Design: Writing User-Interface Text

We discuss two topics in this column:

• using verbs as nouns in user interfaces
• UX roles in organizations

Ask UXmatters is here to answer your questions about user experience matters. If you want to read our experts’ responses to your questions in an upcoming edition of Ask UXmatters, please send your questions to: [email protected]. Read More

Digital experiences get better through user-centric design. Among the various elements that contribute to a seamless user experience, do not underestimate the role of textual content. When you use text strategically, it can improve the brand value of a product, Web site, or application whether by guiding users, conveying information, or establishing a meaningful connection with customers.

In this article, I’ll describe the art of harnessing the potential power of textual content in UX design to create compelling, memorable Web pages.

The Psychology of Content Consumption

Understanding how users process and interact with textual content is a crucial aspect of effective UX design. Textual content is the primary means of communicating with your users through a product or service. If text fails to engage users or convey the right messages, the entire user experience can suffer. Read More

Even small text changes can have a big impact. The words on a Web site are not just labels; they’re meant to influence people and guide them to take some action—for example:

• signing up for an email newsletter
• making a donation to a nonprofit
• adding a product to a shopping cart, then completing the checkout process
• watching an explainer video

Writing the text for Web pages or apps to guide and help people is known as UX writing. Without this text, visitors or users would have to guess what to do next. Read More