Title: 9 simple but powerful UX writing tips for designers
Context: The person who would design should first know how to write.
Synopsis: The root of simplicity is clarity. The conceit of design is that clarity is the product of visual elegance, the removal of all extraneous information. If you are forced to add information then you have failed. And god forbid if you have to add any explanatory text! Blasphemy, pure and simple. However, as a cohort, designers tend to consider ourselves highly literate. We consume and communicate ideas through the written word constantly. Why then is it that we become so snobbish about words inside our designs to the point that we feel more than comfortable shoving indecipherable Latin boilerplate into a mockup instead of actual, readable language? Our visual and lingual sensibilities can—and should—coexist symbiotically to deliver the best possible, and indeed most clarifying, experience to our intended audiences. The problem isn’t the use of language itself, it is rather the unartful use of phraseology that fails to deliver the same lucidity we prioritize when crafting our controls and colors and iconography. You don’t have to be a great writer to be a good designer, but it’s very difficult to design great products without good writing.
Best Bit: “So if you’re trying to get someone to do something, don’t start by explaining the action. Start with why they should take that action.”
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