A Resource Hub for Articles about UX Writing
There is a lot of great content about UX writing. Dozens of interesting articles have been written by our peers. This resource about articles on UX writing was developed by writing students at the University of Washington. The students reviewed articles, wrote summaries and take-aways, and grouped the articles into broad categories.
UX Writing Defined
Sanchez states that UX writing is a subfield of content strategy. Other subfields of content strategy include information architecture and marketing writing. She describes UX writing as “concentrated language” and analyzes an example from Lyft and Uber apps. She gives options for different career paths that lead to UX Writer and explains what UX writing is and how it differs from other types of writing. She uses an example of UX text to show how the writing process works and the questions that inform it. Finally, she gives advice to people hoping to transition into the field from a variety of backgrounds, describes skills that benefit UX writers, and mentions a few companies that often hire UX writers.
She suggests reading John Saito’s writing (https://medium.com/@jsaito) and the book Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose (http://www.nicelysaid.co/).
This article is a preview of the first 3 lessons of UX Writers Collective’s UX Writing Fundamentals Course. The topics covered are: Intro to UX Writing, What a UX Writer Actually Writes, and The Responsibilities of a UX Writer. The article provides an in-depth look at UX writing as a design discipline and gives advice on how to become a UX writer. Wood discusses topics like deliverables UX writers produce, the UX writer’s role in relation to product and user, content strategy, and user journeys.
A clear easy to read definition of UX writing with examples. Introduces the reader to common areas and types of UX writing.
This article is part of an advertisement for Stormid which provides digital services.
Chen, founder of UXBeginner.com, defines UX writing as “ the production of written content that becomes part of, and supports, a product’s user experience.” He gives clear examples of different types of UX writing, including calls to action, menu design and navigation, and prompts that encourage user interaction. He details UX writing’s rise in popularity and highlights UX writers’ role in establishing consistency in language, voice, and tone throughout a product or application.
It could be useful to note the distinction Chen makes between copywriting and UX writing, which is, “copywriting = content to market the product, UX writing = content embedded in products.” He also links to his site, UXBeginnger.com (https://www.uxbeginner.com/), Leona Henryson’s article that is also included in this list (https://theuxblog.com/blog/ux-writing-guide), Google Design’s UX Writer description (https://design.google/jobs/ux-writer/; also listed in this resource list), and “What is a UX Writer?” (http://uxwriter.cc/what-is-a-ux-writer/).
Krisztina defines UX Writing as creating copy that helps users complete a task while taking into account how the user goes about doing it. She includes a detailed knowledge base sketch that outlines her introduction to UX writing. It includes sections about advantages, word choice, how to improve, marketing and challenges a UX writer faces.
Notes:
This article explains what a UX writer does and outlines what a UX writing process looks like. Brooke Lafleur then details what good microcopy is and explains why it needs to be both human oriented and why it needs to encourage users.
This Article provides a detailed introduction to UX writing. It touches on collaboration and focuses on writing with the user in mind. It describes how to develop a brand voice and gives a checklist to improve copy.
Joshua Colah
This catch-all page is designed for new users to get a basic understanding of what UX writing is. It also provides what they do, how companies utilize them, as well as links to free courses to enhance one’s knowledge in the field.
Fiona Tinner begins her article by dividing and explaining both the UX and Writing parts of being a UX writer. She then explains the core components of UX writing, as well as what the user wants and comprehensibility.
Notes:
“Litbaits,” The Wild Detectives Bookstore
This article begins with a video and continues with a comprehensive introduction to the field. It states that a UX Writer creates a great customer experience through the written word. It also mentions that the work of the UX Writer comes much earlier in the design process than the work of the copywriter.
Božović explains the role of UX writers in UX design processes and highlights UX writing as a way to bridge the gap between visual layout and usability in digital content. She breaks down UX writer job responsibilities like making company style guidelines, creating and executing content strategy, writing microcopy, and long-form copywriting. She then discusses creating user personas and researching common user issues to craft appropriate solutions. In closing, Božović encourages UX writers to be curious and analytical.
Will T
This article gives a brief introduction to UX writing, the different kinds of work that a UX writer does, and what a career as a UX writer entails. Highlights include information about the growing relationship between UX writing, chatbots and voice user interface (VUI) as well as some real-life examples of best practices in UX writing.
