User Experience (UX) writing is more than just filling screens with text. It’s a strategic craft that combines user psychology, design thinking, and the art of clear communication to create intuitive and user-friendly interfaces. By writing high-quality UX copy, UX writers empower users to navigate digital products intuitively and efficiently, helping them achieve their goals with minimal friction or confusion. Well-written copy in websites, app interfaces, and other digital products fosters user engagement by simplifying product interactions.

When users spend less time deciphering instructions and more time exploring the product’s features, they are likelier to have more positive product experiences. These seamless user experiences pave the way for organic growth. When users find a product informative, easy to navigate, and valuable, they are likelier to recommend it to others, thus expanding your user base organically.

UX Writing Best Practices

Let us delve deep into the world of UX writing best practices, equipping you with practical guidelines on creating compelling and user-centric UX copy for your digital product. By the end, you will be equipped to write UX copy that not only informs or educates users, but also fosters engagement, drives brand growth, and positions your digital business for long-term success.

1. Start Early

“Let’s make the navigation, layouts, and information architecture final; after that we will ask the UX writers to write the UI copy.” This is a common misstep in product design processes- treating UI text as an afterthought. Deferring user experience writing and making it almost the last of the UX design process steps can result in UI elements not accommodating the actual content length. Text overlaying design elements, crucial error messages going completely undersigned, and copy that does not match the brand’s vibe — these are some common pitfalls of not involving UX writers in the design process early on.

When UX writers are involved early on, they identify and address potential design flaws proactively, long before significant development resources are wasted on those mistakes. Embedding UX writers in the design process early on also fosters a culture of user-centricity for the whole team. These professionals tend to be experts in user research and they know all about the laws of UX design. Their input can be invaluable in early user research and testing sessions.

2. Before Writing

Before crafting any copy, UX writers engage in a vital first step — defining the brand voice and tone. Consider what type of person your brand would be — professional, friendly, humorous, or serious. What language would they use to communicate? Link your brand to a relatable archetype. For example, is your brand a reliable expert like a doctor or a friendly neighbor like a local coffee shop? Create a document where you answer these questions and outline your brand’s voice and tone.

Make sure the language and tone you use resonate with your target audience’s expectations. A well-defined brand voice ensures consistency and quality across all user touchpoints. When users encounter your brand voice in different digital settings — from website copy to in-app error messages, the consistent tone reinforces your brand identity and builds trust.

Typically, UX writing professionals have to adhere to pre-established content style guides within their clients’ organizations. In such cases, their role is to understand and optimize these existing guidelines to deliver high-quality writing. However, a UX writer in a brand-new organization will have to team up with UX research design experts and other stakeholders in the project to construct an authentic brand voice/tone style guide from the ground up.

3. Be Clear and Concise

If users struggle to understand the intended message, then the UX writers have failed their purpose. To ensure that doesn’t happen, be clear and concise. Every word on the screen should contribute to conveying the intended message. Avoid using technical jargon or overly-sophisticated language. Aim for clear, plain language that your target audience can easily understand. Prioritize user needs over inane brand messaging.

Craft copy that aligns with the user’s information requirements, and avoid stuffing the interface with redundant, promotional content. To further enhance the writing’s readability, use active voice constructions and short, grammatically correct sentences. For example, if you are writing UX copy for an app that allows users to create photo galleries:

  • Instead of writing “The gallery creation functionality can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Create Now’ tab,”
  • Write “Create beautiful galleries — click on the ‘Create’ tab to get started now!”

This active and concise writing approach directly addresses the user’s needs and emphasizes the benefit they will receive in a time-efficient manner. Such concise sentences are easy-to-scan and that’s exactly what modern users want. Modern users typically scan UI text rather than read it meticulously. To adhere to their reading patterns:

  • Break down text into concise, digestible chunks
  • Use short sentences/paragraphs and prioritize the most critical info upfront
  • Ruthlessly edit out extra details that don’t contribute to user understanding

While clarity and conciseness are core principles, there might be rare exceptions. For products targeting a niche audience with a specific technical background, some level of jargon-heavy, domain-specific, and technical language might be acceptable. However, even in these scenarios, UX writers must do their best to clarify things as much as possible for the lay user.

