A plain language word list for UX writing and help content to make your writing sound more human. Illustration by Anne Smith

At SurveyMonkey, we write words that are simple, direct, and human. These basic content principles align with most style guides for writing on the Internet, and at this point they’re deeply ingrained in the brains of everyone on our content strategy team.

But when you’re in the weeds — trying to explain a complicated feature in a help article or writing copy for a modal that needs to meet specific legal requirements — it’s easy to let some robotic words slip into your writing.

I kept seeing the same complex words show up again and again in UI designs and help articles. Eventually, it became second nature to quickly spot them and replace them with plain language. Writing in plain language makes your content easier to read, easier to understand, and more accessible. It’s the right thing to do for your customers and your business.

To help my team spot robotic words in their own writing, I created The Handy List of Human Words.