How to write concise UX copy
Photo by Elle Hughes from PexelsPeople read about 20% of the words on a web page.
Truth is, people shouldn’t have to read at all. Instead, one should grasp concepts in a glance without too much time spent thinking or interpreting.
The high bar is to mimic telecommunication. If your UX copy is too wordy or long, the connection becomes slow, awkward, and ineffective.
That’s where concise UX writing comes in.
Concise UX writing:
Gets rid of extra words
Deletes redundancies
Makes sure each word serves a heavy-lifting purpose
Created designs understood in a glance
Can take more time to write
Concise UX writing doesn’t always mean shorter sentences — it’s more so about distilling a message into the most efficient package.
In this blog post, I highlight 5 key strategies to make your UX copy more concise.
1. Cut filler words and phrases
Concise UX writing only uses heavy-lifting words that each serve a purpose.
Unfortunately, there are many words and phrases in our language that offer little to no value. These are filler words and phrases that you can almost always delete from your UX copy.
10 filler words and phrases to look out for are:
1. “Looks like”
Either something is or it isn’t. Be clear and decisive. Saying it ‘looks like something went wrong’ is confusing and passive.
Not concise: Looks like something went wrong.
Concise: Something went wrong.
2. “In order to”
‘In order to’ is the longer cousin of ‘to.’ Truncate it.
Not concise: In order to change your address, contact customer service.
Concise: To change your address, contact customer service.
Even more concise: Contact customer service.
3. “That”
9 times out of 10 a sentence continues to make sense without ‘that.’ Delete it.
Not concise: Changing your address will erase the one that you currently have on file.
Concise: Changing your address erases your current one.
Even more concise: This erases your current address.
4. “Please note”
Not only is ‘please note’ very formal, but it’s also prefacing something someone is automatically doing.
Not concise: Please note, you have to wait 30 days to update your address again.
Concise: Wait 30 days to update your address again.
5. “It’s recommended” or “we recommend”
It’s already implied that you’re recommending something if you’re saying it.
Not concise: We recommend you change your password every 30 days to protect your account.
Concise: To protect your account, change your password every 30 days.
Even more concise: Change your password every 30 days.
6. “You must”
Requirements can be implied by leading with a directive verb.
Not concise: You must change your password.
Concise: Change your password.
7. “There is”
Most times, ‘there is’ prefaces the real point. Instead of delaying, say the point outright.
Not concise: There is a requirement that you must change your password every 30 days.
Concise: You’re required to change your password every 30 days.
8. “Due to the fact that”
‘Due to the fact that’ is another prefacing phrase. Get straight to the point instead.
Not concise: Due to the fact you recently change your address, you must wait 30 days to make a revision.
Concise: Wait 30 days to make another change to your address.
9. “Apparently”
If you’re saying something, it’s apparent. Saying ‘apparently’ doesn’t offer emphasis, it makes a sentence less concise.
Not concise: Apparently you can’t sign in right now.
Concise: The server is down, so you can’t sign in.
10. “As mentioned previously”
Trust people to remember facts. Or, instead of saying ‘as mentioned previously’, link two thoughts together.
Not concise: As mentioned previously, your password will expire in 30 days.
Concise: Reminder: Your password expires in 30 days.
2. Use progressive disclosure
Great, concise UX writing is like an onion — you peel back the layers to slowly get to the core.
Just like you wouldn’t swallow a whole bite of an onion at once, concise UX writing slowly paces the important information you need to know at any given time.
This is called progressive disclosure, or disclosing information in a sequence of logical events, not all at once.
Using progressive disclosure will help you write one sentence and convey one task at a time, leading to a more concise experience.
3. Avoid passive voice
Passive voice is when the subject is acted on by the verb.
For example:
Twitch is loved by gamers.
The account was opened by a new user.
The password was incorrectly entered by someone trying to log in.
If you were to write these sentences in active voice, they’d read:
Gamers love Twitch.
A new user opened an account.
Someone trying to log in entered the incorrect password.
As you can see, passive voice makes sentences unnecessarily confusing and long.
Whenever possible, use active voice to make your sentences faster and easier to read (or skim.)
4. Avoid hyperbole
Hyperbole is an exaggeration for effect.
For example:
Customers say our product is a million times better than the competition.
We’ve completely changed the game.
You’ll be very happy if you subscribe.
Essentially, don’t write a sentence that sounds like it ends in an exclamation mark.
To do so, avoid excessive intensifiers like:
Very
So
Completely
Entirely
Essentially
Totally
Instead, let your idea, product, or value speak for itself.
5. Use the shortest form of a word
Some words have a shorter, more concise cousin.
For example:
Utilize → use
Conceptualization → concept
Maximum → max
Laboratory → lab
The shorter the words, the more likely it is you’d use them in everyday, plain language.
We’re on the path to mastering how to write clear, concise, and useful UX copy.
We already learned how to master clear UX copy, and this blog post was the next layer.
Stay tuned for a future blog post where I dive into how to write useful UX copy.
In the meantime, check out how to write usable, helpful, and accessible UX copy.
