How Typeform upped my UX writing game
In the third week of my Microcopy course, the full potential of UX writing dawned on me. I already knew that smart microcopy can make a huge difference to user experience — but when I used Typeform for a course assignment, I realised that it can have an unexpected side effect for writers too.
Dull microcopy, dull writing
Six months ago I randomly typed “UX writing” into Google, and a new universe appeared in the search results. Before then I had only been vaguely aware that there was such a thing. As a content editor, I had worked on occasional UX writing tasks, but I hadn’t really seen it as a separate discipline.
I promptly decided to make up for my ignorance on the subject and joined the UX Writing Hub’s course Microcopy and UX writing. In week 2 and 3 of the course, we practiced UX research skills. One of several tasks was to set up an online survey and distribute to our intended target group.
I started setting up my survey using the first free tool I found on Google, but didn’t feel pleased with the result. It was … dull. Flicking through the screens with my questions, I started yawning. I figured one thing I could do would be to create more engaging call to action buttons, but this was not an option in the free version of this tool.
The effect of smart microcopy
I asked my course instructor Yuval for advice. “Have you tried Typeform?”, he suggested. I had not, so I decided to give it a go. And here’s the cool thing: From the very first screen, Typeform put me in a good mood. Here’s a screenshot of their signup screen for a new account:
Bruce Wayne?! Ha! If you don’t care about Batman, Bruce Wayne may not mean anything to you, but in that case there is no harm done — the purpose is simply to show you an example of how to add your name in the field.
From there on, there was something on almost every screen that put a smile on my face. Small, encouraging messages like “Bring your new typeform to life”. Cute.
They even have help screens that are like a crash course in UX writing:
Typeform inspired me to revise my survey questions and make them both more informative and more conversational. For example, I inserted hints at various points (“You’re about halfway through the survey” and “Nearly there now”). Instead of bluntly asking “How old are you?” I wrote something like “Let’s start by narrowing down the target group. Which age group do you belong to?”.
In other words, Typeform’s microcopy gave me a kick up the backside and made me try harder to write better.
Apart from improving user experience, then, UX writing has the potential to improve writing skills in the world! It’s powerful stuff.
Form versus functionality
So much for form. What about functionality? That’s another question altogether.
Those of you who follow the Microcopy and UX writing group on Facebook may recall a recent post about Typeform that ended up with a discussion about a particular piece of microcopy on their website. A few voices pointed out that Typeform may score full points for their UX writing efforts, but that it is not always fully user-friendly in terms of the functionality offered. It is a fair point. In my case, I actually ended up finishing my assignment with the original tool I found (Enalyzer), as their free version had the specific features I needed.
But hey, nobody’s perfect and I am entirely grateful to Typeform for the inspiration.
Spread the word
So, UX writing is a great thing. Is there a catch?
Yes, there is a catch. Since I discovered the wonderful world of UX writing, this famous quote from Mark Twain (I know, it might not be his quote but let’s not go into that) has taken on a new meaning:
“I didn’t have the time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
Writing good microcopy is easier said than done, and surprisingly time consuming — and that’s exactly why we should keep spreading the word and share positive examples when we find them.
If you want a crash course in UX writing, or why not just a kick up the backside, head straight over to Typeform.
