{"id":17729,"date":"2019-05-14T10:00:38","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T09:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvel7077.wpengine.com\/?p=17729"},"modified":"2020-09-03T15:14:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T14:14:17","slug":"ux-microcopy-finding-balance-empathy-humor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/ux-microcopy-finding-balance-empathy-humor\/","title":{"rendered":"UX Microcopy: Finding a Balance Between Empathy and\u00a0Humor"},"content":{"rendered":"

If I learned anything from Pixar in the last decade, it\u2019s that life is complicated and often requires a balance of joy and sadness to make it through the tougher times (Inside Out, you get me).<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re in the writing\/design field, or someone who deals with customers on an ongoing basis, the key to creating memorable experiences starts with putting yourself in your users\u2019 shoes.<\/p>\n

The trick, of course, is getting it right, and getting it right is usually what separates the best brands from the worst.<\/p>\n

Empathy and humor aren\u2019t necessarily in opposition of each other in most respects, but with microcopy, there\u2019s a balance that often needs to be struck when the writer goes through their decision-making process.<\/p>\n

Humor<\/h2>\n

Making people laugh is arguably one of the hardest things to do in the world. Legendary comedians like Dave Chappelle, Hasan Minaj, Ali Wong, and Conan O\u2019Brien, are all naturally talented at telling jokes through storytelling, and it always makes them more relatable to their audience.<\/p>\n

Humor is, of course, subjective, and when it comes to humor in UX, it can be even more so. UX writing is probably not the place you want to tell that mama joke your little cousin told you, so understanding the type of humor<\/em> you need for your brand voice and tone is the first step to creating great microcopy.<\/p>\n

Empathy<\/h2>\n

Unlike humor, empathy is pretty universal. We don\u2019t need much to tell someone we\u2019re sorry, or apologize when we\u2019ve done something wrong. The act of contrition is usually enough, but finding the right words can make a difference between a positive and a generic experience.<\/p>\n

Poor empathy results in not only in losing customers, but people generally staying away from your brand due to tone-deaf lack of awareness.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of getting both humor and empathy incorrect, as is the case for most forms of \u201cconfirm shaming\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Also fwiw, don\u2019t use animals as props to insult\u00a0please<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

Confirm shaming might seem like a clever way to endear yourselves to your audience, but there\u2019s been a wave of online rebellion<\/a> against these predatory tactics, and as content creators you should be aware of this.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a few more microcopy examples that you may have seen across the internet:<\/p>\n

Deleting Stuff<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s an ongoing joke in the UX community about some of the early days of awful UX writing, and sort of like the crying Jordan meme, they never get old.<\/p>\n

To be fair to the programmers who likely wrote this, if writers tried to write code in the 90\u2019s I\u2019m sure the result would\u2019ve been much\u00a0worse.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s inspired some of us UX writers to create our own inside microcopy jokes that can give us some levity in times of need.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hey, we\u2019re not all Dave Chappelle okay?<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

The big guys aren\u2019t innocent from poor UX writing either. Apple is great at a lot of things, but this little bit of microcopy isn\u2019t so much:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Clear as\u00a0mud<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lot of copy to say that you might want to transfer some data to your iTunes library before updating.<\/p>\n

Also, if updating means you lose all unsaved\/transferred data, it\u2019s going to suck if the customer presses continue, and finds out later their Taylor Swift albums have all been deleted to eternity.<\/p>\n

A Better\u00a0Approach<\/h2>\n

Generally, cancellations and deleting stuff aren\u2019t ideal situations for quipping out your best one-liners. More often than not, these actions can\u2019t be undone, so clarity is more important than reinforcing your brand voice.<\/p>\n

So now we focus on clarity, and that\u2019s what EventBrite did with this copy:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

Okay now it\u2019s suuper<\/em> clear, but I\u2019m still not a big fan of how many times \u201ccancel\u2026order\u201d appears. This might be a case of too much clarity (ie: repetitiveness) and copy.<\/p>\n

I would make the subheading the main headline and make it easier.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

One less \u201ccancel order\u201d\u00a0line<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

So now we have a concise message that also emphasizes clarity by making it the only copy that stands out.<\/p>\n

