Words are powerful. Microcopy is one of the workhorses of your user experience, but also can help you better express your unique brand personality, and boost your marketing efforts through appealing to just the right emotion at just the right time. Slides are from a talk originally given at Better By Design Conference in Madison, WI, on August 18, 2017.

1. Small But Mighty:
Why Microcopy
Matters.
Caroline M. Sober-James | Director of User Experience, Acumium

2. “For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.”

3. What is microcopy?

4. Microcopy is one of the workhorses of your user experience.
Motivates users to take action.
Reinforces the bond between them and your brand.
Helps people accomplish goals more easily.
Provides clarity, direction, and instruction.
Tells users what happened.
Provides reassurances and addresses concerns.
Serves as an expression of empathy with your users.
It makes people feel things.

5. How do you do it (and get it right)?
Make it part of your design.
Talk to your users.
Use the words they use.
Use your brand voice.
Speak plainly; no jargon.
Keep it short, 8-10 words max.
Be consistent.
Test and optimize it.

6. The Internet is full of wolves. We must protect ourselves.
“What, exactly, are you going to do with my email address?”
“What am I committing to if I sign up for this?”
“Are you going to start posting on Facebook on my behalf?”
“Is this really free? What’s the catch?”
“Do I need to save this? If I click away, do I lose important info?”
“What should I expect here? Is this going to take a long time?”

7. Microcopy answers the voices in users’ heads.
“This is a low volume newsletter.”
“We really hate spam, too.”
“You can unsubscribe at any time.”
“Try it free for 14 days.”
“Your data is yours. Export it at any time.”
“Create an account, and we can keep you updated on progress.”

8. Microcopy helps with conversions.
It’s the one line that kills checkout errors.
It’s a one-word CTA update that boosts conversions 162%.
It’s a button worth $300 million.

9. And microcopy isn’t just about UX.

10. There are lots of fun examples.

11. Microcopy gives hints on how to use a thing.
Source: http://www.yelp.com

12. Microcopy reveals options.
Source: http://www.quora.com

13. Microcopy addresses concerns.
Source: http://www.tumblr.com

14. Microcopy provides clarity…and sometimes comic relief.
Source: http://muzzleapp.com

15. Microcopy makes the best of a bad situation.
Source: http://www.imdb.com

16. Microcopy turns legal mumbo jumbo into plain speak.
Source: https://www.shopify.com/legal/terms

17. Microcopy introduces delight, and reinforces brand.
Source: http://www.slack.com

18. http://goodmicrocopy.com/

19. “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?”

20. Thank you.