Creating great microcopy

Duncan Stephen
Thursday 6 November 2014

Interface writing: Code for humans

Microcopy, or interface writing as Nicole Fenton calls it, is the small bits of text that make a user interface – the text used in buttons, notifications, links and so on. This is often neglected in comparison to other content, but it is vitally important because it can make or break the user experience.

This article outlines why it is important, and offers tips on how to improve microcopy.

From a high level, these are my goals when I’m writing strings:

  • Be clear.
  • Be kind.
  • Be careful.
  • Be honest.

Focus on the reader’s needs. Think about the implications of what you’re asking for. Be honest about what you’re doing with the data. That’s extremely important.

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