Title: 5 principles for great interface copywriting
Context: All design is not visual. All design is communication.
Synopsis: The main focus of design is invariably, visual. This makes sense to us because we tend to think of design as an offshoot of the fine arts, albeit the straight-laced cousin with the steady job. I think this linkage, while not invalid, does tend to minimize some of the other sensory components to effective design. Sound can be part of a polished design but it is rarely the starting point. Industrial designers must consider tactility but only the odd product idea starts there. Even lingual affordances, which can flow across several of our human senses, are usually an afterthought (as anyone who has “Greeked” a design layout with lorem ipsum filler copy can attest). Yet few things in the design arsenal is as clear, as unambiguous, as precise at conveying information as the written (or spoken, to be fair) word. Perhaps instead of designing all of our interfaces, we ought to write them instead?
Best Bit: “[W]hat our products say to the people who use them — continues to surprise me as one of the most important things we need to decide as designers.”
via gv.com
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