This article starts off by making a clear distinction between the work that content strategists, content designers and UX writers do. Topics covered include the interconnected relationship between writing copy and creating a user interface, the ways in which UX writers add value to teams and lists ways for designers to think more about content.
This Article introduces UX writing, describing aspects of the job and characteristics of successful UX writers. Ardill also discusses controversies with labeling ‘UX writing’ and the need for professional recognition.
Article is based on an interview with Jane Ruffino and describes a course she has created for UX writing at Berghs School of Communication in Sweden.
Effective UX content has been designed, iterated, and tested as part of formal UX processes, producing “frictionless” copy that creates value and competitive advantage for brands. Stafford explains what UX writing is and provides an overview of common UX content, from UI text to interface copy. He lays out the principles of good UX writing and delves into UX writing methodology and processes, from defining the problem to deployment. He then details the different individuals and roles UX writers collaborate with and highlights examples of companies known for high quality UX content. Finally, Stafford provides resources for would-be UX writers, including tools, articles, books, podcasts, and courses.
Stafford lists too many resources to link/list here, but they include: Ryan Farrell’s newsletter (https://dailyuxwriting.com/), Figma, Grammarly, Sketch, Hemingway, Note Pad, GatherContent, 4 articles, 5 books, 3 conferences and events, 3 podcasts, The UX Writers Collective UX Writing Fundamentals course (https://uxwriterscollective.com/), and quotes from a number of UX professionals.
Henryson compares copywriters to UX writers, noting that UX writers face constraints like copywriters but are part of design teams and can ensure that content is prioritized during the design process. UX writers make tasks clear and intuitive for users through the microcopy and other content they write. They must be concise, maintain brand voice, and learn to understand and think like their users. Henryson closes by highlighting a number of skills that are useful to UX writers and providing brief tips on getting started in the field.
This article gives details of UX writing basics, options to outsource UX writing, and the importance of understanding the audience when writing for a digital medium. The importance of sequence in planning, writing concisely and design collaboration for improving UX writing and the overall digital experience is discussed.
This article provides details of what UX writing is, and how writers can build their careers in this area. The section on where “UX writing lives” gives a list of common places that one can find UX writing. There is also a section on “UX Writer’s Starter- Kit” which provides a list of concepts that are useful to know for aspiring UX writers.
In this article, Kennedy explores her two key pieces to UX writing. The first is to write clearly by reducing word count and being specific. The second is to reduce the cognitive load on users. She breaks down each and explains why making these improvements enhances user experience.
Workana
Workana defines the concept of UX writing as the use of text and the spoken word in User Interfaces. The article then explains that the mission of a UX writer is to analyze the product’s voice in a transversal way between multiple platforms and how a UX writer accomplishes this. Workana lastly details how to upskill in the job market to become a more attractive job candidate.
Notes:
Katica outlines the challenges of UX writing, those being language turbulence, blending marketing and UX, and putting voice into one’s copywriting. Because of this, she refers to the UX writer as a strongly cross-functional team member and explains why the relationship between UX writing and content development needs to be linked for successful user experience.
Rohit Nair
This article argues that the separation of UX writing and development does not work. It provides evidence why this is so, including the author’s own experience at his company Chargebee. The article then takes you through the changes that Chargebee went through to fully integrate their UX writers into the development process.
This article explains why mocking up your UX writing is advantageous. Jennie Tan gives her reasoning, as well as suggests products that can help you do this. She also shows her readers how to mock up within a web browser. Lastly, she gives tips on saving your work and career advice.
A casual lightweight introduction to UX writing. This article defines and differentiates UX writing from copywriting and lists common types of UX writing.
Jaime
This article gives detailed examples of what UX writing is, and what makes for good user experience-driven microcopy. The 4 core qualities for effective UX writing are listed along with examples of how they can guide people through their online journey, provide answers and encourage action.
Vicky
This article explains the rise of UX writing and what it is. Vicky takes you through the basic principles of UX writing, SEO content writing, and the differences between the two. She concludes by outlining the reasons you need both for successful content.
Notes:
Rego explains the distinction between UX writing, UX copywriting, content strategy, and content design. She defines each of these four roles and highlights the ways they are different from and overlap with each other. According to Rego, UX writing is part of content strategy and design while copywriting is separate from UX.
Diana Nadim
This article gives a detailed overview of content strategy and talks about UX writing in relation to content strategy as well as the definition, specifics and goals of UX writing. There is also discussion of the kind of work that UX writers do, the objectives of UX text and the relationship between UX writing and copywriting.
