How to Master UX Writing in 4 Simple Steps (+ Template)
![How to Master UX Writing in 4 Simple Steps (Template)](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/write-ux-copy.png?w=3840&q=75)
![Example of UX Copy from Typeform](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/typeform-ux-copy-example.png?w=3840&q=75)
How to Master UX Writing in 4 Simple Steps (+ Template)
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This post is packed with advice that's easier to implement with this Word template. Use it to write and review every UX copy project you take on:So What Is UX Copywriting?
As the name implies, we have two components here:- UX (User Experience) summarizes what we feel when interacting with a product online or in person. In this post, we’ll focus on digital experiences only.
- Copywriting is the art of persuasion. Effective content (copy) compels the reader to take a certain action. Preferably, the one you want them to take.
- Conducting audience and user research
- Developing brand guidelines for content
- Mapping out information architecture and designing new content flows
- Creating copy for web and mobile products
- Incorporating important product KPIs in the content strategy
- Collaborating with the design team and other product stakeholders
What Makes UX Copywriting So Important?
Nina Feinberg, Senior Product Designer at The New York Times, best summed it up in her post on Medium:“I’ve come to believe that language is one of the most powerful design tools we have.”When working on a new NYT product, Nina noticed that using actual texts for titles, buttons, and other design elements, instead of lorem ipsum, massively improved the production process. The team could evaluate early on if they were using the right design components to deliver the right message and locate gaps in information architecture. In Nina’s words: “I discovered that we were able to create a stronger and more deliberate product when we considered the words we used.” The Google Design team shares the same sentiment. In this video
, the company’s UX director Maggie Stanphill and Senior UX writer Joscelin Cooper said that “design and content should always be created in tandem.” +Writing+Summarized&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue+newsletter Because wireframes without text are just shapes that bring little value. Sprinkling them with words improves your decision-making at early product design stages. For teams, the practice of UX copywriting
- Removes the guesswork from the design process
- Improves message consistency
- Helps provide more on-point messaging based on the context
- Ensures consistent style and experience cross-app
UX Writing 101 – 4-Step Blueprint
The goal of UX copywriting is to help users accomplish their goals with the least friction. But how do you know what each user wants? Aarron Walter, author of Designing for Emotion, already has the answer for you. His theory suggests that every user has a simple hierarchy of needs:![Aarron Walter's Hierarchy of User Needs](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/349ebe0d-6368-4338-8aa0-6eb71eda755e_image6.png?w=3840&q=75)
Step 1: Collect Voice of the Customer Data
David Ogilvy once said:“If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language.”His hunch has further scientific proof. Linguists found that we naturally tend to mimic another person’s function words and pronouns. The more engaged we are, the more likely it is that the ‘borrowing’ will occur. This tendency is called Language Style Matching (LSM) and it can have a strong impact on why we like some people (and products) more than others. One group of researchers decided to analyze couples’ LSM at a speed dating event. Based on the conversation recordings, they estimated the level of LSM between different couples and extrapolated their compatibility. The results? 77% of couples with high LSM scores were still dating 3 months later versus 52% of couples with below-average scores. So yes, “mirroring customers’ language” is solid copywriting advice and the reason why you need to line up Voice of the Customer (VoC) data before you start writing any interface copy. Here are a few solid VoC goldmines to dig into:
- Customer support tickets
- Public reviews and testimonials
- Social media
- Community Q&A websites and forums (Reddit, Quora, etc.)
- Live chat data
- Customer surveys
- Dedicated feedback forms
- Customer/user interviews
- Focus groups
![9 Great Sources to Help You Discover the Voice of the Customer](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/voice-customer-sources.png?w=3840&q=75)
- Sentiment indicating how your users communicate with others (= how they want to be spoken to)
- Frequent feelings they display when using your product (at different stages)
- Their key goals, struggles, and current pain points
Step 2: Master the Art of UX-Friendly Headlines
Headlines are copywriter’s pick-up lines – they entice further conversation. A good headline gives a preview of the underlying information that’s coming up next. Any copywriter will tell you that writing good headlines is both an art and a science that requires a lot of practice and experimentation. So, for now, let’s just focus on what makes a great headline from a user experience perspective:- Good headlines are succinct and descriptive – they work out of context and complement the narrative.
