"Writing is a story with two sides. It's a conversation, not a monologue."
From ‘How to Write Clearly’ by Tom Albrighton
Thinking about writing as a conversation with your reader is quite new to me. I knew writing could be conversational, or written in a plain, straightforward style that’s similar to how we talk. But the idea of writing being a kind of back-and-forth, like a real-life chat with another person, has made me think a lot about the messages behind what I’m ‘saying’ to my reader when I write UX copy – and, crucially, what my reader is saying back to me…
Some things I might ‘say’ to my users:
👍 A bit of microcopy to explain what will happen when a certain action is taken: “Just to let you know, if you do this, this thing will happen, which will benefit you because of all of these lovely reasons.”
🙋A confirmation dialog before a user takes a non-reversible action: “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Totally up to you, but I just want to make sure you have all the facts first.”
👉 When a user has tried to do something the product won’t let them, for a good reason: “Ah, cool as it would be if you could do this thing, unfortunately you can’t, because of these very valid reasons. I know that might be frustrating, but, I can help you do the thing you wanted to do in this way instead and I’ll do what I can to make it as easy as possible for you. Follow me…”
Some things my users might ‘say’ to me:
☺️ When the next action is clear: “Ah this makes so much sense, I know what I’m doing, all good.”
🤬 When the next action isn’t clear: “What’s all this about? I have absolutely no idea why I can’t do what I want to do. This is absolutely ridiculous. So stupid. Waste of time. Absolutely fuming tbh.”
😩 When the consequences of an action aren’t clear in advance: “Omg what if I put all these details in then it just charges me straight away and I didn’t actually want to buy that hat and I don’t have enough money in my account right now and if it charges me I’ll go into my overdraft and get charged a million pounds arghggh I can’t deal with this I’m just gonna leave.”
Listen and learn
Thinking about what you and your users are saying to each other when crafting UX copy can make it a lot easier to put yourself in your users’ shoes. It can help you to write for and to them, rather than at them.
Just like in IRL conversations, user interface conversations aren’t (or shouldn’t be) one-sided. We have to listen properly and absorb what our users are telling us so we know if our words are actually helping or hindering. If we listen well to the responses of our users in the form of successful completion rates, drop-off points, and other types of feedback, we can also tweak the way we approach the conversation in a helpful way – just like when we adapt what we’re saying and how we’re saying it when we’re speaking to people off-screen.
Next time you write something in your UI copy, try thinking about what your user might say back to you in response. If it’s positive, great! If they burst into tears, swear at you (rude), or frown until their eyebrows become one little caterpillar, it's probably time to have a rethink about what you’re saying, how you're saying it, and how you might be able to change your user's reaction – and, consequently, their overall experience – for the better.
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