Bridgette Hernandez
This article explores how UX writing compares to content strategy. There is a feature comparison between the two and a discussion of the ways in which UX writing can be made part of content strategy to improve the online presence of businesses and improve customer experience with digital experience.
Lauxcritora
Defines each of the different job titles. Contains a useful table that distinguishes copywriters (who write sales- and marketing-oriented text that attracts cusomers) from UX writers (who work closely with designers to compose product-oriented text.)
Cindy Sukiato provides three common myths about UX writing. Those are that copywriting and UX writing are the same, shorter is always better, and that a UX writer only writes. She details why though there is some truth in these myths, they do not truly represent what a UX writer does. Cindy then gives a practical example of one of her own project briefs detailing how UX writing improves user experience with a product.
Miguel Sepulveda
As the title suggests, this article explores the ways in which UX writing is an extension of localization. There is discussion of the ways in which UX writing shares similarities with the work of a language localization specialist. Key words that bridge the gap between two areas such as “User”, “Product” and “Text” are parsed out to reflect on the similarities between the two disciplines. Areas that UX writers must master to be effective in their work are also listed and elaborated upon.
GETYOURGUIDE
This article provides a summary of GetYourGuide.com’s first UX writing meetup in Berlin, focusing on what UX writing is, how they practice it, and how to adapt interface copy internationally. The featured special guest was Yuval Keshtcher, founder of UX Writing Hub.
In this article, the author defines content strategy and product design as the umbrella that encompasses UX writing and design. Malik contrasts UX writing with content writing, UX design, and product writing, with a helpful metaphor that illustrates where each of these roles falls along the user acquisition funnel.
This article explains how UX writing is distinct from traditional marketing copywriting by its user-centered thought process. Payne lists 8 differences between copywriting and UX writing and explores the gray area between the two fields. The author proposes that the term UX copywriter might better suit those whose work lives in the grey area between these roles.
Rebecca Sentence
The author gives a thorough and clear explanation of the roles and responsibilities of a UX writer and explains their involvement throughout the product lifecycle. Sentance, indicates the differences between UX writing, copywriting and content writing, and says brand voice and tone is the only common thing in these roles. She closes with a list of skills a UX writer must have!
Dominic Warren
This short article packs a big punch. Dominic Warren introduces early that the “context, emotions, and psychology” of UX writing is different from other writing disciplines. He then shares examples of “product copy” and “microcopy” from Tumblr and Medium, and outlines the basics of Data-driven decisions in UX writing, Conversational design, Plain English, and Collaborating in multidisciplinary teams. Read this article if any of these concepts are new to you and you’d like a well-explained intro.
The Value of UX Writing
When designing user experiences, wording is critical. Trained UX writers should be at the table with visual designers and managers throughout product development. Taking a content-first approach can highlight design flaws and provide rich, accurate prototypes for product testing.
Kevin Dabrowski
This article is meant to convince managers to include dedicated UX writers in a product design team. UX writers can help with creating style guides and cultivating a brand voice. The same writers can add real value to products by fostering clarity, transparency, and empathy throughout the development cycle.
Micah Bowers
Great UX copy is more than simply utilitarian. UX writing and marketing copywriting can work together to enhance digital products and improve the user experience. This article is a well-written and thoughtfully researched summary of the value of UX Writing.
GrowRevenue
This article begins by stating that UX writers are creating better copy. It then explores why UX writing is special, why it is catching on, and what a UX writer does. It then diverts into exploring the do’s, the don’ts, and best practices. The article concludes with stating that UX writing has appeared as a discipline due to the changing way users engage with websites.
The focus of this article is on how to make interfaces user oriented. There are examples of services such as Airbnb that instantly engage their users with good microcopy and also how understanding user’s emotions and keeping them in consideration while writing microcopy can improve profits. There is also a comparison of the work that copy writers and UX writers do, the reason that UX writing gained popularity and an in-depth look at the kind of work UX writers do. There are also tips about how to become a UX writer, and the dos and don’ts of writing for a digital medium.
Steven Douglas
This article gives details about what makes UX writing different from other kinds of technical writing, and why it has gained prominence in the last few years. It also includes details of what good UX writing is and how it can improve a product in addition to several useful tips about how to be a good UX writer.
