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UX writing: Using voice principles and a tone map to write consistently
UX writing is a discipline that looks at all the text in your user interface. It’s closely linked to content design and content strategy — but here I use the term ‘UX writing’ to specifically describe all the writing that happens when designing user interfaces for digital products.
(In contrast, content design, as defined by Sarah Richards, focuses on what content best serves a user’s needs, and content strategy, defined by Ben Estes, looks at a long-term strategy that uses content to achieve a particular strategic vision.)
Writing clearly and consistently is an essential part of user experience design. The goal of UX writing is to support real people who are undergoing a given user journey.
Many things can impact how your writing comes across, such as:
- word choice (are the words formal? are they casual?)
- word length (are we using long words or short words?)
- phrase length (are we using compound sentences?)
- use of parts of speech (should we use lots of adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns?)
- grammar and syntax (what conventions are we sticking to?)
…and, if you’re not consistent with these decisions, it will lead to a harder-to-use digital product.
In this series of articles, I’m planning to explore tools and techniques for good UX writing. In this article, we’ll look at writing voice principles and using a tone map.
What are voice and tone?
Voice and tone are two words that get used interchangeably. Understanding the difference is vital to good UX writing.
Voice refers to the mood or attitude that gets communicated across an experience. It’s part of the brand’s personality, and is therefore something that should be considered in light of the overall brand strategy. As pointed out by Chris Do and the team at The Futur, your brand is not your logo, product, or marketing assets. Instead, it is the gut feeling a person has about your product or organisation.
Think about these examples: how do you feel about Innocent Smoothies? How do you feel about Nike? When…
