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There is much more to UX writing than words alone. The words in your product should be focused on the user, and every user brings a lot to the table. Each individual comes with prejudices and attitudes, expectations and cognitive limitations.<\/p>\n
Although it may not seem like it at first, UX writing has a lot to do with psychology, on both the emotional and the cognitive level.<\/p>\n
In this article, I\u2019m going to cover some of the most applicable psychology principles for better UX writing. No matter if you\u2019re a professional writer, a UX designer, or a product manager, this knowledge is sure to help you create more user-friendly experiences.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the very basics of human behavior.<\/p>\n
Apart from psychoanalysis (which has little application in UX design \u2013 let me know if you know any!), behavioral psychology<\/strong> is one of the earliest approaches in the field. Behaviorism has been around for more than a hundred years now. Even though it\u2019s been criticized as one-dimensional, it still has a great impact on how we explain what people do.<\/p>\n One of the most interesting theories based on behavioral psychology is the Fogg Behavior Model<\/a>:<\/p>\n Although the chart might look complicated, the idea is actually quite simple. The model states that there are three factors influencing user behavior. These include:<\/p>\n These concepts are hardly a novelty. Similar factors are present in other, much older, behavioral theories. The power of the Fogg Behavior Model is that it describes how these three come together.<\/p>\n In order for the behavior to take place, the user needs to:<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, the three factors can compensate each other. When the motivation is really high, the user can take action even though there is no prompt and it seems rather hard.<\/p>\n That\u2019s it for the theoretical part. Now, let\u2019s analyze a real-life example to see how this framework applies to UX writing.<\/p>\n The message you see above is a pop-up window from Asana, a popular project management tool. This short piece of copy introduces a new feature in the app. Let\u2019s see how the Fogg Behavior model applies to it:<\/p>\n As you can see, FBM is a simple and handy framework to use when working on UX copy. It will help you construct short, actionable messages that will encourage the right behaviors and guide your user through the product.<\/p>\n And here comes another question: how long should the messages be? Cognitive psychology has the answers you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n Instead of focusing on behavior alone, cognitive psychology<\/strong> addresses attention, memory, thinking, as well as perception and language. The last two fields are particularly interesting for UX writers. Here are some of the findings you can use in your day-to-day work:<\/p>\n If you\u2019re only going to read one book about UX writing, Strategic Writing for UX<\/em> is the right pick. The author, Torrey Podmajersky, shares a lot of actionable tips that are rooted in cognitive psychology.<\/p>\n For instance, Torrey suggests that a single line of English text in an app should not be longer than 40 characters, which is usually three to six words. In the case of larger chunks of text, three lines make an optimal length. When a paragraph is longer, people refer to it as a \u201cwall of text\u201d.<\/p>\n As soon as a writer starts applying these rules, the user will feel more confident and capable of using the product. This goes in line with the Fogg Behavior Model we\u2019ve discussed above.<\/p>\n Have you ever heard of the Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two?<\/em> This is the title of a classic, widely cited academic paper written by George Miller. It has laid the foundations for Miller\u2019s law<\/strong>, which states that people are able to hold between 5 and 9 items in their working memory.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a handy point of reference, yet it doesn\u2019t mean that you need to limit the number of items in the interface to just 7 items. The range of numbers is just a suggestion and the actual capacity may vary depending on circumstances and individual differences.<\/p>\n You can try dividing the information into smaller chunks instead, like you normally do it with phone numbers. It\u2019s easier to remember three chunks consisting of 3 numbers than 9 numbers at once, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Same rules apply to information architecture, UX design, and interface copy. Have a look at this example from the landing page of Mailchimp:<\/p>\n The text is divided into smaller parts, yet there\u2019s much more to this design. To avoid clutter, the content design team decided to use progressive disclosure<\/strong>. The interface indicates that you can expand a section to read more when you\u2019re interested in, let\u2019s say, startups or the restaurant business.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been working in the UX field for quite a while now, it\u2019s more than likely that you\u2019re familiar with usability heuristics<\/a>. This list of canonic rules was first created by the Nielsen Norman Group, an acclaimed UX research institute. Let\u2019s see how they apply to UX writing:<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve already mentioned, UX copy is supposed to guide the user through the product and tell them what\u2019s going on. This is crucial from the moment they start using a digital product. At first, they\u2019re faced with a tabula rasa, an app that needs data to start working. This is why empty state messages are important, like in this example from LiveSession<\/a>:<\/p>\n Before the user starts recording website visitors, they need to connect their website. The profile is technically empty, yet it could also mean that something is not working. The empty state text ensures the user that everything is fine and suggests what they should do to get started.<\/p>\n Useful UX copy should above all be consistent<\/a>. Imagine that at one point you\u2019re asked to sign in, and then you find out that your login details are incorrect. You might click a modify button and see a pop-up asking you if you want to change this.<\/p>\n This is why all UX writing processes should start with an in-depth audit and agreeing on consistent terminology throughout the product. The sooner you get it all sorted, the easier it will be to maintain clarity later. Trust me on this one!<\/p>\n Avoiding errors creates a much smoother user experience than trying to fix them later. Here\u2019s how Slack tackles it in their settings:<\/p>\n Instead of displaying an error message when someone doesn\u2019t use commas, or including this information in the help center, Slack provides clear guidance through microcopy. A similar strategy can be applied in the registration process:<\/p>\n When you set up a password in DataFeedWatch, you already know what needs to be included. This way, the users avoid annoying error messages and they\u2019re more likely to get it right at first try.<\/p>\n Of course, the rules described above apply to designers too. Apart from them, we\u2019re also affected by many other psychological phenomena. Perhaps the most important one of all is the curse of knowledge<\/a>.<\/p>\n While you\u2019re good with words, your users don\u2019t have to be. Using fancy words, puns and metaphors in your UX content may appear witty to your and your colleagues \u2013 and incomprehensible to your users. Don\u2019t forget edge cases, too \u2013 for instance, users on the autism spectrum often don\u2019t understand metaphors at all.<\/p>\n Remember that most of the time, you\u2019re not the end user. This is why it pays off to focus on plain language<\/a> that will serve a wider audience coming from different backgrounds.<\/p>\n![\"BlogPost](\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BlogPost_PsychologyOfUxWriting_graph-1024x611.png\" "\\"BlogPost")
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Cognitive psychology in UX writing<\/h2>\n
Perception of text<\/h3>\n
Memory limitations<\/h3>\n
![\"Psychology](\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Psychology-of-UX-2.png\" "\\"Psychology")
<\/p>\nUX content heuristics<\/h2>\n
Visibility of system status<\/h3>\n
![\"Psychology](\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Psychology-of-UX-3-700x171.png\" "\\"Psychology")
<\/p>\nConsistency and standards<\/h3>\n
Error prevention<\/h3>\n
![\"Psychology](\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Psychology-of-UX-4.png\" "\\"Psychology")
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<\/p>\nBonus: your own limitations<\/h2>\n