This weeks lecture covered UX writing which, ‘UX writing is the practice of writing carefully considered information that addresses people’s contexts, needs, and behaviours. Writing copy involves many of the same skills as visual or interaction design, except writers use words instead of pixels to communicate with users throughout the experience.’
UX writing isnt just “writing words” but it is to have a stronger understanding of the users situation (what are they trying to do or where might they be confused?), Understanding their needs (what information helps them move forward smoothly) and Understanding the users behaviour (How do people typically interact with the product? What will they look for?).
In the lecture it was also mentioned to use simple language, which is something I have noticed what gets brought up quite often. But I think this is partially important for my SDG project as it is targeted towards a child audience.
Formatting is different ways to display content to for example highlight key information or using visuals to save on text. There are many different formats such as buttons, errors, messages or even highlights. I personally think some formats are easier to follow than others which I would like to cover the ones I think require extra thinking.
However some formats such as ‘login’, ‘register’ and ‘sign up’ can be quite confusing for both the design and user. For example on a page it could have ‘Sign up’ and ‘Log in’ which one of these will be prioritized usually in a highlighted button. But this really only works one was as when a user first goes on a website they need to sign up which may not stand out as much as the ‘log in’, but when a user has a account all they will need is to login, so what should be highlighted?. It is also important to consider how the actual ‘Log in’ and ‘sign up’ is written for example ‘sign up’ and ‘sign in’ are very similar where ‘Register’ and ‘Sign in’ are completely different. Using colour for one as mentioned previously will help make them be distinct to prevent any confusion
Another formatting issue is error messages. A good Error message should explain simply and clearly that there is a problem (and what it is), provide a solution so the user can return anc complete the ‘error’ process immediately and to turn the delay into a experience that is as pleasant as possible.
A Error message should never be confusing as it can easily cause a user to exit out of what they have been doing, which has happened to me before.