- Strong headlines are short and catchy – ditch all nonessential words and focus on the main benefit of the page. Also, aim for 16-18 words for the best engagement.
- Headlines should come close to respective subsections. This reinforces their connection to other design elements.
- Use indirect claims to make your headlines more persuasive. Indirect claims prompt the user to construct their meaning around the fact you are stating, rather than take your word for it. This tricks our brain into thinking that we are the source of information, and thus that it’s more trustworthy.
![Direct vs. Indirect Headlines](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/direct-vs-indirect-headlines.png?w=3840&q=75)
Step 3: Spice Up Your Microcopy with Power Words
Microcopy stands for all the tiny content cues you provide to users within your app to describe interface features. Examples include contact form explainers, button texts, pop-up hints, etc. Those tiny words may seem insignificant, but they can have a massive impact on conversions and churn rates. That’s why UX writers spend a lot of time selecting and testing different ‘power word’ combos. Let’s start with a simple example. Do you know which is the most boring verb in the English language? It’s “is.” “Is” doesn’t convey a lot of information; it just states that something exists. The problem is that you already have a lot of design elements to show that something is available. The user can tell without your help that “here is feature A.” What they might not guess is why they should be thrilled with it. The goal of UX copywriting is to communicate what the user can do with all those nuts and bolts at their disposal. Compare these two messages:![](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/Blog_Master-UX-Writing-04.png?w=3840&q=75)
![CTA Comparison](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/97d1212a-5715-4551-a880-3af412f0fc87_image5.jpg?w=3840&q=75)
- Robust process automation
- Quick results
- Effective workstreams
- Describing new/complex/unfamiliar product features
- Improving clarity during user onboarding
- Making product demos more delightful
![Interactive Visualization](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/72491c1a-14a4-44f7-b1e3-96950a3c3c1a_image12.png?w=3840&q=75)
Step 4: Improve Your Button Design and Copy
Buttons are a commonly overlooked element by both UX designers and copywriters. It is the marketers who mostly obsess about those call-to-actions and split tests. And rightfully so, as small changes in shape, color, position, and text can lead to more clicks, more sign-ups, and more revenue. Let’s first take a look at several UX design best practices for buttons. 1. Color matters. Your entire web app relies on a color scheme to create brand positioning and elicit a certain emotional response. A lot of users’ decisions (to purchase, sign up, etc.) will be triggered by the color you use for your key design elements, background, and buttons. Matthew Woodward recently did an interesting CRO experiment showing how powerful color can be. He placed the same CTA copy on banners with different backgrounds to see how its effectiveness changed with color. Here are the results:![](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/Blog_Master-UX-Writing-05-1.png?w=3840&q=75)
![Incorrect Google button design](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/8df43b4b-a6c0-4d24-97af-a9152039a9fa_image10.png?w=3840&q=75)
![Ghost button example](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/7c151be0-5ca4-4799-ba88-50f3db27d577_image13.png?w=3840&q=75)
- It provides a recap of the benefits.
- It communicates the cost front and center.
- The button has a different color from the rest of the text, so users can immediately understand that it has a different purpose.
- It features the magic ‘power word’ – free.
![Never use an "OK" button](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/1597f675-6ed5-4991-be15-f6b4bc01ac6e_image1.png?w=3840&q=75)
![Tooltips example](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/cb147df8-8119-4c43-84dd-d6ed1b75a5c0_image11.png?w=3840&q=75)
- Keep it short – under 30 words.
- Tooltips should inform, explain, and/or illustrate the feature.
- Don’t restate the visible UI text in a tooltip.
Get Organized and Create a Master Copy Doc
The more complex the app, the more UX copy there is to write, tweak, and re-optimize. To stay productive with UX writing, you can create a master copy doc for your project. Copy doc is a shared file featuring:- Project information including data on target audience, user research, main goals/tested hypotheses, design specs
- Project visuals: logo, mood boards, prototypes, mockups, key UI elements, etc.
- Brand voice, tone, and style guidelines for the project
- Copy table that includes all main headlines and subheads (with variations), taglines, body copy, CTA and button copy, microcopy, etc.
- Where each copy element goes
- How it interacts with and complements the design
- What’s missing and what can be further optimized
![](https://media.coschedule.com/uploads/21998f46-914c-4f82-b722-30c163735872_image8.png?w=3840&q=75)