New answers tagged copywriting
0
If you're going to go with a Select Files... label, Select Files to Upload is a better explanation than Select Files from Computer. Explaining the action in terms of what they're doing or what they need to do, which is a constant, keeps the label relevant in a number of different scenarios.
For example: Some users who have just plugged in a thumb drive, ...
0
I'd like to add that behavior of the control is prior to the wording:
Assuming the user first selects the file, then submits:
Do you want to support selecting several files, before submitting?
Will a user be able to edit that list?
Is the path important?
The wording you choose depends largely on the behavior design. Just a quick example:
download ...
1
It doesn't matter... much.
What you choose will not "kill" the overall experience either way. My suggestion is to find & solve for the bigger experience issues you have. (Or if this is your biggest problem, congrats on a great product!)
However, what will kill the experience is if you:
Switch back and forth between "your" and "my" with no rhyme or ...
2
Does it matter if the file will be downloaded vs. shown in browser?
A good thing to keep in mind is the performance and user experience of viewing the file in browser vs on computer. Depending on your audience people use different browsers and older browsers which are not good at handling a decent PDF form too. After debating on this, you should decide ...
0
Choice of Downloading or Viewing in browser should be left to user.
Information about the file size and type of file is very useful for the user no matter how big or small it is. The units should be appropriately followed, like, till 1MB, it can be shown in KBs, till 1GB, it can be shown in MBs etc. Rounding File size is not a disadvantage. It should NOT ...
0
Do not bother showing the file size. Exception made with really large files (definition of really large depending on your audience).
It is now easy to undo downloads. If it is too large then the user is going to stop the download and that is it.
What type of file it is is much more interesting for the user because she is going to expect the way it is going ...
2
In my opinion 'Choose Files' or 'Choose File' (for single file upload) is the best way. as said it's clear. and it isn't large.
My experiences with long labels for upload are that people ain't going to read what's on the label.
So limit your words to like 2 instead of 4 of more. (Choose files to upload) for example.
I hope it helps.
1
I'm with Apple.
"Choose file" describes what you are actually doing.
I think "uploading" and "downloading" are always a bit confusing.
...uploading to the computer or from the computer ?
2
Choose or Select are equally descriptive terms. Depending on your users, you could also choose to be more elaborate with something like Select files from your computer
11
I would go with Dropbox's approach.
'Choose files' is clear enough to tell you the action it performs and concise enough to fit within two words. 'Select files' also works.
When labeling buttons, try to explain what the button does. Are choosing files and uploading two steps or a single step? Since in dropbox's case, you choose the files and then press ...
2
I am not sure if this question is duplicate, but You can find the answer here: Periods at the end of a sentence in alert message
"If it's a proper sentence, give it proper punctuation" - DA01
17
If you are writing prose, a . (full stop) is there to show a the end of a sentence so that you know when the next one starts. If you only have one sentence, then it isn't strictly necessary for clarity. Hence, if it's a short notification message of only one sentence, you can leave it out.
That said you should keep to the style guides given for your ...
2
One way is to tweet out the headlines a few times and see what gets more clicks
1
Depends on the context and type of user, but maybe the "You've tried it, now buy it if you liked it" approach would work. Don't mention plans, etc. Make it a seamless migration that requires only a credit card to unlock the goodness so it can be owned.
1
I'd not include the second option. The action is to save the session. What happens if you take the user to session management to delete sessions manually? Does their session still gets saved or not? No matter what the answer is, you don't want to confuse your users with that.
The other two options are clear: either cancel (don't save, don't quit) or delete ...
1
What you are effectively doing is replacing the oldest entry with the current one, so I would label it accordingly as:
Replace oldest session with current session
OR
Save current session over oldest session
In both situations, you may be able to leave 'session' out of both if it's clear to your users, but I would want to test this first.
For ...
1
In most cases buttons don't have to follow the rules of grammar. Notice they rarely have periods even when, like yours, they are complete sentences. Use the choice with the fewest words that is not ambiguous. Apply the rules of usability in preference over grammar rules.
If you want to get grammatical and talk sentence construction rules. . .
...
0
I think it's also important to speak with an somewhat apologetic tone (not over-the-top) where possible.
Not like an actual apology, but more an expression of regret. A simple 'Sorry for the inconvenience...' or 'Sorry this isn't working...' can help the user feel that it's not their own fault (even if it is).
Edit:
@norabora - Any research to back ...
0
Based on information from Donald Norman's book The Design of Everyday Things, which I highly recommend, it is important to give people feedback on what they should do when an error occurs. A useful generic error message is: Sorry an error occurred. Please click here. In this message, click here is a link to the home page where the user can restart.
0
I would go with 0$ and mention free besides it.
