User experience writing has become a fundamental part of the development process of mainly digital products such as websites, apps, newsletters, e-commerce, and others. it is also getting some involvement in the physical world for physical goods and signs.
UX writing is everywhere, even if it is unnoticed, but the role of UX writing is getting more important and having increased attention as the need to improve the user experience keeps growing around the world in order to compete for users’ satisfaction.
What is UX writing?
UX writing is the practice of creating the texts the people see and hear when they are interacting with any interface, it is about creating a conversation between the users and the product, and guide them through the product, by setting the right words on a user interface such as buttons, menus, error messages, etc. These words are often referred to by the term microcopy.
UX writing has grown as a practice and a role mainly at technology companies, and it has its unique constraints: it should be extremely concise yet communicate the meaning in a creative way at the same time, as it should help both the users and business to achieve their goals, which requires two fundamental qualifications: the understanding of the product/interface and its uses, as well as understanding and interacting with the users as human beings. The art lies in conveying technical functionalities on a human level.
The UX writing process is an inevitable part of UI/UX design. During the product (App, Website, Service etc.) development process, UX writers start working from the very beginning on product concept development. An ideal workflow is the following: a marketer, designer, and writer set clear goals for each page of the website or screen of the application, plan its logic, agree on how to combine visuals and text. Then a writer develops the concept and texts, and a designer gives it a shape.
So, in short, UX writing works together with interaction design and visual design to create a convenient experience for users with different abilities and backgrounds, with the ability to overcome the linguistic, geographical, and cultural boundaries.
Why UX writing is important?
Although the term is relatively new, the importance of writing for the user experience has always been an important part of the production, UX writing is getting more and more important in the digital products designing process as a result of the increasing complexity of the digital products that form a huge part of our daily lives nowadays, and thus requires clear and smooth guidance, and here where comes the role of UX writing. It produces the microcopy of these products, and the microcopy can make or break the user experience. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your user interface is, if it’s full of confusing, misleading, or grammatically incorrect texts, the user will be left distinctly unimpressed and unpleased, the UX writing creates the tone of the product and enhances navigation simplicity.
UX writing should be done properly in order to not leave space for misunderstanding, misinterpretations, or guessing because if the text is not done right the user will have a fixed unpleasant opinion on your product, some specialists claim that good UX Writing can raise user engagement as much as 17% with just a single button. This is how important UX writing is for your app’s success. And that’s why you need a UX writer on board with any digital project you have.
Another aspect of the user experience effects on a digital product is for this product to have consistent and special user characteristics and identity that make it stand out in the ocean of digital products and be distinctive. UX writing helps to create guidelines for the product’s interface to set the way a user will interact with it with pleasure.
How Does UX Writing Add Value To The Product?
UX writers have a great effect on the development and success of any product in the digital market, and the benefits they can bring could be crucial in user acceptance and market share of the application or website or any other digital product.
Here are some of the main benefits that UX writing could offer:
Elevating designs:
Visual design is the main impression on the user, and is always elevated by great content, with the UX writers ensuring everything they write reflects the voice of the brand – it’s one less thing for the UI designer to worry about.
Realistic testing:
A UX writer makes sure the microcopy is accurate and reflective of the product and brand before running the tests to validate the usability of a design or the product concept, which will give realistic and reliable results by ensuring the correctness of the microcopy and designs.
Clarifies uncertainties:
New products come with a learning curve, and users need some guidance at times, UX writing helps make the product experience clear and intuitive, eliminating any unanswered questions and building trust between the user and the product. UX writer is the intermediary between the two.
Humanizes the Product:
UX writer could help give the product its personality, and differentiates it from other competitors, with a touch of friendliness and interactivity with the user. Using human language and simplifying the technical terms to make it understandable and clear.
High-quality output:
With a good microcopy, the product will get the most of all the stakeholders either developers or users, meaning that developers and other stakeholders will be setting focus on the design as a whole, while UX writing ensures the users getting the best experience possible at the same time.
When UX writing is correctly involved in the development process of any product, it will have a great impact on the success of the product by ensuring that the end-users will have the best experience through all the touchpoints, through using simple and friendly texts, yet delivering the correct meanings to make using the interface an easy task for all kind of users, which will be reflected clearly on the success of the product and making it stand out and have its share among other products and competitors.