Andrew Michael
This is a link to the summary and transcript of a podcast episode with Yuval Keshtcher, the founder of UX Writing Hub. Topics discussed include what UX writing is, the finer points of UX writing, and how it can help companies improve conversion, reduce churn and increase revenue. Highlights also include how to strike a balance between functionality and personality in writing copy, how to maintain consistency in copywriting and the pitfalls of using shady tactics and dark patterns.
This article has useful information about UX writers do, the value that UX writing brings to digital products, and ways in which UX writing can clarify uncertainties during the product experience.
Nick Babich
This article summarizes what a UX writer does, why this role has gained prominence now, and ways to tell if your team needs a UX writer. It also lists practical examples of how UX writing improves user experience such as simplifying the decision-making process, alleviating user fears and supporting users during a journey.
While the traditional focus of UX is in the design of a web page, the author argues that the writing is just as important to attract and retain traffic. The writer goes on to provide tips for written content on a web page. His tips include using simple language, matching font to syntax and diction, using numerals over written numbers, and reflecting a brand’s tone in written content.
The author explains how the best way to make UX more user-oriented and to improve digital products is to refine UX writing. The article features multiple examples of how clear, concise, and emotionally intelligent UX writing, both copy and microcopy, can increase engagement. Following this, the article explains what UX writing entails, how it compares to copywriting, and how a person can become a UX writer. The article finishes with a long, descriptive list of do’s and don’ts for UX writing.
Vos defines UX writing and examines how users read and interact with online copy. She urges UX designers to include writers in the design process to improve user experience. Her tips on integrating UX writing in design include avoid placeholder text, keep it simple, use numbers, center brand voice and tone, and be creative.
Mary Ann Dalangin
Article provides a detailed introduction to UX writing and why it is so important to businesses. Topics covered include what is UX writing, how it comes into play with content and design, the role of the UX writer, and an 8-step process to start UX writing.
A quick introduction to how UX writing and website design overlap. UX writers and website designers are more successful when they collaborate. Color, symmetry, paragraph lengths, and header tags are examples of areas where design and writing choices can either support or compete.
This article presents an in-depth study of the opportunities and challenges of collaboration. Specifically, from incorporating a writer into an existing production team. IT also gives strategies for successful collaboration with varying skill sets and availability.
Advertisement for a digital services company.
A concise exploration of how UX writing helps convert site viewers into site users. Watson explains terminology associated with each method and provides working examples. Focuses on explanatory pop-ups, error states, and calls to action and confirmations (CTA’s).
Includes a link to a webinar from Userland “Reshaping the User Experience in the Product-Led Era”.
A brief write up of a case study. Maggie Stanphill and her team at Google replaced the microcopy on their search engine. They decreased the implied commitment of users by changing “Book a Room” to the less aggressive “Check Availability”. This small change increase engagement by 17%
Mobile Spoon
An exhaustive check list of 42 items focused on refining microcopy for mobile apps with writing and design strategies. The article includes consistent clear examples for selected items.
An in-depth look at usability testing from early app development stage. Tan gives test design choices, and analysis about potential users. She identifies pain points which developed and refined app features to minimize user friction.
This book is a basic primer on microcopy—small pieces of text like buttons, headings, and prompts on websites or apps. Microcopy is an opportunity to improve product design and strengthen user-brand relationships. De Leon uses real life examples to teach readers how to analyze microcopy strengths and weaknesses, plan microcopy content, and test its effectiveness.
Awwwards
A curated list of links and videos showing how brands can express their voice and tone and connect emotionally with users via the communicative style of microcopy and UX writing on their websites, applications, and products.
This quick read provides a basic explanation of UX writing and encourages writers of all disciplines to apply its principles to their work. Mwirichia advocates for writers of web content to keep user experience in mind to improve their writing. She advises writers to create content that’s clear, concise, and useful.
Sten advocates for UX designers to write copy that accompanies their design. The research, testing, and design that UX teams do before product launch can all be undone by poor microcopy or confusing text. Sten closes by asserting that UX designers (or “UX leads”) need to be responsible for the entirety of user experience, including writing.
He references the Lisa Sanchez article also included in this document and lists a number of resources and blog posts from his website after the post.
UX writers are uniquely positioned to create user-oriented copy that meshes well with design and brand voice. A UX writer’s skillset combines copywriting, communications, SEO, and design to connect with users on an emotional level. Thompson describes the importance of copy in digital design and stresses that hiring dedicated UX writers improves digital user experiences.
