Use easy-to-understand words rather than complicated words where possible. Jargon is the specialised terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. One of the main principles of effective UX writing is clarity and simplicity, so try to avoid technical jargon.
- Avoid double negatives, which increase the time spent trying to understand the meaning. For example, avoid the following: “I do not want to unsubscribe.”
- Use specific verbs where possible. For example, connect or save are more meaningful than configure or manage.
- Use numbers rather than words. They take less time to process.
- Remember you could be designing for mobile platforms so while ‘click’ may make sense on a laptop, it won’t on a mobile phone. In these cases, you might have to use a generic word such as open or select.
Unnecessarily complex words and sentences can become major roadblocks to users. Pay close attention to word length (number of syllables) and sentence length (number of phrases). If your sentences include a lot of commas, it’s a red flag for complexity.