First of all, we should note that UX writing is not the same as copywriting. UX writing is not writing advertising or marketing texts, nor is it the text that describes your products.
UX writing refers to the text that appears on the interface of your site/platform. This is the text that explains what individual elements do. That is, it explains to the user what will happen after interacting with a given element.
Secondly, it is a good idea to have UX descriptions written by copywriters, not designers. In smaller companies, this work is expected to be done by the designer, but not everyone who is skilled in expressing visual meaning is equally skilled with words. It is a good idea to hire specialists.
UX texts should be:
Clear and concise
Tell exactly what will happen in as few words as possible. Read and reread your texts. Then remove any unnecessary words. Don’t invent new words to describe an action. Strive for words to be used by and therefore known to as many people as possible. Complex terms or terms invented by you or your employees can only confuse users, and ultimately these texts are for them.
Useful
Take the user to where they want to go. This means writing your texts in such a way that the user understands what will happen before they even interact with the given element.
Tone
The tone or brand voice depends on the words your company uses to express its “personality” and individuality, and to communicate with your potential and current customers. Try to keep your brand voice in this type of text, but don’t use humor, especially sarcasm, as this can leave too much room for interpretation and therefore confusion.
Consistency
Use the same terms to indicate the same action. There’s no need to get creative when describing the same element, even in different contexts. Whatever you choose between “Next”, “Continue” and “Next”, continue to use it wherever this is the action that will be performed upon interaction.
Consistency in your chosen language (term(s)) helps users understand more clearly what will happen upon interaction.
Note, however, that a purposeful change of button is appropriate at certain times. For example, a series of “Next” or “Continue” buttons could be followed by a single “Finish”, “Submit”, or “Confirm” at the end of the series of buttons to let the user know that this is the last step before they take it.
Be ethical
UX writing is all about explaining. It’s not about trying to convince users of something. Even if you have preferred actions that you want users to take, for example because they make you more money, don’t change the visual hierarchy to hide an action, and don’t describe an option you don’t want in a way that makes it sound too bad compared to what you want the user to do. In this sense, don’t hide information from your users, no matter the reason behind your desire.
