UX copywriting: using words to paint a picture

If a picture is worth a thousand words, make sure the words you use bring something that your design doesn’t.

No matter how clear the navigation or good the interface, it’s unlikely a user will fully engage with a platform without engaging copy.

This is where UX copywriting comes in.

What is UX copywriting or UX writing?

UX copywriting, or user experience copywriting, perhaps sounds more technical than it is. Effective UX copy helps a user navigate an app or website and get the most out of it. And as with all copywriting, there’s a goal in mind: to encourage the user to complete a purchase or continue to use the platform.

When designing any kind of interface, although it must be designed well and all work correctly, the most important player is still the user. The UX copywriter is therefore crucial to product design as their task is to craft copy that engages users and takes them on a journey and have them enjoy it.

UX copy  is data-driven and shaped by user testing and feedback data, so a good UX copywriter will change and develop the copy’s tone and  style as user demographics change.

It’s not just what you say but how you say it. 

The key to UX copywriting is to be informative but speak in the brand voice, or how your audience talks. The copy may simply lead the customer from one stage of the journey to another through a series of buttons, but the tone of voice can be anything from conversational to humorous. As long as the copy is clear and informative, and the tone is on-brand, there is no reason why there can’t be an element of fun.

For example, when engaging with a travel website, the location search bar simply saying ‘Choose location’ tells you what you need to do next clearly and concisely. But a phrase like ‘Where should we take you next?’ still informs the user that location details are required but is playful and more appropriate for a holiday booking. However, from brand to brand, tone of voice and style can get more specific and use certain catchphrases connected to the brand’s identity.

Speaking to the user conversationally also means using language they can understand and respond to, and perhaps even trigger an emotional response. This ultimately means that jargon is unnecessary for anything other than specifically technical copy and it certainly does not have a place in UX copy.

Use your words to tell a good story.

Good UX copywriting involves moving the user through the user journey, stopping them to complete necessary tasks and taking them to their destination. Telling your user the story of where they could be with your product or service and then guiding them through the process of getting there could, depending on the service, have an element of fun.

Take Duolingo for example. The language learning app’s mascot, the bespectacled green owl named Duo is famous for its funny and occasionally slightly threatening, notifications it sends you if you forget that day’s French lesson. Although there is no ‘story’ related to the application itself, just earning streaks for daily fast-paced language tutoring, Duo and the app’s messages to users have caused much hilarity on social media and become a key part of Duolingo’s marketing strategy. In response to this, Duolingo released a new website – Duolingo Push –  in 2019 to poke fun at the ‘Evil Duolingo Owl’ memes that were circulating. They advertised a subscription where a physical ‘Duo the owl’ would find and pressure you into completing your lesson of the day. If the user agrees to ‘Try For Free’ one of the packages available, the button instead takes you through to the original Duolingo website.

This campaign, or reign of terror, by Duolingo is still running in 2022. So the few word notifications devised by Duolingo’s UX copywriters when developing its application – which also boasts a refined and aesthetically pleasing interface – has shaped the marketing strategy into the future. These notifications, originally designed to remind users to maintain their streak and continue to use the app, have now developed a cult following and Duo the owl is a force more formidable than any school Spanish teacher.

Although UX copywriting is an art, too often seen as playing second fiddle to UX design and sometimes considered nothing to do with marketing, it’s place within marketing and its ability to persuade users to return to a product or service is why it is so intrinsic to any UX design and marketing strategy.

Creating good copy that communicates your message quickly and easily can be challenging. Contact us to find out how we can help you communicate your organisation’s complex data to your target audience in a way that achieves your marketing and communication goals. We’re always happy to talk in person or virtually.

If you need support to write engaging, audience-driven content for your B2B brand or agency, contact Copestone today.