Table Of ContentYour users will fall in love
All the tools you need to write
smart microcopy yourself Answers
to recurring questions Dozens of
screenshots from actual sites and apps
Karma is Priceless
This book is available for purchase in eBook and paperback on a
dedicated website.
If you've just downloaded the book from said website, then you are the
rightful owner of this copy. It is your responsibility to make sure it
stays on your private reading devices.
If this copy found its way to you by any other mean, you know what to do:
www.microcopybook.com
Legal stuff done, Happy reading!
Kinneret
Microcopy
The Complete Guide
Kinneret Yifrah
Translated by Jacqui Licht
Microcopy
The Complete Guide
Kinneret Yifrah
Translated by Jacqui Licht
Translated from Hebrew: Jacqui Licht
Interior and cover designer: Emma Margarita Erenst
Consultant for UX issues: Tal Mishaly
Copyright © 2017 by Kinneret Yifrah
All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the author.
* Regarding copyrights of screenshots included in the guide, see the
note on page 11.
Comments are most welcome! Drop me a line: [email protected]
Haifa, 2017
ISBN 978-965-572-167-6
What’s inside
Introduction: What is microcopy and what’s in this guide 6
Part 1: The Voice and Tone 12
1 Voice and tone design 14
2 Conversational writing 48
3 Microcopy that motivates action 56
Part 2: Experience and Engagement 62
4 Sign up, login and password recovery 64
5 Sign up for a newsletter 82
6 Contact us 94
7 Error messages 106
8 Confirmation messages 118
9 Empty states 126
10 Placeholders 140
11 Buttons 156
12 404 Error: page not found 166
13 Waiting time 176
Part 3: Usability 182
14 Microcopy and usability: basic principles 184
15 Questions answered and knowledge gaps bridged 192
16 Alleviating concerns and suspicions 206
17 Preventing errors and other setbacks 220
18 Microcopy for complex systems 232
INTRODUCTION
what is microcopy
’
and what s in
this guide
How microcopy was born
In 2009, Joshua Porter wrote a blog post with the title “Writing
Microcopy” (Bokardo blog). In the post he described a checkout form
he created for an e-commerce project, where 5%-10% of the online
transactions were failing because of billing address errors, hence
causing financial damage. What did Porter do? He added one sentence
next to the billing address field: “Be sure to enter the billing address
associated with your credit card”.
“And just like that, the errors went away", he wrote. "It was clear the right
copy meant I didn’t have to worry about that problem anymore, thus saving
support time and increasing revenue on the improved conversion.”
Porter shared with his readers an idea that he had been mulling over for
a while - just adding a few words in the right place at the right time
could completely change the user experience. Not only that, he created
the name for this type of copy: microcopy.
At a lecture he presented at the UXLX conference, he recounted that this post,
which took less than 20 minutes to write, became a phenomenal success, the
type of success bloggers dream about, and that he received many replies from
UX readers thanking him for giving a name to these small but powerful words.
Porter’s post was the first step in defining a new area of knowledge,
microcopy. This was a central element of the user experience that hadn’t
received enough attention or benefitted from having a methodology to
implement it. Since then, the definition of microcopy has been developed
and refined, setting it off from content and copy. Following is the
definition that I like best, and that was used to write this guide:
Microcopy: the definition
The words or phrases in the user interface that are directly related
to the actions a user takes:
• The motivation before the action
• Instructions that accompany the action
• The feedback after the user has taken the action
Introduction | 7
The role of microcopy in the user experience
For many years, the trend was to make the interface “clean”, with as
few words as possible. Many people claimed that words overload the
interface and are perceived as threatening by users. Others minimized
the importance of words and asserted that no-one read them anyway.
But the simple truth is that communication is based on words, and anyone
who gives up on using them is removing a very basic component of the
relationship between people. In other words, if you want to create an
interface that sounds human and relates to the people using it, you need
words. At the end of the day, people are going to use your interface, and
there are some things that you can only convey to them by using words.
This book contains a lot of them.
What can microcopy add to your user interface?
1. Create a positive experience and engage the user
Microcopy reduces the alienation between man and machine, and changes
the relationship from a robotic functional encounter to a human
personal experience.
Accurate microcopy adds a rich palette of colors to the experience you
are trying to create, and adds depth to your interface. Where needed,
words will reach out to your users, and enable them to perform an
action. Words engage users and can make them laugh or calm their fears.
Good microcopy changes the connection between the interface and its
users into a mutual relationship that can be rich and even moving.
Microcopy will create a dialog with your users that is full of
character, such that it makes them want to work together with the
application, and return another day. Microcopy can make your users
fall in love.
8 | Introduction
2. Increase usability
Microcopy greases the wheels of the interface and reduces friction
with its users.
Well written microcopy, appearing exactly where it is needed, will
prevent problems in completing an action, and will save the user
valuable time, frustration and a feeling of helplessness. A few small
words that appear exactly where the user needs them will prevent a
bad experience and unnecessary damage to their relationship with your
brand.
3. Enhance branding and differentiation
Microcopy written with a full understanding of your brand and target
audience highlights the brand’s character and differentiates it from
other brands.
Instead of a boring and predictable interface, one that your users
encounter all over the internet, your interface will be unique and full
of personality. It will support your vision and the values of your
brand, sharpen the key messages to your target audience, and create
an authentic and unified experience throughout the whole interaction
with your audience.
The enormous potential of microcopy and the critical influence it has
on the relationship between your brand and users, are becoming clearer
to more and more user interface professionals. However, the subject is
often overlooked during the design stages of the user experience. This
is sometimes because of lack of time, lack of funds, or lack of awareness,
and sometimes because the team just doesn’t know where to begin.
The aim of this book is to give you the knowledge and tools to write
microcopy; and no, you don’t need to be a copywriter or content writer. All
you need appears in this guide.
Introduction | 9
Who should read this book?
• User experience professionals
• Website managers
• Digital marketing managers
• Chief digital officers (CDOs)
• Optimization experts
• Small business owners
• Product managers
• Bloggers
• Advertisers
• Website designers
• Sales personnel
• And anyone who is interested in great interfaces
What’s in this book?
The book Microcopy: The Complete Guide provides a methodology for
writing microcopy for websites and apps after designing the voice
and tone of the brand. It provides insights, guidelines and practical
tools that I have gathered over many years of writing microcopy for
websites, apps, and other digital products for corporations, start-
ups, and small businesses.
It doesn’t matter if your website or app is already up and running, or if
you are planning or upgrading it, this book will take you step by step
through the entire process of creating microcopy.
The first part of the book covers discovering the voice and tone of the
brand, and what you need to decide before you actually go ahead and write
the microcopy.
The second part covers the power of microcopy to create engagement with
your users and to provide a positive and rich experience.
The third part of the book concentrates on the impact of microcopy on
usability and deals with microcopy for complex systems.
10 | Introduction