Cheung’s article gives an overview of UX writing, explains the importance of user-centered design for achieving business goals, and lists the core skillset UX writers need. The article concludes with resources such as websites, books, and podcasts and suggests next steps for those interested in breaking into the field.
The article defines microcopy and gives examples of good and bad microcopy. The author highlights the best practices of microcopy in UX writing that make for a great user experience and higher conversion. It shows the need for focused microcopy writing and its future in the ever-evolving tech industry.
John Saito introduces himself as a writer who hates to read. “You see, I mostly write interface text for apps and websites. It’s a style of writing where brevity beats brilliance, and every character counts. Writing interface text is actually a lot like design—designing words for people who hate to read.” This personalized article shares 7 tips for designing with words. Read it not only for his inspired writing tips but also for his terrific design examples showcasing UX text and visual hierarchy.
A Career in UX Writing
Neville Medhora makes the argument that UX designers and Copywriters work hand-in-hand, and it does not make sense for a company to hire both. He then explores why the UX writer position has been created and concludes by stating how this new position has combined designing and copywriting into one.
States that the UX Writer has evolved into a specialist job title in its own right and distinguishes it from the job of marketing copywriter. Quotes a Google job advertisement for a UX writer. Mentions the importance of user research, estimates salary and number of positions advertised on Indeed.com. Lists the preparation that a job candidate for UX Writer should have, including good communication, teamwork, research, analysis, and problem-solving skills; understanding of branding and general business objectives. Touches on how to hire a UX writer.
This article does a deep dive into the world of UX writing. It gives an overview of what UX writing is, how it differs from other kinds of technical writing, the kinds of work that a UX writer does, and how much they can expect to make. For aspiring writers, examples of effective UX writing may be particularly helpful.
Keshtcher details the day-to-day tasks of UX writers and their role in product design teams. He explains that UX writing includes writing microcopy (the small pieces of text found in apps, websites, and other products), creating style guides, collaborating with design teams, and more. Keshtcher argues that UX writers are an essential part of product design and provides links to additional resources like courses and articles. He talks about tips and resources for breaking into the field, useful skills for UX writers, and portfolios. One key takeaway: UX writers have to “fight” for their users, ensuring their content is clear and intuitive.
The author gathered job descriptions and interviewed working UX writers to compile a comprehensive explanation of the field, its place in the software development process, and the skills necessary to get a job as UX Writer.
A UX Writer writes copy for user-facing touchpoints. A successful UX Writer could be a user experience professional with a deep understanding of narrative design and conversational design. When hiring a UX Writer, companies look for formal training in writing, proof of excellent writing ability, flexibility and initiative)
In this piece McGowan poses a set of questions for companies to ask when determining if they should hire a dedicated UX writer. He discusses a UX writer’s role and responsibilities and highlights how demand for the role is tied to developing technologies. While most companies need a UX writer role, not all companies need an official UX writer position. For example, some companies absorb the role into UX designer responsibilities. McGowan offers a balanced view of different companies’ needs while acknowledging that, for now, the role of UX writer is here to stay.
Stafford emphasizes that UX writers are key to a brand’s success because they influence brand voice. They help create user experiences from start to finish and work with departments like legal and design to shape content direction that aligns with company goals. UX writing is more than just microcopy; its crafting and implementing content strategy. Stafford discusses key skills and experience UX writers need and stresses that it’s the skills that matter, not the job title.
Google Design interview with Emily Luthra
This is a short interview with a UX writer on Google’s UX Writer job description page. Luthra emphasizes the importance of relatable writing that is easy to read, positive, and engaging. She closes by encouraging UX writers to help solve problems using expertise beyond writing.
UX writers deal with words in context and help users understand websites. They “fight for what’s right for the user”. Katharine breaks this down in a fun way to outline the attributes one should have to start out as a UX writer. Those are embracing unpredictability, having a questioning nature, love of building and sharing new processes, and always being prepared to take a project or idea in a new direction.
Patrick Stafford
This article is based on a survey created by the author and his team to know how much a UX writer makes on average. How salary varies by region and what difference no of years of experience makes. The author assures that UX writers are a well-paid set of professionals.
SpringBoard
The author briefly describes UX writing and reasons why a UX writer is a better choice to write the microcopy over a software engineer or a graphic designer. Lists the copies a UX writer works on and describes the role as a UX writer in the design process. Details the UX writing process in 6 steps. The article also includes an example Case Study, touches upon how to write good UX content, and Who is UX writing for?
