Introduction To User Experience (UX) Copy

Effects of micro-copy optimization were discovered a long time ago as part of website optimization best practices. In fact, you never realize the importance of good UXC until you see bad UX copy in action. Good UX copy is supposed to be natural. That is why bad UX copy feels so unnatural.

In UX copywriting, text becomes a part of design and user-experience. That is why collaborating with design is a mandatory partnership when trying to create good UX copy. At the same time, it is also important to understand that UX copywriting comes into play where design alone cannot drive action or deliver a message.

Defining UX Copywriting

UX Copywriting is the science of writing to give users a better experience through text that provides information and direction with clarity, while fitting in with the overall design.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes you don’t need a thousand words. Sometimes you just need the one right word to make it right. Sometimes one word says it all.

Common Examples Of UX Copy

A lot of times, we create UX copy without even realizing it. That is why some of the most common examples of UX copy include:

Navigation menus
eCommerce filters
In-app/push mobile notifications
404 and other error messages
Form submission instructions
Successful & unsuccessful form submission messages
Captions/headings under service images & product category labels
CTAs (Button text)
User onboarding tips, hover descriptions & tool-tips
Product generated emails

UX Copywriting Crash Course

Here’s what we’ll cover going forward. While each of these is a separate subject area of UX copywriting and merits individual study, we’ll cover the essential must-know basics, to establish a solid understanding of each.

The purpose and place of UX Copy
The foundations of good UX Copy
Writing UX Copy for User Flows & Stories
The role of Microcopy in UX Copy
Importance of teamwork in UX copy
Understanding Different Scanning Patterns
Improving Your UX Copy Overtime

The Purpose & Place Of UX Copy

UX copy is directly used in user interfaces to guide users within a product and help them interact with it. The major aim of UX writing is to settle communication between users and a digital product.

It can be anything from one word or a short sentence.

The Foundations Of Good UX Copy

Unless the situation specifically asks for it, basic is usually best when it comes to UX copy.

Keep it intuitive enough for anybody to be able to understand it. As a rule of thumb, make sure that a 5-year old can understand it.
Keep your copy design-conformable. This means making sure that it can fit in the allocated space without giving a congested look. Ensuring cleanliness and clarity is a major component of UX copywriting.
Make it meaningful. There is absolutely no room for fluff when it comes to UX copy. Your copy has to either provide information or direction.
Everybody loves to be entertained so use wit or humor as and when there is room for it. Boring UX copy can kill the entire user experience.
Leveraging images and visual cues can help improve the clarity of the communicated message. Your copy is part of a larger eco-system and will never exist in isolation. Make sure that it is respecting the design elements around it and working with it.
Consistently sustain the brand-tone when creating UX copy. Make sure to identify and confirm the persona of the brand you are writing for before you get started. For example, UX copy for a gaming app will be very different from the UX copy for an insurance app.

Writing UX Copy for User Flows & Stories

UX copywriting is all about the ‘experience’. It always has been and always will be. As a copywriter, everything you are writing is to create, facilitate or improve the final user experience. This means that that in addition to ensuring usability (as highlighted above), the copy also has to consider the UX flow and story that is in play.

To do so, ask yourself the following questions.

Why are your users here in the first place?
Where are they coming from and what information do they have at this point?
Where do you want them to go and what information will they need to get there?
How do you want them to proceed and what options should they be given?

The Role Of Microcopy In UX Copy

It is important to remember that Microcopy is not marketing copy! Your copy is not attempting to sell. It is going beyond the traditional marketing copy objectives of generating awareness, interest and desire. Your copy is directing action and providing instructions.

You are not the department store salesperson setting up a window display to showcase the latest products. You are the traffic cop standing in the middle of the road making sure everybody gets where they want to go – smoothly.

Marketing copy is usually written to make an impression. Microcopy, in the UX copywriting universe, does not care about making an impression.

While the classic recommendations of using active voice and present tense apply in UX copy, you must also assume that nobody cares about what you have to say. The user is short on time and will abandon the product if not given proper instructions. Your microcopy therefore has to be fast-acting and concise without making any demands from the user. Do not expect your user to make any additional effort than the bare minimum. Your copy is the concierge and the customer is always right.

Importance Of Teamwork In UX Copy

Discourage Lorem Ipsum. Copy first!

A designers first priority is often for the creation to look good. When drafting a website, form, software, online tool or an app, they may not know how much content goes where. They may add in Lorem Ipsum paragraphs under headings where they assume the copywriter will be able to add content. But websites built with Lorem Ipsum look very different after the content is filled in.

Help designers develop with the Visual Hierarchy

Copywriters should always endeavor to work closely with designers. This may not always be easy since every copywriter and designer has their own way of working.

One way of streamlining this by taking initiative and sending the web designer a list of primary and secondary content subjects (or headings that you would like them to put in the website). This will immediately allow them to create the right theme and add the right visuals – that will then work much better with the content that is to follow.

Teaming Up For Better UX Flow

As discussed earlier, writing good UX copy works best when developed to facilitate the user journey. This cannot be done effectively without proper coordination with the rest of the design team. Talk to the designers and developers to get an understanding of the user flow and stories. Most of the information you will walk away with will be completely ordinary to your team members, but will have a massively positive impact on your ability to create excellent UX copy for the project.

Understanding Different Scanning Patterns

The F-Pattern

Common with content heavy interfaces such as blogs, news articles, etc. Users read the first heading and a line or two, then jump down to the next heading and read a part of the line under that. Then continue moving down, reading less with every heading, until either the content or their interest in the content runs out.

The Z-Pattern

Common on pages where there is not of room for scrolling. Users read the first line, then skim quickly through the content to make their way to the last line. This can become a 7-pattern if they lose interest during the quick skim. It is also often argued that the Z-pattern is more of an inverted-S, like so: Ƨ. Suggesting that the audience may follow a curved path instead of a straight line.

Improving Your UX Copy Overtime

A one-time fire-and-forget approach to UX copy can have disastrous consequences. As a rule of thumb, the UX copy needs to be reviewed for updates every time a design update is made. In fact, going back to the origins of UX copy, we can see that an optimization exercise (for any online tech) cannot possibly be completed without updating the attached/associated text. Here are a few efficient ways to improve the UX copy overtime:

Use A/B testing when unsure and let the data make the decision
Focus-group testing (ask your mum, cousin, cat, etc.)
Keep an eye on the data (Heatmaps, analytics, etc.)
Continuously collect and address user feedback

Good Luck!

You are now geared up with the essentials to embark on your UX copywriting project. We’ll keep updating this guide overtime and would love to get your feedback on any areas you would like us to address. Subscribe to our mailing list to get updates on our latest guides, voice off in the comments section to tell us what you think, or get in touch with us if you need help with your UX copy!

Everybody is welcome in the Content Writing Dojo.

Sources:

UX Writing Crash Course