Why should a well-rounded UX designer keep writing in their toolbox? How can designers write for their designs effectively? Where does Plain Language fit in?

Why writing?

Writing is the future.

Writing is equally important to graphics.

Writing has been called the unicorn skill of the tech industry.

Writing improves accessibility in design.

Writing is critical to an effective, successful, and holistic user experience.

The way that writing exists in user interfaces today looks very different than a couple decades ago. Advances in web and app development have provided for increasingly refined, robust user experiences. The text-heavy, HTML documents of old are now replaced by content and interfaces that are more graphical than ever before.

If anything, writing in these designs is even more critical because there is less of it. With only a handful of words on a screen, every single one counts.

What is UX Writing?

Examples of microcopy from Airbnb, LinkedIn, and Twitter

Is UX design the visual appearance of an interface, and then the interaction between user and graphical components? Absolutely, but that’s not all. It’s true that much interaction with modern technology is visual, but words are still there in the form of UX writing, including microcopy — think of prompts, buttons, labels, text tips, even chatbot dialog.

These small bits of text ease concerns, provide information, and guide users so that they can successfully complete a task (and maybe even enjoy it). Long-form UX writing assists users in a similar fashion.

Sound familiar?

The ISO defines usability as “the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.” The Interaction Design Foundation expands on this definition by identifying three major goals of a usable interface:

it is easy for a user to become familiar with, it makes it easy for the user to accomplish their objective, and it is easy to recall and use on future visits or interactions.

In a nutshell, UX writing helps to achieve these goals. Usability falls under UX design, and responsible designers will consider how writing fits in as a critical component of their designs.

The Wisdom of Plain Language

(Plain Language is) writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience. Plain Writing Act of 2010

Although microcopy is a relatively new term , the guidelines for writing it are hardly revolutionary. With minimal space, and usability considerations, microcopy absolutely must be short, easy to read, and engaging. This is true no matter who your audience is.

A common misconception is that Plain Language dumbs down content so that anyone can read and understand, ultimately catering to the least knowledgeable reader. In fact, this is far from the truth: Plain Language communicates information quickly and clearly, benefits everybody (as any usability or accessibility effort should), is easily scanned, and is preferred by everyone — even experts.

According to PlainLanguage.gov, “Plain language (also called plain writing or plain English) is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it.”

Luckily, technical writers have been on board with clear, concise, and user-friendly language for awhile now. We’re more than happy to share the wealth of knowledge and resources available for help improve your writing and tailor to your audience.

Two resources include PlainLanguage.gov, the website for the The Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) and The Center for Plain Language. Both provide tools and practical tips that you can use right away in your content development.

While the birth of these resources can be traced back to the Plain Language Act of 2010 and government communication, the concepts are applicable to most kinds of writing, regardless of purpose and format.

Best Practices and Examples

We understand fundamentally the benefits and impact of Plain Language. We agree that writing is a critical piece of overall UX design and usability. Now, how can we start applying these principles to our UX writing?

1. Write for your audience

Audience. How many times have I used that word already? (Seven, in case you were curious).

If you operate in the UX world this should be a no-brainer. I still include “consider your audience” as a best practice because it is the number one rule of Plain Language (and effective communication, and usability, and human-centered design, and so on). I’ll try not to beat this to death, but everyone can use a quick refresher.

Remember that misconception I mentioned — the one where some people assume that Plain Language means dumbing down content so that anyone can read it? More likely than not, your audience is not “anyone” or even “everyone”. Yes, your writing should be simple and easy to understand, but it can still be tailored for your audience.

Research the level of knowledge, interest, and general background of your average user and write as if you’re having a conversation with that person.

2. Organize content logically

Plain Language means that your content is easy to follow and the organization makes sense. Often times that means that content is organized chronologically and builds on itself to help guide a user through a process.

Lemonade only displays information about roommates after the “roomates” checkbox is selected.

Responsive microcopy is one example of thoughtful organization: if I fill out a questionnaire and indicate that I don’t have kids, why am I later asked the ages of the children in my household? If delivery is not available to me, I want to know that as soon as I enter my address — not at the end of a registration process.

The Lemonade registration process is a great example of responsive microcopy: the user only sees a tip about roommates if they indicate that they have roommates.

With long-form content, information chunking and clear headings help establish logical organization. Chunking means that related information is grouped (I like to think of this as the language-version of the design principle of proximity). Label those groups using concise, but descriptive, headings. Bonus: headings are critical for accessibility and are a key part of writing for the web.

Similarly, navigational aids improve organization by helping users orient themselves. Labeling steps guides a user by identifying where they are in a process and how much they have left.

“Step 2 of 3”: Netflix uses microcopy as a navigational and organizational aid.

3. Be conversational

One quick evaluation method is to ask yourself, “would I have said it this way if I were speaking to the user in person?”

The end-result of your written copy will not always match in-person communication, but it’s still a useful practice to compare. Conversational language is easier to understand and more engaging. This means:

Be direct: use pronouns

Use familiar, common words

Concrete > Abstract

Prefer one word over several; prefer a short word to a long one

Use transitions to connect ideas

Use a friendly tone: active voice and present tense

Contractions are okay!

Include examples

Must > Shall

Tell stories

Avoid specialized acronyms

Lemonade’s Maya sounds pretty friendly!

4. Keep it brief

Concise is one of my favorite words, ever.

con·cise /kənˈsīs/ adjective giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief but comprehensive. “a concise account of the country’s history” synonyms: succinct, short, brief, to the point, pithy, incisive, short and sweet, crisp;

By using a conversational tone, you can eliminate a lot of unnecessary words. But don’t stop there! Nothing is more cumbersome than a block of text and superfluous words.

To borrow from PlainLanguage.gov, “Challenge every word — do you need it?” Extra words waste your users time. Nobody wants that.

Keep it short and direct. Include helpful details and leave out those that are unrelated and potentially distracting. Look for redundant language and remove it. Check for prepositions and excess modifiers:

For where there are a number of prepositions it is very likely that you can revise in order to more clearly communicate the information

vs.

Where there are prepositions you can likely revise for clarity

Got it? Good.

5. Test and revise

Testing content is just as important as testing a product. Usability testing wisdom can, and should, be applied to writing: 1) test early and often, and 2) revise accordingly.

You can even evaluate your writing specifically for Plain Language.

Takeaways

If I can leave you with one message, it is this: make every word count.

Beyond that, the larger message is that writing and design go hand-in-hand, and the marks against which we evaluate both are not so different. At the heart of solid UX writing are the same foundations seen in Plain Language and meaningful, human-centered design.

Is good design direct, simple, and easy to understand? Is it friendly, empathetic, and engaging? Is it accessible and enriching for all users? Sure! And the same is true of good UX writing.

We don’t have to separate these schools of thought and we shouldn’t. Each lends to the success of the other. In the overlap between the two we can find the guidance needed to create truly holistic user experiences —in short, together we can achieve more.