Five tips for the UX copywriter

A UX-copywriter is a highly sought-after profession. He or she writes texts in the form of instructions, app labels, terms of use and app error messages.

Here are five recommendations for UX-copywriters to make their texts even better.

Formulate principles and intonations

The interface should have user interaction principles (e.g., clear, concise, useful). Each microtext should be composed according to these principles.

Remember to choose the tone with which you interact with the user. Sometimes a joke is appropriate, and sometimes a joking tone will only irritate the person.

Choose the right wording

Read how users discuss certain things online. You can use search engine tools to select wording. For example, you can use Google Keyword Planner services. For example, on a medical site, visitors are more likely to use the phrase “Find a doctor” rather than “Find a specialist.

Research

Conduct regular usability testing of your prototype, and learn about other products on the market. Don’t forget about alpha and beta testing as well. This will help you figure out which wording on buttons and other elements will make more sense.

Fix bugs

If the user doesn’t get something right, they become frustrated as they have to deal with the problem on their own. Be polite and courteous: this applies to incorrectly entered passwords or pages with errors. Suggest what needs to be corrected, if possible, do it yourself and report the corrected error. For example, on websites of major airlines, users often enter the name in Cyrillic when purchasing a ticket, in which case it is automatically displayed in Latin.

Use frequently asked questions

Use research results, users’ comments and their practical experience to modify micro-texts. Otherwise, you’ll lose some customers or keep answering the same questions. FAQ questions should be built into your manual. For example, if you have a medical site with the option of making a house call, you could make a pop-up about the cost of this service when making the call so that the user won’t have unnecessary questions.

Be guided by user experience

When writing user interface texts, be guided by the experience of the app’s users, which is the most important thing. Learn how they behave and what phrases make the most sense to them when they use your platform’s interface.