Why your digital product needs a UX writing style guide
A UX writing style guide is an important tool for any digital product. It helps ensure that all written content within the product is consistent, clear, and effective.
Without a style guide, the writing in a product may be inconsistent, confusing, and even detrimental to the user experience. In this article, we will explore the reasons why your digital product needs a UX writing style guide, as well as some tips for creating one.
Why a UX writing style guide is important
Consistency
One of the main reasons to have a UX writing style guide is to ensure consistency in the writing within your product. This means using the same tone, voice, and language throughout.
Having a consistent writing style helps create a cohesive user experience, as the user knows what to expect from the writing in your product.
Clarity
Another important reason to have a UX writing style guide is to ensure that the writing in your product is clear and easy to understand. This is especially important for products that are used by a wide range of people, as different users may have different levels of familiarity with the product and its language.
By defining clear and concise language in your style guide, you can help ensure that all users are able to easily understand the writing in your product.
Effectiveness
A well-crafted UX writing style guide can also help ensure that the writing in your product is effective at achieving its intended goals. This might include things like guiding users through a task, providing important information, or persuading users to take a certain action.
By defining the tone, voice, and language to be used in different types of writing within your product, you can help ensure that the writing is effective at achieving its intended purpose.
Tips for creating a UX writing style guide
Define your tone and voice
One of the first things to consider when creating a UX writing style guide is the tone and voice to be used in the writing. The tone of your writing should be appropriate for your product and its target audience, and should be consistently used throughout the product.
The voice, on the other hand, refers to the personality and character of the writing. It should be consistent with the brand and the overall user experience of the product.
Choose your language carefully
The language used in your UX writing style guide should be clear and easy to understand, but also appropriate for your product and its target audience.
Avoid using jargon or technical language that may be confusing to some users, and consider using simple, active verbs to help make the writing more actionable.
Add examples
In addition to defining the general guidelines for writing in your product, it can also be helpful to provide specific examples of how to apply those guidelines in different types of writing.
This might include things like error messages, tooltips, or other types of on-screen text.
Examples of UX style guides
Here are some links to UX style guides created by other companies for their digital products. Feel free to draw inspiration from them and use the ideas in your own UX style guide.
Google: https://lnkd.in/dnGJN9se
Microsoft: https://lnkd.in/dfJrbfaR
Apple: https://lnkd.in/dXmVrxS7
UK gov‘t: https://lnkd.in/dJSCk-Fk
Mailchimp: https://lnkd.in/dUmdSuWe
Atlassian: https://lnkd.in/d-9P3mCY
Adobe: https://lnkd.in/dcMKEuhF
The Writer: https://lnkd.in/djSYYhQH
GNOME: https://lnkd.in/dxjBXBSn
Conclusion
A UX writing style guide is an essential tool for any digital product, helping to ensure that the writing is consistent, clear, and effective. By defining the tone, voice, and language to be used in the product, and providing specific examples of how to apply those guidelines, you can help create a cohesive and enjoyable user experience.
If you need someone to create a writing style guide for you with your current UX content in mind, I might help. I can also do a UX content audit to identify text elements in your product that can be improved.