Gordon Macrae
Gordon, reveals the hottest UX writing job trends to look out for! Says remote UX writing roles are here and does not expect them to stop anytime soon. Lists a handful of “Tools” that are a must, to thrive in the UX writing field. Emphasizes that right now is a good time to be a writer and transitioning between roles is straightforward with core writing skills. Closes by mentioning design ethics and how to stay on the right side!
This article provides details of the Job Description of a UX writer. The author briefly describes UX writing and jumps right into useful and important information you need to know as a UX writer. Covers topics like typical duties, educational requirements, skills required, compensation based on experience in the field, and similar job titles. Describes what is the career path for a UX writer, current trends, growth forecast, and also lists the platform to find the jobs.
Anja Wedberg
This article is a one-stop to find everything you need to know to become a UX writer. The author details out the skills you need to have, how to get the skills and leaves you with what you should do now – to get started. The author provides numerous links about every topic he touches upon for you to learn more in-depth about the area of your interest.
Andy Healey, UX leader at Shopify, offers practical steps both large and small you can take to create interest in UX writing within your org. He starts by sharing a “six degrees of UX writing” scale, and after identifying where your org lands, a breakdown of the diff ways to drum up interest and evidence your changes. Read this article for clear call-outs on how to start working today on leveling up your organization’s relationship with UX writing.
The pros and cons of editing strings are discussed here in an engaging and personalized way. John Saito believes “Once you can edit strings, you can finally own your content from idea to implementation.” Read this article for its opinions about the importance of writers and developers having strong relationships, and all the great reasons you may or may not choose to take on the role of coding some of your own content.
Tips & Best Practices
In this resource-laden article, leading UX writers, content designers, and content strategists reveal their top tips on how to craft effective content with your client’s audience in mind from the start. It also covers how to test your content and use your UX writing skills to get buy-in from stakeholders. It’s a great read if you love expert tips, and want lots of informative links to further chase down the UX writing rabbit hole.
This article proposes a handful of guidelines for writers and designers to use when evaluating UX copy. The author references literature from marketing and neuroscience to support these guidelines.
Companies invest in UX writing because good UX content lowers product abandonment, helps users meet their goals, and prevents friction or frustration. Vukovic offers tips on writing microcopy that feels natural to users. She says that effective microcopy is concise, consistent, easily consumable, in touch with users’ language and needs, and focused on specific user action.
This article starts off with an introduction to what UX writing is, why it is important, the difference between UX writing and marketing, and what UX writers do. It then gives a detailed overview of foundational writing guidelines and general rules to follow when writing copy for a digital medium.
A check list that focuses on 8 writing and design topics. Article addresses the writing process, audience, videos and multimedia, and general technical writing.
Article has multiple additional references for each topic.
In this piece Wright advocates for “purposeful” information built around comprehensive content strategy informed by user and company goals, as opposed to information in FAQ format. She describes issues with FAQs like duplicate and contradictory information, no clear content order, and repetitive grammatical structure. The concept of purposeful information is based on the idea that users access various types of content with a specific purpose in mind, and good content strategy can meet that purpose as well as organizational goals. Wright provides brief examples of good (and bad) information formats and leaves readers with a few tips for writing FAQ sections when it’s unavoidable.
Lee gives UX designers tips and tools to write UX copy that complements and enhances their work. She explains how designers and writers alike can create visual and text interface that empowers users to accomplish their goals. Lee uses examples from popular brands to show that good copy focuses on onboarding flow, is consistent, uses active voice, and is useful to the user.
She references Hemingway as a useful tool for UX writing (http://www.hemingwayapp.com/).
This article lays out five basic principles that focus on user experience. They are relying on intuition, working with others, and three perspectives to help you cut words from your copy.
Babich advocates for UX writing as an integral part of the product design process. UX writing should be part of the early design process so major UI (User Interface) issues are identified and avoided. Babich’s 16 tips on writing UI text encourage writing that is concise, consistent, clear, and appropriate for your user’s platform. If you’re stuck on how to write effective UX content, start here.
After a brief overview of what UX writing entails, the article dives straight into practical tips for good UX writing. There is also reference to real life examples of UX writing to illustrate the relevance of the tips. The list of “to-dos” for good UX writing are fairly exhaustive and range from intuitive tips such as “use simple language” and “be concise” to the more technical advice of “lead with the benefit” and “make content scannable”.
