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Writing for buttons (and everything else): How UX teams can craft stronger copy
- 1. 👋 Hello, Confab AndrewSchmidt, Slack
- 5. WRITING FOR BUTTONS WRITINGFOR BUTTONS WRITING FOR BUTTONS WRITING FOR BUTTONS and everything else
- 6. Working with designers Craftinguser flows Establishing your team Writing microcopy
- 7. Working with designers Establishingyour team Crafting user flows Writing microcopy
- 8. Mostly, writing microcopyis like writing anything else. WRITING MICROCOPY
- 9. A few keydifferences: • Users ≠ audience. They’re here to accomplish a task. • You’re working on a cross-functional team. • It’s weirder. There’s jargon. WRITING MICROCOPY
- 10. Four handy rulesfor writing microcopy WRITING MICROCOPY
- 11. 1. Be radicallyhuman " • You have to choose to do this, actively, every day. • And it gets harder over time. WRITING MICROCOPY
- 12. 2. Look foremotional moments, and just be part of them • This is the opposite of “making a moment happen.” • Don’t do that. • Instead, this is about finding the moments that are already there. WRITING MICROCOPY
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- 14. 3. Get fresheyes on it • Editing someone else’s work makes you feel like a genius. • Be that genius for your teammates. • Ask your teammates to be that for you. WRITING MICROCOPY
- 15. 4. Be theexpert • Taste & instincts come from time & experience. • Yours is the judgment we’re following. • But matters of taste can be hard to defend. WRITING MICROCOPY
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- 17. 1. Be radicallyhuman 2. Look for emotional moments 3. Get fresh eyes on it 4. Be the expert Writing microcopy
- 18. Writing microcopy Establishing yourteam Crafting user flows Working with designers
- 19. Crafting user flows Writingmicrocopy Establishing your team Working with designers
- 20. This is yourmost important relationship, your partner on that Chicago picnic. WORKING WITH DESIGNERS
- 21. Because… • You’re facingthe same problems… • …and balancing the same feedback. • And, of course: you’re going to make things together. WORKING WITH DESIGNERS
- 22. Most designers havenever worked with a writer. It’s up to you to make this work. WORKING WITH DESIGNERS
- 23. 1. Trust eachother’s instincts WORKING WITH DESIGNERS
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- 25. 2. Have fuzzyconversations WORKING WITH DESIGNERS
- 26. WORKING WITH DESIGNERS Writer’sskillset Designer’s skillset
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- 29. 3. Play byimprov rules • You’re going to be asking your designer to try a lot of things that sound silly. • You need to be willing to try silly things, too. • Never give an immediate “no.” Start with “yes, and…” WORKING WITH DESIGNERS
- 30. A quick noteabout humans… WORKING WITH DESIGNERS
- 31. Trust each other’sinstincts Have fuzzy conversations Play by improv rules Working with designers
- 32. Writing microcopy Establishing yourteam Working with designers Crafting user flows
- 33. Working with designers Writingmicrocopy Establishing your team Crafting user flows
- 34. This is theheart of it, where UX writing comes into its own. CRAFTING USER FLOWS
- 35. This is whereyou do your best work • You keep the product conceptually simple… • But also appropriately complicated. • And, yeah: you choose the very best words. CRAFTING USER FLOWS
- 36. Keep the productconceptually simple • Only add nouns as a last resort. • Because: each new noun is just one more thing your users have to learn. CRAFTING USER FLOWS
- 37. But also appropriatelycomplicated • Don’t just write better words. Create the space for better language. • By: rethinking, reworking, and redesigning. • That’s the difference between UX writing & copywriting. CRAFTING USER FLOWS
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- 39. Don’t write fora single screen. Write for the whole flow. CRAFTING USER FLOWS
- 40. CRAFTING USER FLOWS Exampleflow: “The free trial offer”
- 41. Example flow: “The freetrial offer” CRAFTING USER FLOWS User can accept offer → ✓ User can’t, but someone else can → ✓ User can’t accept offer → X
- 42. Don’t start withthe simplest path. Start with the most common. CRAFTING USER FLOWS
- 43. Example flow: “The freetrial offer” CRAFTING USER FLOWS User can accept offer → ✓ User can’t, but someone else can → ✓ User can’t accept offer → X ✓ User can’t, but someone else can →
- 44. Keep the productconceptually simple. But also appropriately complicated. Don’t write for a screen. Write for the whole flow. Start with the most common path. Crafting user flows
- 45. Writing microcopy Working withdesigners Crafting user flows Establishing your team
- 46. Working with designers Craftinguser flows Writing microcopy Establishing your team
- 47. There are manyways to establish a team. Here’s what we did. ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM
- 48. 1. We startedby taking requests ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM
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- 50. 🏁 ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM Kickoff Projectmanager Designer Engineers UX writer Life of a project
- 51. 2. We pairedup with designers • We started working as an embedded member of cross- functional teams. • This gets us involved earlier. • And it’s a good way to work. We found our groove. ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM
- 52. 🏁 ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM Kickoff Projectmanager Designer Engineers UX writer Life of a project
- 53. Downsides? • Lots ofcontext switching. • As the workload increases, we’ve wound up shipping rougher and rougher drafts. ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM
- 54. 3. What’s next? •We’re getting more choosey, covering just the projects we think we can contribute to most. • And we’re going to try a menu of services for the projects we aren’t covering. ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM
- 55. We’re making thisup as we go along, but we’re making it up together. ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM
- 56. 1. Start bytaking requests 2. Next, pair up with designers 3. Finally, get choosey Establishing your team
- 58. • Trust eachother’s instincts • Have fuzzy conversations • Play by improv rules WORKING WITH DESIGNERS CRAFTING USER FLOWS • Keep the product conceptually simple • But appropriately complicated • Start with the most common path ESTABLISHING YOUR TEAM • Start by taking requests • Next, pair up with designers • Finally, get choosey WRITING MICROCOPY • Be radically human • Look for emotional moments • Get fresh eyes on it • Be the expert
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