Even the most impressive and unique mobile apps would be worth nothing without top quality UX writing. It is the one that helps to introduce users to the world of an electronic product, that is why it is so important to get acquainted with the most important rules that apply to the work of a UX writer.
About the pillars of good UX writing
Although the copywriting industry itself is considered relatively young and developing in Poland, it is already being trampled by another universe – UX writing, which is related to the creation of informational and instructional content for mobile products. Creators of UX content are a more and more recognizable professional group, and more and more large corporations hunt for good UX writers with professional skills and knowledge.
What is UX writing?
Design is about communication – clear and simple, yet interesting and consistent with the brand philosophy. No matter what product is designed, we should always remember to design content for it, which can be understood as a kind of conversation between the product and its user. More specifically, UX writing is the practice of designing the words that people see when they interact with software
UX writers create the words we read or hear while using a digital product. This broad term includes both microcopy, which is the creation of button labels, menu options, or error messages, and macrocopy, which is the creation of informational messages, invitations, or pop-up text on subpages. UX writing has 3 main goals:
motivates the user to interact with the digital product;
instructs the user in the process of interaction with the product;
it keeps the user informed about how the product works and what consequences his actions will have.
UX writing is therefore about designing the best possible and positive user experience when interacting with a digital product, so as to gain the user’s trust and make them want to return to it. It doesn’t really matter what the interface looks like if the text the user encounters is confusing, annoying, discriminating or misleads the potential customer. So what are the most important rules a UX writer should follow?
Writing to a persona – when creating UX content, it is very important to know who we are targeting with our messages. We should formulate sentences that are meant to reach young people differently, and those that are meant to reach middle-aged people differently. We should also take into account gender, aspirations of a given group, its motivations or goals. We must be sensitive and consider whether the descriptions we create will in any way offend or discriminate against others.
Writing in a direct and personal way – referring to the user as “you/your” and to the product as “we/our” ensures the clarity of the message and it is worth applying this distinction every time.
The “tone of voice” method – when addressing the user, it is worth keeping a positive, motivating attitude in order to arouse his/her curiosity and boldness in the interaction with the product. As in any situation, it is important to have a good sense of intuition; excessive optimism and praising the customer after the performance of a simple operation may bring the opposite effect.
Informing the user about the goals of the interaction – this is one of the rules that should be cultivated in order to provide the customer with the appropriate level of control. There is nothing worse than having to perform incomprehensible actions or having difficulty finding specific information and answers. For a user to trust us, they need to feel like they know what’s going on at every stage.
Avoid jargon and complicated syntax – a common pitfall stemming from a desire to share your expertise and knowledge of the subject matter. The same goes for convoluted sentence forms, such as multiple negations. When creating UX content, we must remember that it only serves the user and must be clear and tailored to their knowledge and skills.
Sometimes your content or business conversation needs to be translated into a foreign language. Or quite the opposite: you want to translate incomprehensible content into Polish. Who should you turn to?
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