Today, words are one of the key differentiators of a brand or product. Mapes lists 10 examples of excellent microcopy from brands like Airbnb, Netflix, and InVision. She shows how calls to action, product landing pages, and error messages can be concise and useful while fun for the user and relevant to brand voice. Good microcopy adheres to the principle of “show, don’t tell” and is clever, emotive, and honest.
Bad microcopy confuses users and creates friction while good microcopy humanizes products and makes task completion easy. Mapes details 10 common UX writing issues in this article and gives advice for crafting effective copy. Some key “don’ts”: too much jargon, unclear action buttons, generic copy, vague error messages, and confirm shaming.
Mapes links to the same content strategy article she references in her article about UX writing at its best (also listed in this document).
Joe Daniels shares his list of biggest UX writing mistakes that someone could make. Those mistakes are sounding like a robot, talking in riddles, and typos and grammatical errors. He breaks down each one individually, giving real world examples and offers potential solutions for each.
Users look for products that are trustworthy and engaging. Good UX writing can help differentiate your product, create brand identity, and improve user experience. Kelsey provides tips for UX writing that helps users connect with your brand. She advocates for benefits-focused copy that is clear, concise, practical, and consistent.
Effective UX writing focuses on users’ needs and emotions at every step of a user flow. Marushevska explains how digital platforms impact UX language and says that UX writers should know the basics of UX design and usability, wireframing, and interfaces. She uses examples of good microcopy from various companies to share UX writing best practices, dos, and don’ts. Good UX writing is clear, concise, useful, simple, and empathetic.
Matic examines the ethical responsibilities of UX writers creating content for machine learning in e-commerce. She uses examples like Spotify’s selection of albums based on songs a user previously played to explain that UX writers can take general or explicit approaches to UX writing for machine learning. Explicit approaches provide users with more information about how and why they are seeing certain text or choices. Matic encourages an explicit approach any time user spending or sensitive subjects are involved and urges writers to ensure they use machine learning and its UX copy responsibly.
This article speaks to the importance of lending the same importance to UX copy as is done for product design. It provides practical tips for collaborating with copywriters, and ways in which UX writers can use their tools of trade.
This article lists the different kinds of UX writing and gives examples of each. It also mentions the kind of questions that a writer should consider when writing microcopy. There is a section on analyzing and testing which emphasizes that UX writing should not be treated as decoration or the finishing touch of an interaction and should instead be included as an integral part of the product design process. The section on “what makes UX writing good” lists qualities that make for good microcopy as well and emphasizes the importance of context and maintaining empathy for the end-user.
Alina Arhipova
This blog post provides an overview of UX writing, its impact on user experience, and some basic tips for effective UX copy. UX content/microcopy is meant to facilitate understanding and task completion for users while fulfilling branding or business goals. Effective UX writing considers the user’s perspective and is concise, clear, well edited, user tested, and even creative.
Milan Jovanovic
Milan Jovanovic lays out a list of “easy-to-use principles” to help designers write microcopy. The principles are to use short and snappy sentences, avoid technical jargon, pair visuals with words, use effective word choice and to use second and first-person viewpoints. He provides examples and reasons for each. Lastly, he explains the benefits of using current and up-to-date guides for better UX writing.
This is an instructive article about the nuts and bolts of UX writing. It emphasizes that UX writing is more than drafting a set of functional instructions and when done well, should help the user seamlessly interact with the software or product. It lists five tips for efficient and effective UX writing and talks the reader through each of them. In no particular order, they are, writing with utility and clarity, having a conversational tone, never making the user guess, testing with real users, and always considering system failures while writing copy.
Chatbot writers’ jobs are in high demand. The skills required to be a chatbot writer overlap with those required to be a UX writer. A Chatbot allows communication between the interface and the user by means of text. This article talks about UX writing in the context of chatbots and gives a list of 9 tips to fix some of the most common issues.
An engaging article that provides easily grasped general writing tips. Addresses how to reduce redundancies, improve comprehension, and increase engagement. Helpful as either an introduction or refresher to general UX writing concepts.
Pawel Utracik
A causal list of 10 tips to focus copy on the user. Has examples and animated gifs to help express basic ideas.
Author Carrie Cousins provides her 15 tips to UX writing, detailing why UX writing is a big deal. All steps are designed to help UX writers ensure their copy brings the design and user closer together.