To add the right touch of empathy, I would write a secondary screen to confirm the cancellation, and add a message that says something along the lines of \u201cYour order has been cancelled. If you\u2019d like to leave a comment, please write us below. Otherwise, we hope you stay in touch!\u201d<\/p>\n

404 Error\u00a0pages<\/h2>\n

Error pages used to be a point of major frustration, but thankfully with the infusion of more UX writers and copywriters on design teams, we\u2019re seeing less and less error messages written like this one:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fixing the Error\u00a0Message<\/h2>\n

When possible, describe the specific error message to the user as best as possible, and offer some constructive ways for them to find their way back. Privately, error pages are some of the most fun things for UX writers to work on, because it gives us a chance to emphasize our brand voice, while writing a clear message that helps the user understand the issue.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s important to be empathetic to the frustration of an error message, we can generally afford to have a little more fun, as they don\u2019t cause any permanent damage or irrevocable actions.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Pixar does it:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Thought you\u2019d make it through without another Inside Out reference? You thought\u00a0wrong.<\/p><\/div>\n

Meanwhile AirBnB has a charming little animation, as well as some helpful links to get the user back on track.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Error screens and\/or empty states are a great way to inject your brand voice into an otherwise negative or confusing experience. But if you have to prioritize, make sure it\u2019s clarity first, subtle humor second.<\/p>\n

Signup and invalid log-in\u00a0screens<\/h2>\n

Sign-ups are a first touch point for many users, so the tone you set here has a high impact on the customer journey. Many brands take a typical \u201cWrong username or password\u201d message if you try to log-in with the incorrect credentials, and there\u2019s certainly nothing wrong with that (other than, why not be more specific-is it my username or password?).<\/p>\n

But if your style guide and product can make it work, why not use a little brand voice to reinforce your identity?<\/p>\n

Trello\u2019s sign up process is not only quick and easy, but a delight for any casual to hardcore X-files fans:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Dropbox brand isn\u2019t exactly known for its hilarity, but that doesn\u2019t doesn\u2019t stop them from using a more playful and personal tone with their log-in error message.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TeuxDeux manages to incorporate both empathy AND slight humor in this simple, yet effective microcopy:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Time to use a style\u00a0guide?<\/h2>\n

Knowing when to balance humor and empathy depends on a lot of various factors, influences, and context. There\u2019s no one right way to do it, so it\u2019s important that your brand accounts for various scenario\u2019s, and create a style guide to address them in a way your team will be consistent about.<\/p>\n

Mailchimp has one of the best style guides in the industry, and it\u2019s available to anyone to reference.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the Mailchimp Content Style Guide | Mailchimp Content Style Guide<\/span>Guidelines and resources for web writers and editors. Includes: voice and tone, grammar, web style, social media, email\u2026styleguide.mailchimp.com<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/section>\n

Here\u2019s what they have to say about humor:<\/p>\n

\"Our humor is dry.<\/strong> Our sense of humor is straight-faced, subtle, and a touch eccentric. We\u2019re weird but not inappropriate, smart but not snobbish. We prefer winking to shouting. We\u2019re never condescending or exclusive?\u2014?we always bring our customers in on the joke.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Specific, yet open enough for any creative writer to use their best judgement in any given scenario.<\/p>\n

Moral of the story-adjust your brand tone to the user\u2019s experience<\/h2>\n

Most brands tend to play it safe with their humor, and not safe enough with their empathy. I say if your writing is genuinely funny, go for it. Just be sure to do so with the user, all users that is, in mind.<\/p>\n

Many of my references in this article are thanks to Kinneret Yifrah<\/a> for creating the \u201cbible\u201d of UX writing called \u201cMicrocopy: The Complete Guide\u201d. Get it now at http:\/\/www.microcopybook.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on Leonardo's Medium page<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If I learned anything from Pixar in the last decade, it\u2019s that life is complicated and often requires a balance of joy and sadness to make it through the tougher times (Inside Out, you get me). Whether you\u2019re in the writing\/design field, or someone who deals with customers on an ongoing basis, the key to creating memorable experiences starts with… Read More ￫<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":17751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[499],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ux"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n