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🗣 Voice and tone
✍ Writing principles
<Principle 1>
Whenever possible, offer a solution
While it's important to be direct in error messages, it's equally important to be helpful. Avoid messaging that focuses on the problem without offering a solution or way forward:
Your password's too short |
Don't |
Instead, help the people who use your product understand why they're experiencing an error and how they can avoid similar errors in the future:
Choose a password that is at least 8 characters long |
Do |
<Principle 2>
<Principle 3>
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Push vs pull content
A goal of writing for the web is turning push content (what you want to say) into pull content (what your audience wants to read)
This means considering what your users need more than what you want to say
“Give them the exact information they need, along with opportunities to learn more.” (Mailchimp)
Self-serve content: Allow users to find what they need vs pushing info. Trust them.
Buy these backpacks now! This sale won’t last! |
Don't |
Each backpack has been tested to withstand coffee spills, faulty pens and a full semester’s worth of textbooks. |
Do |
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Use the right amount of words
Online, people ready about 20-28% of the page. Cognitive load increases 11% for every 100 words added to the page
Readers scan; they do not read every word. Typical reading pattern on a webpage falls into an “F-shaped” pattern:
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Top: Sarah Richards, “Content Design”
Bottom: Steve Krug, “Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited”
Write in Plain English
Using plain English is respectful to the audience. It’s about reading speed and comprehension--not the intelligence of the audience. Plain English ensures our content is accessible to people with:
learning disabilities, dyslexia or visual impairments
poor internet connections
small devices
poor internet connection
busy lives
“People who are well read (aka not dumb) read a lot. They don’t have time to wade through jargon. They want the information quickly and easily – just like everyone else. Wanting to understand quickly has little to do with intelligence. It has a lot to do with time and respect...It’s not dumbing down--it’s ”opening up” (Richards p 151)
Use high-frequency words, nouns and verbs
Remove all non-essential adverbs and adjectives to make writing easier to read on the web. “Avoid hyperboles, upsells, fluffy metaphors” (Mailchimp)
In print, you can spice up linear narrative with anecdotes and individual examples that support a storytelling approach to exposition. On the web, such content often feels like filler; it slows down users and stands in the way of their getting to the point.” (NN Group)
Write in Plain English
Prioritize Content. When everything is important, there is no visual hierarchy to help users understand what is important.
Organize content. Group things together that are related and use subheadings to guide users through sections.
Reduce clutter. Include only content that helps users complete the action they need to take. Remove “everything that is not part of the solution.” (Krug p 52)
Write for Mobile Devices
Users can only read one thing at a time on mobile. There is no “sidebar” content.
Anything on the “right rail” will end up below all other content
💡 Tips and tricks
Read the text on a mobile device, or adjust your margins in Word
Check Google Analytics to see how long people are spending on your page online; then, read the page out loud. If you were not able to read the page within that time frame, condense content.