A Checklist of 18 tips to improve UX writing. Article includes a brief description of each tip, and clear standardized examples.
Created to help Walmart associates create UX writing, this page concisely lists many elements to consider in constructing UX writing. It covers writing considerations (structure, tense, punctuation, voice and more) as well as types of UX writing (buttons, labels, instructional text and more). Each topic lists specific practices and provides examples.
An intermediate study of UX writing. Gives clear examples how to improve usability. Explains why these methods work, giving case studies and referencing Lisa Sanchez, Stanphill, Don Norman and the Interaction Design Foundation.
Good UX writers notice the smallest details, like the text used to encourage users to access products or services. Consistency and clarity of these terms is vital to site and app design because it determines how easy it is for users to access your product. Nosek provides an in-depth examination of verbs like sign up, sign out, log in, log out, register, and join alongside their corresponding nouns (e.g. sign-up or login) and analyzes data from a range of popular companies and websites to determine the most common phrasing combinations. He finds that there are two main verbiage/noun sets, but that most terms are widely used (except log on, log off, and register, which are less popular).
The author briefly defines UX writing, then lists 8 tips to help UX writers improve the quality of their work. Each tip includes a visual accompaniment that illustrates dos and don’ts.
James McGrath, says that data driven testing of content will help UX writers make better design decisions and bring value to users. McGrath lists five proven content tests for use, including the A/B testing method that Netflix uses to stay on top of the user experience game and the tree-testing method on Norman Nielson platform.
A consistent style of communication is helping YuLife, a start-up insurance provider, stay connected to its customers and aligned to its values even as the company has grown over five times. They adopted a content style guide early on that is by design friendly, empowering, and approachable, says its Happy Fiala. This article really drives home the importance of good UX writing even (or especially) at early stages of product development.
In this informative guide, Hariharan dives straight into the 10 most popular and useful tools technical writers could use to curate their UX writing. Neatly divided into five categories depending on the documentation phase, the screen captures explain each tool, advantages and disadvantages, and tips on how to use them.
Nicole Michaelis, Senior UX writer at Spotify, encourages UX writers to challenge conventional thinking on voice, tone, style and even consistency. Based on empathy maps and user research data to guide the process, she gives tips on how smaller companies can get started on the UX writing process by having senior UX writers mentor and coach their juniors, which would be a win-win-win for all.
In this interview, Senior Content Designer, Lynsey Vallandingham, describes how inclusivity is a design principle at HubSpot. Sharing the challenges and experiences on UX writing, Vallandingham, talks about use of research, personas, competitor analysis, and specific tools within the organization to design the best experience for their users. She emphasizes that UX writers can influence the overall content design process.
Katie Szymanski
UX Writers Collective founder, Bobbie Wood weighs in on the future impact of AI tools on UX writing. As Photoshop does for artists, AI tools like Sudowrite, CopyAI and Anyword will similarly benefit UX writers. AI can help at all stages of content design and writing process, from research and testing to localization.
Accessibility and Inclusive Design
Nick DiLallo emphasizes the crucial need for inclusive and accessible language in digital products. Nick believes that inclusive UX writing can help shape the evolution of language and remove barriers caused by racism, ableism, sexism, and stereotypes, and offers simple and clear ways to do this.
The old adage the pen is mightier than the sword may be truer than ever in our modern time. Scarlett Payne writes about the importance of word choice and formatting to promote inclusivity always and in all content. All people need to be able to use your product, and by doing right by the user, you’ll do right by your company. Scarlett includes a host of useful tips and resources for inclusive and accessible writing.
In this article, Emerson Schroeter defines inclusive writing and offers 5 helpful tips on how to adjust and write inclusive copy. Additionally, Emerson addresses missed opportunities for user-centered, inclusive writing in digital products.
Amy Thibodeau connects with folks who enjoy parsing the diction and syntax in digital products and advocates for writing with intention. Words do matter and intentional and inclusive language will not only invite all users to navigate a product, but will also give them a near-human experience while doing it. This means taking into deep consideration the potential experiences, truths, and mindsets of the users so that the digital product is supporting the user through a digital process.
Scarlett Payne emphasizes that accessible content is a human right and that there are myriad benefits to designing content that meets accessibility standards. This article offers brief and useful information on designing content for specific disabilities.
Article writing team:
Lead Writers: Sandra Youssef, Jules Hansen
UP
