You might not realize it, but you’re affected by UX (user experience) writing all the time. Given how much time we spend online and in apps, UX writing is critical to ensuring a smooth user experience.
UX writing is an essential skill in product design that’s often overlooked. When done well, it creates a seamless interaction with a product, service, or website. It’s a subtle, yet powerful way to guide users within a digital environment and create a positive experience for them.
Let’s take a closer look at what UX writing is, how it works in B2B writing, and explore a few guidelines to help you write it effectively.
The Essence of UX Writing
User experience (UX) writing is about creating user-focused, concise, and engaging copy on a website or in an app. It’s guided by three fundamental principles: clarity, conciseness, and consistency.
- Clarity ensures your writing is easy to understand. For example, instead of “Click the green oval button next at the bottom of the next page,” it’s, “Click the ‘Next’ button to continue reading.”
- Conciseness ensures your writing is to the point while still conveying enough info to the user. The message “There’s a problem. Your payment failed. Make sure we’ve got the details right and try again” is long but it does tell users exactly what the issue is. The message, “Error. Please wait a few minutes and try again,” explains nothing.
- Consistency means using a uniform style across all UX content and going beyond brand guidelines. An app function isn’t “Settings” in one part of the app and “Preferences” elsewhere. Pick one and stick to it.
Now that we’ve looked at the critical 3 Cs, let’s look at how this applies to Business-to-Business copy…
How Does UX Writing Work for B2B?
From a sales perspective, UX writing ensures that a product or service solves the business challenge a user wants to solve. Clear language makes it obvious what it does and how it can help. This enhances the sales cycle, which is already pretty long in B2B. The sooner you can make your point, and the more clearly you can do so, the better.
Clarity is also important for B2B clients and users who’ve already purchased a product. A clear, concise, and consistent experience simplifies the complex internal processes B2B users may be dealing with. It encourages user engagement and ensures the product or service meets their needs. This ensures future business as the company will renew the subscription or agreement and then discuss it with their networks, thereby expanding the potential customer base.
Good UX writing pre-sells the B2B product or service before the sales or marketing team even gets involved.
10 Rules for Effective UX Writing
Let’s expand on the 3 Cs to dive into how to craft effective UX writing for your B2B clients.
- Understand the B2B users: B2B users have unique requirements and preferences, so knowing who they are and what they need is important.
- Write user-centric copy: Use the same words and phrases they use, the ideas and notions they’re familiar with, and the correct tone for the app or website.
- Be concise and efficient, not limited: Many writers think conciseness means less is more, which is true to a point. It really means being efficient when conveying meaning. Make sure every word on the screen has a job and does it effectively.
- Use specific verbs: Writing “connect” or “save” means more to users than “manage” or “configure.” Choose verbs wisely.
- Begin with the objective: When explaining an objective and the action needed to achieve it, start with the objective first. For example, “To see the setting’s properties, click on it.” instead of “Tap the setting to see its properties.” This sets the expectation for the information that’s coming.
- Write consistently: That means using the same words or terms for the same function, idea, or item everywhere. This reduces the friction users have when reading the website or using the app.
- Write in the active voice and the present tense: This keeps users engaged with the product, service, or website. Don’t write “The video will download”; try “Download.”
- Use numbers: Write “3 unread messages” instead of “Three unread messages.” It saves space, which can be vital in an app or website.
- Use humor sparingly: Designers and product managers may think humor makes an app or product seem more human. That doesn’t always work in an app or product, B2B or B2C. It can seem clever once and irritating when seen multiple times a day. Plus, it might not translate well into other languages or cultures.
- Avoid specific dates: Use “today,” “tomorrow,” or “recently” instead of an actual date, where relevant. This helps users avoid consulting a calendar to check if something is still valid. It also reduces confusion if the copy doesn’t account for the user’s locale. A date field in an app or a deadline can absolutely have a date in it; be aware of where it might cause confusion and might not be necessary.
UX Writing Is Meaningful Writing
Some might say that UX writing is an extension of content marketing, where value and meaning are paramount. And I’d have to agree. As a reformed technical writer who contributed to the UIs (user interfaces) of many SaaS products, and cranked out thousands of pages of user manuals, I can attest that knowing how to do it is a real skill. Writing from a user-focused perspective in the fewest words possible while maintaining meaning is challenging for many copywriters and product managers.
Learning how to do it for B2B users can give you an edge above the competition. Use these 10 rules to develop your UX writing skills and add them to your service offerings. You might be surprised at how transferable they are to the rest of your B2B writing too.
