The quality of writing used in an application or website is of immense importance. The tonality, theme and the language of UX writing plays a crucial role in conveying the message of a brand to the ultimate users. Lisa Sanchez, the co-founder of Should We Studios, defines UX writing as the practice of designing the words that people see as they interact with a digital product. It broadly involves the designing of the conversation between the product and the relevant user.
All the prompts that people encounter when using software come under UX writing. These words nudge and guide people along their journey on software or app. The crux of UX writing involves facilitating seamless communication between users and digital products being used by them.
The key role of UX writing involves coming up with an ideal match of functions, images, and graphics to create an interesting, consistent and inspiring narrative. While some companies hire specialized UX writers, in other firms, it is the responsibility of the UX designer to take care of the issues regarding UX writing. Here are some of the major responsibilities that fall on the shoulders of such professionals:

• Making and following the writing style guidelines of a company
• Creating and executing a short-term and long-term content strategy
• Writing microcopy for CTA buttons, pop-up windows, and important messages
• Long-form copywriting
• Writing for the various surveys and forms featured on a software
• Collaborating with different departments to align various companies with the key goals of a company
• Understanding the important product metrics data and subsequently aligning it with the relevant content strategy

Among all the tasks conducted by UX writers, writing microcopies is especially quite important. A microcopy largely refers to any single phrase or word that is used for the purpose of grabbing the attention of discerning users, while bringing more relevant information to them that aids them to navigate through a website or app.

Importance of good UX writing
As an increasing number of digital products are being produced globally, to succeed in this highly competitive market, it has become vital to develop products that are both easily understood and used. UX designers strive to create products that consumers can use without thinking about which step to take at each moment. Even if there are not too many words used in an interface, the pointers provided in the product through UX writing is extremely crucial. All apps and websites require microcopies like terms and conditions, error messages, buttons and menu copy, and security notes. Information on product usage featured in software may also come under UX writing. A product is largely as good as how it is communicated. Hence, UX designers cannot neglect the aspect of UX writing, or their users stand the chance of getting lost, becoming weary and ultimately dropping off at some point in their distinct usage journey.
Creating a bond between a product and the user is crucial to maintain a proper level of communication that is understandable and human-friendly. The way an app or website speaks to the users would largely define their behaviour towards a particular product. If the language present on a digital product is unclear, then there are chances that the user would not understand what is going on. This can invariably be a risky situation online, as in many cases, there is only a single chance to make the users understand what the particular product is trying to convey.
Bad UX writing can even ruin an extremely attractive interface. Hence, UX experts must provide a significant emphasis on this aspect.

Categories