When little words solve big problems

How you can use microcopy to improve your user experience

This article is day 29 of a 31 day series. A mash-up of the Inktober 2022 prompt list and UX terminology. Read more about the challenge here.

Day 29 | Inktober prompt: Uh-oh | UX Term: Microcopy

It’s so tiny

In my youth, I was fascinated by miniatures. I had a shadow box full of them. Oddly, the first that comes to mind was a miniature bar of soap that I got at the apple festival in New Mexico. It was a handmade soap, wrapped in cloth, with a paper label. It was adorable.

I supposed some of that fascination has carried with me through the years. And now here were are, talking about microcopy. While microcopy won’t make you smell better, like my teeny tiny soap might have, it can shine up your user experience.

What is microcopy?

Microcopy, like the name suggests, are those little bits of text you’ll find all around an app, website, or digital product, that aims to support and guide users on their journey. Essentially those pieces of text that you interact with more directly rather than just consuming. They are the labels, the hints, all of those text pieces you consider part of the user interface more than part of the content. Long gone are days of manuals. Users expect, want, and need guidance in the moment.

Microcopy, beyond being helpful to users, is also a great way to lay on the charm, and show users a bit of your personality. And sorry, I don’t mean that a UX writer should use microcopy to make friends, I mean as a way to show a bit of the brand voice and personality.

Why is it important to UX?

Microcopy is important to user experience because that’s pretty much all that it’s about. It doesn’t change the functionality of your product, and it doesn’t relay a lot of detail about your product or the service you’re providing. Instead it hyper focuses on meeting the user where they’re at and gives them the essential details necessary to be successful in each of those other areas. When you build an amazing house, you want users to be be able to find the door, right?

Great examples are the text used on buttons, helper text under a form field, and those dreaded but necessary error messages. You can tell a user how many steps they’ve completed, and how many are left, “Step 3 of 6”. You can provide details of how much longer it will take to complete a task, “Typically completed in 1 minute”. You can ease fears, “You can always change this later”. It’s pretty powerful.

Uh-oh

Always remember that with great power comes great responsibility. If you are going to get playful with your microcopy, please do so only when it’s appropriate. Saying “uh-oh” when a major error happens, might feel flippant, and cause more harm than good. Some people might find that cute, others might get mad. Be mindful of the audience and the situation. Remember to be focused on the task at hand. Be helpful. Have fun, just not at the risk of experience.