{"id":2020,"date":"2019-05-22T12:50:30","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T10:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobivery.com\/ux-writing-tips-to-improve-the-copy-of-your-app\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:40:47","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T12:40:47","slug":"ux-writing-tips-to-improve-the-copy-of-your-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobivery.com\/en\/ux-writing-tips-to-improve-the-copy-of-your-app\/","title":{"rendered":"UX Writing: Tips to improve the copy of your app"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

A couple of months ago I went to a mini-conference about Psychology + UX in Madrid and I wrote the post What does psychology have to do with UX?<\/a><\/span>. Since then, I always keep in mind the importance of the copy in every design. In that post I explained a couple of examples about how copies failed just for not being clear and how they cost a lot of abandon users in their apps. This topic interested me and I made a research about UX writing<\/em> and now I am telling you guys what I learnt and what are my conclusions.<\/p>\n

First, we going to see what is UX writing<\/strong>, then common mistakes that we should avoid and finally how to improve the copy in determinate components of the app. I hope you like it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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What is UX writing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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UX Writing is the discipline that takes care that every word appeared in the interface of a product gives coherence to the design and defines the user experience.<\/strong> We are talking about text in buttons, headlines, error messages, notifications, tooltips, call to actions and so on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We have to keep in mind that we don\u2019t read, we scan.<\/strong> I already commented this in that post but, again, the reason for we don’t read is\u200a that \u200awe are on a mission, we need to conclude our task and we just pay attention to the thing that interests us<\/strong>. We do not have time to read more than necessary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Common mistakes that we should avoid<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

1- Mixing first and third person<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It can cause confusion to see both forms in the same context.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t: \u201cCheck your new card in My Cards.\u201d
\nDo: \u201cCheck the new card in My Cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2- Pronouncing “We” and how awesome is the app<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Try to focus on user and what they can do with your app rather than what you or your app is doing for them.
\n
\nDon\u2019t: \u201cTo get you started, we\u2019re showing you popular posts on Facebook.\u201d
\nDo: \u201cGet started with these popular posts on Facebook.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s an exception for this rule\u200a, \u200awhen a human actually does take action for a user, such as reviewing an appeal or responding to a suggestion. In such case, the use of \u201cwe\u201d is appropriate.
\n
\nDon\u2019t: \u201cYour appeal will be reviewed, and you will receive a response within a few days.\u201d
\nDo: \u201cWe\u2019ll review your appeal and respond within a few days.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

3- Use capital letters unnecessarily<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Capital letters are less legible. Lower case is faster and permits reading by word units, while all capitals tend to be read letter by letter. You could use, in some cases caps in maybe<\/em> short titles, headlines, buttons or menu items.
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\nDon\u2019t: \u201cYOUR CARDS\u201d
\nDo: \u201cYour cards\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4- Absolute and Over-promising… is a risk<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Never say \u201cnever\u201d. Also, try to don\u2019t brag\u200a, \u200asay what a feature does but don\u2019t say how great it is.
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\nDon\u2019t: \u201cWe\u2019ll never send you promo emails\u201d
\nDo: \u201c You\u2019ll receive only important information\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t: \u201cAmazing deals at places you\u2019ll love\u201d
\nDo: \u201cAll your savings in one place\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5- Do not use gender ambiguity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Generalize!, talk about them, people, user. Avoid using “he”, “she”, “girls”, “boys”, etc.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t: \u201cYou can see his\/her comments\u201d
\nDo: \u201cYou can see their comments\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6- Use culturally specific idioms<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/strong>Culturally specific language can be difficult to translate and may be inappropriate in some contexts or cultures.
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\nDon\u2019t: \u201cYou really hit it out of the park!\u201d
\nDo: \u201cGreat job!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Tips to improve the copy of our app<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

1- Catchy CTA’s<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The CTA copy is the text which tells user what action will happen if the button is pressed. This should catch users attention quickly and lead them right to the action. <\/strong>Normally they don’t have more than two words and stand out among the other components <\/strong>on the layout. So we will try to use bright colors and big size, (so easily noticeable and readable). Is recommendable to use verbs in the imperative form to encourage people and give strong and direct instructions of what users can do next.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2- Concise alerts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Alerts and dialogs inform users about a task and can contain critical information, require decisions, or involve multiple tasks. Toast or snackbars inform the process that the app has performed or will perform. This copy should be concise and clear to not get confuse users<\/strong>. Here are some points for improve them:<\/p>\n