Our users are people, and they have emotions and feelings. You should talk to our users informally – but be concise and to the point. Use language that encourages and empowers them to get their work done without patronizing or insulting them.
When you’re writing, consider what the user’s state of mind currently is. Did they just complete a task successfully? Did the system encounter some sort of error? Think about how the user would feel in that situation and that will help you determine how best to craft your language.
It’s okay to have fun with messaging, after all we want to show some personality in our products. However we want to speak in terms that our users will understand. Don’t use leetspeak, memes, or language that our users are not familiar with.
Success Messages
Success messages should be positive and encouraging.
Show excitement, or congratulate the user on completing their task. It’s okay to have a little fun here since the user should be in a good mood.
Info Messages
When writing informational messages, we’re doing so to provide context. You should try to answer the why so as to not leave the user confused.
If it’s an informational message about something that’s missing or that there are zero of, consider including a link or button to add or create one.
Error Messages
Error messages are critically the most important thing you want to get right. The user may be frustrated, or you might need to let them know they missed something. You don’t want to make the situation worse, or try to blame the user for the problem.
Do- Try to provide actionable steps to fix the problem.
- Explain the problem. Don’t be vague.
- Be serious, don’t make light of errors.
Search Results
When we’re listing out things to display, talk to our users like people - not like an engineer.
Treat it more like a conversation. Try to talk about the thing that is being returned.
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