The world as we know it would never have existed if humans did not invent the physical manifestation of spoken language, i.e., writing.
History would lack context. An idea from one mind could not illuminate the generations to come had it not been etched on a piece of paper and passed on over centuries.
Words have been the thread connecting humanity through the crossroads and forks of cultures, experiences, distances, and time.
Written words are the most potent instrument of communication; and an unparalleled medium for preserving human experiences.
The power of written communication in the digital age has only intensified, evolving beyond preservation to create human experiences. The evidence dwells in the budding focus on UX writing.
What is UX writing?
UX writing is the art of creating experiences on a digital interface through written words. The main goal of these words is to inform the users and guide them to action. However, the utility of these words goes much beyond functional.
A well-crafted UX copy has the power to lay the foundation for a lasting relationship with your customers. In addition to providing a unique experience, it increases retention and conversions for your business.
Undoubtedly, to fulfill functional and experiential purposes, the copy needs to be in tune with users’ needs, expectations, assumptions, and environment. Simply put, the words written on your interfaces should be user-friendly.
Words are the model, words are the tools, words are the boards, words are the nails.
Richard Rhodes
Let’s find out the traits that make the copy on digital interfaces user-friendly, and bring about an excellent user experience.
Want to learn UX writing? Here’s a blog post on how you can get started with UX writing.
1. Connects the dots
To have a good experience on an app or a website, users need relevant information and instructions. The information helps them make decisions, and instructions help them find their way to those decisions and take the desired action.
Connecting all the dots helps users develop confidence in your business and alleviates their concerns. What your site is about, how it works, what choices users have, what is the give and take, and so on can help you connect the dots.
If you’re unable to log into SurveyMonkey and attempt to reset your password, you get all the necessary information to help you with the next steps.
2. Says the right thing at the right time
Context is of utmost importance in the digital world. You have limited time to grab attention and rarely a chance to explain.
Asking a new user who has barely spent a minute on your app to rate their experience doesn’t sound too logical, right?
Out-of-context information or instruction can leave users confused and frustrated. It can increase their likelihood of abandoning your site altogether.
Thus, saying the right thing at the right time to the right person is extremely important for a pleasant user experience.
Medium, on its membership page, strikes the right chords as to why a user would consider becoming a Medium member.
3. Keeps it short and sweet
It is essential to say the right thing at the right time. Still, it is equally important to avoid saying what is unnecessary.
A copy intended to enhance users’ experience aims to prevent cognitive load by making it easy to consume. Hence, it gives the right amount of information through short sentences, simple words, and images (wherever possible) to convey the necessary.
Contently’s crisp and compelling copy asking to subscribe to their newsletter is an apt example.
4. Stays true to its words
Sincerity is the most valued virtue of communication. It is the key to opening the doors of trust.
Setting wrong expectations, concealing information, leaving your users guessing, or keeping them in the dark about the implication of their actions on your site is a sure-shot way to lose them and bring a bad name to your business.
A good user experience is the embodiment of the words on your site matching your business’s actions.
Unbounce, a landing builder, cares about its users’ privacy. The copy used in its chatbot is a great example of how Unbounce stays true to its words.
5. Speaks the language of the users
It is crucial to ensure that your users correctly understand the words used on the interface to fulfill the very purpose of the UX copy.
Language barriers, semantic issues, and jargon are some of the biggest obstacles to efficient digital communication.
“Who is your target audience?” – Finding an answer to this question is the first step to overcoming these barriers.
A UX copy created with a deep understanding of your users’ inner and outer environment paves the way to a great user experience.
Slack’s login page copy is a perfect example of speaking the language of your users.
6. Includes everyone
A compelling UX copy is tailored to the target audience, yet it considers everyone.
The digital world allows for a vast diversity within common interests. Your users can be from all corners of the globe. They are bound to have different genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and abilities.
All these factors must be accounted for to create a sensitive copy, free of judgment or discrimination. For instance, using gender-neutral “they” instead of “he” or “she” is more inclusive.
Similarly, adding alt-text at appropriate places can help visually-impaired users through your site better.
Fabulous, a self-improvement app, embraces this trait well in its user onboarding copy.
7. Stays consistent
Researches on neurocognition suggest that consistent patterns help our brains process information quickly without utilizing much energy.
On the other hand, inconsistency throws the brain off into making much more effort to make sense of the perceived information. The former is desirable for a digital interface to reduce your user’s efforts and make them stick to your site longer.
So, keeping track of consistency while crafting copy is vital to providing a great user experience. These include terminology, the casing of letters, tone, the voice of the brand, visual patterns, sentence structures, etc.
Take for example how Google talks about its products.
8. Talks like a human
Perhaps the only reason robots haven’t been able to take over the world is because they cannot express and comprehend emotions as humans do.
We use conversation as a tool to satisfy our innate need to build social connections. It lets us know that we are being heard and understood. Conversations with other humans help us navigate our way through problems.
As we turn to digital products to solve our problems, it’s only rational to expect to feel understood by the apps or websites. Humanizing the copy by making it conversational and engaging can improve the users’ experience multifold.
Check out how HubSpot sounds.
In essence…
An excellent user experience is all about being human.
The creation of user-friendly copy is rooted in a holistic perspective and an empathetic attitude.
An excellent UX copy finds a sweet spot between human needs, behavior, socio-cultural constructs, the physical environment, and the digital world.
Let me know your views in the comments.
Interesting readings that inspired this blog post:
