14 Rules of UX Writing
Because the internet needed another listicle that’s more than sufficient, but nowhere near exhaustive.
In 2011 Pixar story artist Emma Coats tweeted a series of “storytelling rules” she compiled during her years working for the company. Even though the tweets are creeping toward a decade old, they are full of sage wisdom and writerly advice we all can still use in our work today.
For some reason, the Internet Powers That Be recently pushed this back into my sphere of web content. As I pored through the content again, there was so much I could tie back to the craft of UX writing (I prefer the term Content Design, but for discoverability purposes I’m willing to concede for this article).
UX Writing wasn’t defined in 2011, so I didn’t make a connection the first time I read Coats’ tweets — I was still unknowingly building a career in this emerging field. When I read them again this week, I found completely new meaning in her words.
Storytelling is the oldest form of communication and no matter which form of writing you practice, we’re all storytellers at heart. And for those of us who are UX Writers, a good user experience starts with a great customer story.
So, with a ton of inspiration from and gratitude for Emma Coats, here are 14 rules for UX writing:
#1. Never lose sight of why you are writing for the customer — empathy is at the core of everything we do.
Customer empathy allows UX Writers to express and respond to a wide range of emotions, consider the customer’s state of mind throughout the journey, and impact how they feel along the way.
Learn more:
Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking (Neilsen Norman Group)
Your Empathy Toolbox: Ensuring you design a product your users will need (Prototypr.io)
#2. What the customer wants to read is not necessarily fun to write.
UX writing is not all about creating surprise and delight. We spend a lot of our time crafting transactional copy that makes complex tasks feel simple.
Learn more:
In Defense of Boring UX (Shopify)
#3. Get to know yourself well. It will help you identify with your customers and write in the brand voice.
UX Writers need to be able to understand and respond to a wide range of human emotions. In order to do that, you need to know how to recognize your own emotions first. Also, writing from a brand voice requires embodying certain characteristics that may not come naturally to you. Figure out how to tap into them.
Learn more:
UX Writing: How Voice and Tone Can Transform the User Experience (Prototypr.io)
6 Habits of Highly Empathetic People (Berkeley.edu)
#4. Define what success looks like for your customers and reward them for trying along the way.
Effective UX Writing creates a reciprocal relationship with customers — they need to feel rewarded for the work they do. Figure out what the give and take is and then dramatize it.
Learn more:
The Reciprocity Princilple: Give Before You Take in Web Design (Nielsen Norman Group)
Understanding human behaviors in UX Writing (Prototypr.io)
#5. Figure out the UX constraints right away so you have enough time to write the most elegant way around them.
Sometimes UX Writers are left in the dark on this, so we need to constantly push for more information.
Learn more:
Understand Constraints to Enhance Creativity (Fresh Consulting)
#6. Don’t be passive. Have a point of view, give your customer options, and take the lead when they need it.
Want to reduce fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) for your customers? Be an active partner in their experience!
Learn more:
UX Writing Tips to Help Users Make Decisions in the Approach Avoidance Mindset (Prototypr.io)
#7. Write the customer story backwards. Figure out the end before you get to the beginning and middle.
This is closely related to rule #4. The middle part of the user experience gets messy as you iterate on the design. The end is what keeps you grounded.
Learn more:
How to use storytelling in your design process (UX Planet)
#8. Get all the words in your head out on paper even if they aren’t right. No one will ever need to see this part of the process.
This applies to all writing.
Read:
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
#9. When you get stuck, just write what you want to say instead of what you need to say. Refine from there.
Don’t get hung up on writing the right thing in the right way. Instead, just say what you want to say in the way you want to say it. Then refine.
Learn more:
Use Plain Language in UX Writing (UX Collective)
#10. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Everything feels important in the beginning. Learn to get uncomfortably concise.
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” — Mark Twain
Learn more:
UX Writing: How to do it like Google with this powerful checklist (UX Planet)
#11. Keep rewriting. You won’t know exactly how the customer journey plays out until the very end of the process.
There is a ton of pressure to get the UX copy right, right away. UX Writers need to continuously rewrite just like product designers need to continuously iterate to get the design just right. It’s OK and totally normal to not have the exact copy until the very end of the design process. Rewriting = better writing.
Learn more:
The Art of Writing is in the Rewriting (Writer’s Digest)
The art of content testing and measurement (User Testing Blog)
#12. Write the content first. Rearrange the building blocks of the design to support the flow of the story.
Become a practitioner and advocate of content-first design.
Learn more:
Write First: The Craft of Content-first Design (Google Design)
#13. If the content isn’t working, stop writing and give your brain space to think about something else. Trust the process.
My worst nightmare: “Hey. Can you help us figure out a labeling issue on this form? It’s due in an hour.”
Read (again):
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
#14. Let go of the content once it ships. It won’t be perfect. Learn, move on, and do better next time.
Also my worst nightmare: Anything I’ve written that’s over a year old.
Learn more:
UX designer’s guide to effective retrospectives (UX Collective)
That’s it! (for now)
This defintely isn’t a comprehensive list, so I’d love to keep the conversation going. What else would you add? Let me know in the comments!
PS: If you liked these graphics, I put them into a downloadable PDF for your own use.