4. Anticipate Users’ Needs and Concerns

The main goal of UX writing is to optimize user experience, and the most effective way to do that is to be helpful, long before users need help. To adopt this “one-step-ahead” approach, UX writers anticipate user questions that may arise during the different stages of the user flow. They meticulously examine all points of interaction within the user journey.

Then, they identify potential pain points and areas of confusion. Now, with a clear understanding of potential user roadblocks, writers can pack the user flow with clear and helpful explanations/instructions. Here are some common areas where UX writers can use proactive copywriting:

  • When requesting user information, explain the purpose behind the request and assure users of data privacy.
  • For multi-step onboarding processes, clarify the total number of steps that users need to take.
  • Share actionable error messages. Instead of simply stating, “An error has occurred,” provide users with clear instructions on how to rectify the issue as well.
  • Replace generic CTAs like “Next” or “Enter” with more specific and thoughtful labels that clarify the action/s users are about to take (e.g., “Proceed to Checkout”).

Addressing user concerns through proactive UX writing might require collaboration with other members of the team, especially the developers. That is because taking steps such as including more detailed error messages, may require the development team’s expertise.

5. Be Actively Specific

Use specific action verbs like “connect” or “save” instead of generic, passive like “configure” or “manage”. Action verbs are easier to comprehend. They provide users with a concrete understanding of what will happen if they complete an action. Also, when a sentence describes an outcome and the action needed to achieve it, prioritize mentioning the objective.

  • Don’t Say: “Tap on the Item’s Icon to See Its Properties”
  • Say: “See Item’s Properties”

Notice how the second UX instruction is much more concise, specific, and easy to understand? This is because instructions presented in an active voice are always easier to understand. Here’s another example:

  • Don’t Say: The Search Button Should be Clicked When You are Ready to Search for a Product (Passive voice)
  • Say: Use the Search Button to Find Products (Active voice)

Beyond using active voice and specific verbs, UX writers should also avoid using double negatives. Double negatives can obfuscate meaning and cause mental overload in users’ minds. For example, let’s say you are writing UX copy for a fitness app’s onboarding screen. Your goal is to make sure users keep their notifications active.

  • Don’t Say: “Don’t disable notifications” because the double negative (“don’t disable”) can be interpreted in the wrong way.
  • Say: “Enable Notifications to stay on top of your fitness goals!”

For specificity’s sake, avoid using the future tense to describe ongoing actions. For example, instead of saying “Video will Download” or “Video is Being Downloaded,” simply say “Downloading.”

6. Progressive Disclosure

One of the most underrated UX writing best practices is progressive disclosure. Let us explain. Information overload is a major user experience (UX) hurdle. Presenting users with large amounts of detail upfront can lead to confusion, and frustration, and hinder task completion.

Progressive disclosure is a user-centric approach to information presentation where writers strategically reveal additional details about the product only when users explicitly need or request them. This approach reduces cognitive overload and makes the onboarding process more fun. Most major apps/websites already employ this UX writing approach. That’s why they always give their users the option to skip non-essential information during the initial onboarding process.

7. Be Conversational

Conversational user experience writing infuses a touch of warmth and personality into the user experience. By using natural and engaging language, mimicking the back and forth of a typical human conversation, UX writers can foster a sense of connection between users and the interface. However, moderation is key. Overdoing informality can backfire in situations like:

  • Moments of user frustration, like encountering an error. For such situations, write clear and actionable instructions, not conversational language.
  • When dealing with financial transactions, prioritize accuracy, clarity, and transparency over warmth and humor.

Effective UX writing is all about walking a tightrope between personality and clarity. UX writers discover this only when they attempt to add a touch of warmth and personality to their UX copy.

Final Take

Lastly, and most importantly, make sure to maintain a sense of consistency throughout your product’s UX copy. Inconsistency creates confusion. One typical example of inconsistency is synonym swapping. If an action is called “Scheduling” in one section of your product, maintain that term consistently throughout the UI. Don’t use “Timetabling” in other parts of your UI. Consistent writing ought to be applied throughout your organization and be reflected not just in the product’s microcopy but also in social media posts, website copy, app instructions, newsletters, etc. For more in-depth guidance on great UX writing, contact Design Studio, now!

7 Best Practices for Effective UX Writing was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.