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👉 Useless design, lean UX writing and Frankenstein-like products 😂

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Hi! 👋 I apologize for such a short newsletter. I didn't have time to write a long one. Which I guess
 

UX Writing Summarized

September 24 · Issue #10 · View online
Every busy UX writer can save time reading this.
Hi! 👋
I apologize for such a short newsletter. I didn’t have time to write a long one.
Which I guess is fine by you. 1 page packed with the juicy stuff is way better then 11 full pages with all the details and words. 
***
You’re about to meet 3 new articles that touch on UX writing. 💪
First, you see each article that you can click on and read as a whole. 
But wait. 
Underneath the linked article you’ll find my super-summarized version of it, with an intro, three take-aways and a memorable quote. That’s all you need to know, really. 🤓

Now, let’s get to it. ⬇
Understanding human behaviors in UX Writing - Prototypr
blog.prototypr.io – Share
Whether you’re writing for an app or website, it’s important to understand the customers’ behavior at any given situation. UX Writers don’t have to be psychologists but they should have some level…
A good UX writer is a good persuader, says Anh Thu Nguyen. And when you want people to change their behavior, you better understand the 3 factors that allow them to do that. These are motivation, ability and trigger/prompt. See, you’ve just meet the Fogg Behavior Model. It looks like this:
In short: Make people want to act (motivation), make it easy to do (ability), and add that little extra (trigger, or prompt) to push their behavior. When motivation AND ability are high enough, triggers will succeed in creating action. 

The take-aways:
  1. Give people pleasure and pain. These are both great motivations. Add a message that make them smile while something is loading. Or turn the alarm on, by saying “Your device is at risk!”. ☢️
  2. Make your words easy to understand. If your audience is “anyone, anywhere”, you just need to make your UX writing lean. Simplicity changes behavior! 😲
  3. Write trigger-inducing, call-to-action copy. Insert motivation. Help people take their first steps (facilitator), assist them on where to get started (signal), and give them a great reason to act, even when their motivation is low (spark). ✏️
  
The quote: 
Even with the highest motivation and ability, there is no behavior without a trigger.

Bonus: 
📗Dr BJ Fogg at Stanford University has a book coming by December, 31 2019. It’s called Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything – and it sounds very interesting! Check out the book now.
Do you need a writer on your design team? - Curiosity by Design - Medium
medium.com – Share
The role of a UX writer has grown and evolved in recent years as more and more tech companies integrate writers into the design process. UX writing — a skill that combines content strategy and…
Here’s the thing:
Do design teams really need a specialized UX writer? Yes! Michelle Wu Cunningham, content strategist at SurveyMonkey, gives you 4 strong reasons why – and sprinkles some great ROI proof on top of that. A writer make the product voice consistent and typo-free, speeds up the process (oh, yes) and brings a different skill and mindset to the team. 

The take-aways:
  1. Typos and grammar mistakes erode people’s trust. A trained eye catches every tiny error. 👀
  2. A UX writer makes sure that everything sounds and feels the same everywhere (consistency, baby!). No more Frankenstein-like products with different personalities and conflicting terminology! 🧛🏻‍♂️
  3. Why do all big tech companies hire UX writers? Because of the value they bring to the bottom line. Google Hotel Search saw an engagement uplift by 17 percent when they changed the line of copy from “Book a room” to “Check availability”.

The quote: 
“Small changes matter. There’s clearly enormous value to unlock by adding writing skills to your design team.” 
Words and actions — a guide to microcopy - UX Collective
uxdesign.cc – Share
Take a look at a digital interface. What stands out? The colors? The iconography? The splashy photos? Sure. But if all those things were to disappear, what would happen to the design? How’s that…
Here’s the thing: 
The design is useless without words. Strangely, UX copy is still often an afterthought, sighs designer Milan Jovanovic. And writing microcopy isn’t that tricky. Jovanovic gives fellow designers a few easy-to-use principles for writing clear and convincing microcopy. The most important ones? Write snappy, write “you”, write fresh. 🌿

The take-aways:
  1. People do not read much. That’s why too much text is a problem. Single, snappy sentences are the solution. Make your writing economical and memorable. 💸
  2. Test microcopy with people using the product. Do they get it? If not, technical jargon is often the bad guy. Again, small straightforward words are everyone’s best friends. 👫
  3. Let visuals and words dance together. Photos, icons and illustrations can convey ideas with speed and brevity, while words bring clarity and help us interpret the ideas. Great example: When users mouse over navigation icons at Walmart’s website, labels in text are revealed (go see for yourself).

The quote: 
Words provide 95% of the communicative information we need. Remove them and the design is useless.
Tickets sold out! ✌️
I’m 😀😀😀 to tell you that all 300+ tickets to my 4 upcoming talks on UX writing have SOLD OUT. If you got a ticket: See you in Göteborg, Malmö, Stockholm and Jönköping starting new week. UX writing saves the world! ✨
Next!
The next issue will be out on October 29, 2019. 😎
Can’t get enough? You can always read all kick-ass issues of UX Writing Summarized.
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