Writing for Design
Creating user experience through language
Novel writing and journalism may be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the career of a writer. However, now more than ever, the skill, impact, and need for writing professionals runs through every industry with an audience. The entertainment industry needs scriptwriters that can craft the next great pilot. Advertising needs copywriters that can pen infectious headlines. And, in the world of product development, user experience (UX) writers are rapidly making their mark in the world of design.
UX writing, like other writing professions, cares about the voice, tone, and structure of language. However, at its core, UX writing is indeed a design function. Mastering UX writing means becoming adept at both language construction as well as design thinking. In his book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink makes the argument, “Story is just as integral to the human experience as design.” In the world of UX design, I’d argue that they’re one and the same.
UX writing is by no means rocket science; however, it would be a disservice to suggest that designing content is a task that can be handled flippantly. Indeed, learning some of the essential skills of effective content design may even mean shedding away previously held notions about writing. Here are some pitfalls to avoid when dabbling in the dark art of content design.
Don’t be the scholar: the problem of passivity
In academia, you’re taught to hit word counts, given credit for using words like plethora, and encouraged to cram sources into essays. However, in the digital world, many of these same standards don’t hold up. In interface writing, shorter is better; citations are nonexistent, and using the word plethora, in any context, just makes you sound like a snob.
The passive voice works well in scholarly writing, as it lets you both sound authoritative and lets you effortlessly inflate sentences. However, this intellectual style can come off both stodgy and superfluous in an interface.
Make your writing accessible. There are no brownie points given to the writer that attempts to sound smart. Comprehension is currency when designing for an interface. Any hurdle a user experiences when scanning the UI can lead to a drop in engagement, a drop in click-through rates, and ultimately, your user dropping you.
Aim for brevity. The least amount of words you can use to get your message across, the better. Concision goes hand-in-hand with comprehension. Regardless if your content is being viewed on mobile or web, if you can get your message across in simple, brief language, your users will thank you and the internet will be a much better place.
Don’t be a salesman: the (over)active voice
While scholarly writing can be passive (and about as exciting as a glass of room temperature oat milk), issues can also arise when the pendulum of tone and voice swings too far in the opposite direction.
Prevent your content from reading like an excerpt from the Sunday sales page. You may have an incredible product that solves a huge problem for users. You may know all the stats and facts about how your solution is going to enhance lives or, possibly, change the world. Your goal, now, is to communicate that in the interface — but just not all at once.
Think about your main value proposition and carefully build your language around it. While it’s important to lead with the benefits, rattling off a list of perks can make your interface sound like a pushy car salesman.
Be wary of the exclamation point! The experience you’re designing may be delightful, but tagging on an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence is an easy hack to convey excitement that only occasionally works. Indeed, too many exclamation points may even make your interface come off disingenuous. Think twice any time your pinky finger drifts over to that panicky punctuation.
DON’T YELL AT THE USER. There are many ways to manipulate language to add emphasis or relay excitement — writing in all caps is not one of them. Unless your style guide calls for the consistent use of all caps, stay away from this casing. Not only is all caps jarring on the eyes, it may also hinder readability.
Be the UX writer: finding the human in the UI
There’s a fine line between language that’s excited versus frantic, empathetic versus apologetic, and — frankly — authentic versus disingenuous.
Effective content design guides users through their journey. It requires stringing the right words together to inspire a person to get started. It also means acknowledging a user when they complete a task and letting them know they’ve done a great job! Sometimes — it also means crafting the subtle rejection that is an error message.
Whereas many other forms of writing are meant to provoke thought, content design aims for readers to think as little as possible. As a UX writer, you’re designing a language experience that meets users wherever they are in their journey. It’s an art, a science, as well as a responsibility to be an evangelist for the human being on the opposite side of the interface.
This is an exciting time for writers and designers. Technology and digital consumption have created a professional renaissance for people that can marry art and storytelling with utility and function. Individuals with an eye for detail and a healthy disregard for convention are building the narrative of our information age…. And who better to sit at the helm of building a narrative than a writer.
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Hey, I’m JR. Connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up with my thoughts on writing, design, and user experience.
