UX writing: 40 rules for writing and designing text in products




UX Writing - a comprehensive guide for designing and writing amazing text in mobile apps



As products continue to hide visual brand elements in favor of emphasizing the content, microcopy becomes more than just words - it becomes a leading part of the UI design.

I’ve collected a crazy list of 40 UI rules to help UX writers, designers, and product managers treat their microcopy the same way artists treat their designs. 40 simple rules that will help you write and design better text in your products.

So this guide isn't about conveying a clear message or creating a consistent voice - it's about making sure your copy looks amazing and blends nicely with your product's design.

Let's dive in!


Let’s start with some high-level tips: 

1. Work on the text early because text problems often reveal design problems.
2. Be concise.
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”
  
UX Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.

3. Be short, but more importantly: be meaningful. 
4. Don’t be too serious or too technical.
5. Speak to your users.

Consistency: 

6. The strange thing about being consistent is that it’s only noticeable when it’s missing.
UI consistency is only noticed when it’s missing. 

7. Stay loyal to your brand.
8. Use consistent terminology; maintain a terminology document to ensure your microcopy is consistent across the different parts of your product. 
9. Write with a consistent voice.
10. Don’t refer to the user in both the second person and the first person within the same phrase.
11. Define a strategy: title case vs. sentence case and stick with it across the entire product.

Some technical microcopy tips:

12. Clarity is key: your text must be clear. 
13. Write short and simple sentences.
14. Whenever numbers are involved - use numerals.

UX Writing - whenever numbers are involved - use numerals


15. Use today, yesterday or tomorrow instead of dates whenever possible.

UX Writing - Use today, yesterday or tomorrow instead of dates whenever possible


16. Buttons text should be clear. Users often don’t read the question so the text of the button should include the action.
UX Writing - buttons text should include the action

The right text can reduce friction. Unless you want to force the users to read - in such case you can use some techniques to increase friction to gain a certain outcome.


17. Shorten your CTA button text and combine it with a header to increase clarity (more in here). 
Mobile UI Design - Shorten your CTA button text and combine it with a header to increase clarity


18. User-friendly error messages need to include the following: 1. What was the problem? 2. Why it happened. 3. How to solve it. 
(source)

UX Writing - writing clear errors



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Text design and layout:

19. Think about localization from day one.
For example, German words can get 200% longer than English ones - make sure your design can host significantly longer words by maintaining spare spaces whenever possible.

Mobile UI Design - think about localization in every label

20. Avoid long blocks of text: remember that users don’t read, they scan (research: users read 20%-28% of your text). 

21. Keep your distance! Don’t let any of your texts get too close to standard margins (left/right) or top/bottom elements - spacing is your #1 friend if you want your text to be noticeable.

Mobile UI Design - alignment is key


22. Don’t be afraid to break the boundaries of your page/view.
Mobile scrolling is natural - embrace it and double your whitespaces.

Mobile UI Design - scrolling is natural - embrace it and double your whitespaces


23. Pay attention to text alignment: center alignment works well for short sections or as a virtual separator. Left alignment is easier to read, therefore better for longer sentences.

Mobile UI Design - center text alignment works well for short sections but it's harder to read


24. Aim to eliminate orphans and widows

Mobile UX Writing - aim to eliminate orphans and widows



25. If your headlines get too long - consider using eyebrow headlines

 Mobile UI Design - If your headlines get too long - consider using eyebrow headlines


26. Choose your font carefully (size, weight, color contrast)

27. Keep an eye on hierarchy (size, the distance between elements, etc.)

Keep an eye on hierarchy - mobile UI design

28. Don’t be weird.

[BTW, if you're looking for more UI guides, check out my guide for designing data tables that don't suck]

29. Measure your leading space. A good rule is to set the leading 2-5pt larger than the type size, depending on the typeface (source).

Mobile UI design - leading space should be 2-5pt larger than the type size


30. Long or short lines can be tiring and distracting. Optimize the width of each line (the measure) and aim for 40-80 characters (source).

31. Keep equal margins for all text blocks across the entire app design.


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Working with fonts: 

32. Refrain from using too many font types at once.

Mobile UI Design - limit your font types to 2-3 max


33. Bold is back, but use it wisely (i.e. for headlines).

34. Black color increases eye strain. Avoid using black and use dark Gray instead.

Bold is back, but don't exaggerate, and do not use pure black


35. Don’t mix too many colors. Use colorful visuals and keep your text solid and clean.

36. To make a sentence stand out without using a bold font - enlarge the font and increase padding.

To make a sentence stand out without using a bold font - enlarge the font and increase padding

Review your microcopy: 

37. Designers and mobile developers: Never trust an emulator! (especially when text is involved)
38. I can promise you that 0% of your customers will ever run your mobile app on an emulator.
39. Mobile designs must always be reviewed and tested on real mobile devices. As many as possible. 
40. Always have a backup plan: load your strings from the server so in the case of a typo or urgent change you will be able to change your copy without having to release a new version of your mobile app (source: 10 product development practices for creating a flexible mobile app).  

41. (yeah, I know, it's a bonus tip...) Use singular "they" to refer to your users without using a specific gender. Here's a post I wrote about why do products refer to singular users as "they".

42. (I've totally lost counting!) Stick with the right terminology, don't reinvent the wheel and don't upset your boss with unprofessional terminology.



Update: 

I recently published a second UX Writing guide loaded with visual examples. Make sure to check it out for more useful tips. 




You may also like:




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Comments

Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
One of the greatest article on UX. Loved it
Makes all the sense.
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Thanks for this valuable knowledge! Simple but very useful :)
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
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You can reach me here is my linkedIn id - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chinnathambis

Thank you for your time.
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Elad Posner said…
Thanks Gil!
Very useful and valuable
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Eran said…
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Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
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Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
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Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Anonymous said…
"18. User-friendly error messages need to include the following: 1. What was the problem. 2. Why it happened. 3. How to solve it. "

In my experience, this "oooops" and similar expressions seem friendly but after some user testing, I have discovered that users don't really understand their meaning.
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Ville said…
Great guide, thank you!
One correction though:
"30. Long or short lines can be tiring and distracting. Optimize the width of each line (the measure) and aim for 40-80 characters (source)."
That's a good guideline for bigger screen sizes, but not so good for mobile.

For mobile screens, 30-40 characters is the most common guide.

Sources:
https://blog.prototypr.io/typography-in-mobile-design-15-best-practices-to-excellent-ui-840918eb0e0c
https://uxplanet.org/mobile-typography-8-steps-toward-powerful-ui-deaf205274c5
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Gil Bouhnick said…
Thanks for the correction Ville!
Appreciated.
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Anonymous said…
Touche. Sound arguments. Keep up the good spirit.
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Anonymous said…
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Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Anonymous said…
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Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
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Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
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Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
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Great delivery. Great arguments. Keep up the amazing effort.
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Unknown said…
Great! this article was so easy to understand as I read about UX/UI first time but I understand what things to keep in mind while take a start or what is UX actually. Thanks for a great tutorial!
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Digitechtribe said…
Great Comprehensive Article. Very Easy to understand who is a beginner. Thanks!
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
Es un excelente artículo, me ha ayudado mucho! Muchas gracias
Gil Bouhnick The Mobile Spoon
really good article! thanks a lot