.
Designing without UX writing in mind is like building a house without blueprints. If we define the messaging first, it makes everything easier, especially for writing-heavy projects like landing pages. Depending on the project, UX writing deliverables include:
1. Research: Competitive research, user insights, stakeholder survey, etc.
2. Messaging strategy: Content wireframes, information outline, or copy components.
3. Copy: Words for all use cases (+ refinements).
These deliverables are a collaborative effort, often involving other teams’ expertise. For example, the brand team gets involved for important brand touchpoints like the app onboarding flow, while the legal team gives input on tricky legal territory like the cookie banner.
✏️ UX writing is for everyone
Even if you aren’t directly involved in on-site words, UX writing principles can improve your work! Whether you’re writing a quick email or long documentation, you can make it clear, cohesive, and conversational to give your audience an even better experience.
