UX writing: what designers need to know.
UX writing isn’t “improve the text embedded in the design”.
It’s all about how you deliver the message to get effective results. UX writers suggest how to make messages stronger and more clear. So they’re more than just wordsmiths: they’re designers too.
A lot of people think a UX writer is the same as an editor. It reduces product design productivity and takes away UX writing’s benefits.
We design every product around the axis of user interaction. How do people interact with one another? By showing shapes? By whistling? By showing colors?
Everything starts with words.
It’s all about what to say, where to say it, how to say it, and why. The most effective user experience copy helps you to succeed:
- Be lovable.
- Reduce dissatisfaction, ambiguity, and fears among users.
- Reduce support costs, protests, and product abandonment.
- Make the users’ expectations reasonable.
- Don’t blame the company for product restrictions.
- Let them see the same behavior and reaction they expect.
- Get better feedback based on user behavior.
- Explain what the user needs to know.
Let’s recap:
UX writing isn’t editing texts the designer put in the wireframe.
The UX writer is in charge of designing the appropriate interaction using the tools of words, language, language capabilities, and different ways of expressing messages.
