UX Writing - The power of tiny text

Have you ever downloaded an app on your mobile phone and noticed the small sections of text that guided you through a short tour of the app and its features?

Or, when you shop online, ever noticed the blurb describing the product you’re interested in and a prompt to say, ‘Add to cart’?

Those snippets of text are called microcopy, more commonly known as user experience (UX) writing.

UX writing is all about enabling, guiding and empowering your users to navigate, interact and take specific actions on your platform, giving them a sweet, sweet user experience.

Clear, concise UX writing welcomes and gently ushers your users through a seamless journey through your app or website and is key to creating a positive experience that will your customers craving more.

​Bad microcopy, however, can drive your customers away from your platform or site, see them abandon their full carts or make them lose trust in your brand.

So, what really is UX Writing?

Concise, contextual, action orientated and authentic - These are the core pillars of UX writing.

Microcopy is the short, snappy sentences found on websites, apps and products, designed to guide your users on what to do, quickly provide context about your brand, your product or service and help your users navigate around your online space.

Microcopy is everywhere across the digital space from the headlines that catch your interest, to the call-to-action statements that drive you all the way through to check out to the disclaimers that pop up around the usage of cookies on a website.

The reason UX writing is stitched into almost every digital space, is because its core function is to combat anything that might make the user’s experience anything but seamless. It nudges users through the flow you want them to take, tells users how to do things on your site and motivates them to take action through the use buttons and prompts.

How to Write Impactful Microcopy

There are a few things to keep in mind when writing microcopy help your tiny text pack punch.

Here are four tips on how to maximise your microcopy.

1. Keep it concise

It’s called microcopy for a reason, so keep your text simple, straight-to-the-point and easy to understand. UX writing should be a subtle guide that feels intuitive to the user, so much so, they hardly notice it.

An example of concise microcopy can be found on the home page of MYOB.

They’ve taken a rather complex solution, broken it down into a simple, single sentence explaining the solution and paired it with a strong, to-the-point call-to-action encouraging users to try the software for free.

They then followed up with a secondary, short, sharp sentence that is designed to encourage users to take action and receive a 50% discount off their software package as a reward.

Image from MYOB.

2. Create and curate context

The last thing you want is for your customers to arrive on your site and feel disorientated or worse, venture to another page on your site and feel lost without any signposts (microcopy!) to help ground them.

By creating and curating context, you’re subtly giving your users signposts that help them figure out exactly how to interact with your website or app and empowers them with the knowledge on how to take those steps. This empowerment is what gains and solidifies your users’ trust.

The empowerment makes the journey through your site or app much more achievable and accessible, resulting in higher user experiences that translate into stronger user trust, increased loyalty and sales conversations.

Udemy offers a great example of creating and curating context on their home page. Immediately users understand what Udemy offer from their opening sentences.

Then you see some key topics listed out that create a clearer idea of the content type Udemy specialise in. Then the blurb under the ‘Python’ heading, offers yet another layer of context around the value the course has to offer potential users.

Image from Udemy.

3. Bring the action

UX writing is often strategically used to encourage users to take action. Those actions can vary depending on the business or service.

Harnessing microcopy for sales is like nudging a potential customer in the direction we want them to go which is towards to the thank you page at the end of a purchase. Microcopy should be strategic and subtle and shouldn’t feel like a pushy salesman.

UX writing can also be used to motivate users to click a button, watch a video, download a free e-book or join up to a newsletter by giving their email address when prompted.

An example of encouraging action on their site, Shopify have multiple different action cues on their home page. Yet all of the action cues are aimed at the same end goal - to get potential users to sign up.

In this example, the call-to-actions are shown as buttons and also as a hyperlinked piece of text.

Microcopy paired with a call-to-action is powerful because the benefits the user will experience are communicated followed up by a clear and easy way (button or hyperlink) to start the journey and receive the said benefits.

Image from Shopify.

4. Your brand’s authentic voice

UX writing might be about tiny text, but they can have an almighty power.

It’s not all headlines and catch phrases. It’s also the little gaps and opportunities across your site or app where you can use UX writing to communicate your brand’s personality, values, mission and vision without all the extra words.

This helps users to connect with your brand and start to establish a level of trust and loyalty.

A prime example of where microcopy is used to give users a very clear idea of the brand’s personality is on the Old Spice website.

Using words like ‘awesomeness’, ‘good smellingness’ and ‘manly amount’ quickly establish that this brand doesn’t take themselves too seriously, they have a sense of humour and are geared towards men.

Image by Old Spice.

The wrap on UX writing

UX writing is all about enabling, guiding and empowering your users to navigate, interact and take specific actions on your platform, giving them a sweet, sweet user experience.

Next time you write microcopy be sure to keep in mind the four pillars of good UX writing, being: concise, contextual, action orientated and authentic.

Don’t have the time or the patience for crafting impactful microcopy?

Don’t get stuck in the micro details or copy for that matter.

Let me handle the tedious, little details and be free to focus on the bigger picture.

Drop me a line at hello@lexiguggercopywriter.com.au or call me on 0487 458 336 today.