Subtotal: $140.00
Tax: $0.00 - FREE
Shipping: $0.00 - FREE
Savings: ($4.50)
Total: $135.50
The reason being, it is easier for someone to read $0.00 in a bill while looking at the numbers. You can still mention FREE besides the $0.00 to reinforce the fact that they are ...
1
To the other excellent answers, I just want to add that I think the word "unknown" should be avoided in user-facing error messages, because it makes it sound like nobody has any idea what went wrong. If the user isn't responsible for fixing the problem, then there's no need to bore them with the details, but the message should imply that the people who are ...
2
I think "None" would be a better choice. "Free" indicates that you are covering tax like a gift - as would be used for shipping. "None" stands out more than a number - which can be more easily misread - and gets people excited. No tax!
6
It makes perfect sense for shipping, as that's a benefit you are providing your customer.
But also listing it for taxes seems to dilute the benefit of the term for shipping--after all, not charging taxes is not a benefit you are directly providing the customer (it's something the customer's local government is doing).
I'd suggest sticking with numbers ...
21
A good error message should:
Let you know what the problem is.
Make you feel like there is something that you can do about it.
Speak like a human, and be a consistent extension of the personality of the rest of the application.
For generic error messages, you can't do much about the first point, but you can do something about the other two.
Do something ...
2
The best error message is always about context, probably the best message would be:
Relevant for the user
Honest (you can make jokes but is has to be obvious)
Not embarrassing for the user
Therefore blaming the systems not the user
Telling her what to do next (or making it obvious)
Self explanatory on how to do so
4
Depending on the tone of the application you can use something like:
"Oops! Something went wrong." - Send error report to help us improve your experience
"The application has encountered an unknown error." - Send error report for diagnosis.
Google chrome uses a generic error: " Google Chrome quit unexpectedly." - Ignore, Report or Reopen.
You can follow ...
1
I'd say avoid using error codes like "Cannot do this stuff properly error : 321 " I don't think users really care about the error code as much as the developers do, For the expert users you can put a little
"> Show details". Next thing would be to be precise and brief about the error . Also one glance at the title should tell what the error actually is .
...
0
If you need multiple words on buttons, that shows that your form is too stuffed with contexts for doing different things.
One generally accepted paradigm for a large set of commands related to one main window is a hierarchical menu system.
If numerous different kinds of objects can be created, a possible representation for that is a toolbar, where the ...
0
You have to think of your site as a persona talking to the user on every level.
The detail of how you employ grammar comes down to a brand guidelines concern. Either way you have the right message in general terms. You have to decide if your brand is terse for sake of efficiency, personal and welcoming, slightly irreverent, ...?
Take MooseJaw and Zappos ...
3
Grammar largely depends on the language of the viewer
I have a few websites that I maintain that are read around the world. Rather than paying a company to rewrite all of the copy on the sites, we've been using the Google Translate Widget to allow visitors to convert the text from English into their own language automatically.
One of the things to consider ...
10
You should limit the label to some action word if possible. This also makes it easier if you want to replace the label with an icon.
Add
Create
Import
And if the context is ambiguous, add a descriptor.
Image
Contact
Description
There are cases where you might want to skip the action and directly use the descriptors. Eg: for login, many sites just ...
0
Let's start with the human action. Think about what your user would say if you asked him what he was trying to do. If he would say, “I want to compare the price,” then “Compare the price” is what you write on the button. These are what Jared Spool calls “trigger words.”
Now by looking at buttons, they are usually designed for actions, like to “Get a quote,” ...
39
If it's clear, say it in the least number of words possible. If there is no confusion, then there is no problem.
"Import image" - clear.
"Create app" - clear.
"Add description" - clear.
For further reading, I suggest the Android Writing Style.
2
I think this is more for users that login from a shared computer. The link provides both a visual indicator for the next person that accesses the site from the same computer that someone else logged-in (and didn't logout) while also performing the appropriate steps for that user once they realize this.
This is not appropriately a substitute for a logout ...
7
I would describe the options in terms of "quality", with technical footnotes. This teaches the user at a high level what a phrase like 16 bit vs 32 bit means. It also provides the information for more technically minded users to get exactly what they want.
Color Example:
Low Quality (8 bit)
Medium Quality (16 bit)
High Quality (32 bit)
Audio Example:
...
3
One word: Spam.
It is basically harassing the user. Even though the user knows where he's copying the stuff from, you are forcing the information without his consent onto his clipboard and then leading to additional work of deletion the crap text.
I feel it is more about advertising/marketing than UX.
9
It's terrible UX, and should be avoided. As a customer, if I highlight some text and copy it, and you thin insert some other text, you are spamming me. I didn't ask for that text, and at no point was I asked if that is what I want to copy.
One of the most basic principles of UX is that any common action should respond in a predictable way. "Cancel" ...
4
You would have to test with your audience, but I would opt for symbols where they are clear to most people. For anything numerical, X > Y is clear. I can't speak for all cultures, but I covered this in grade 4 at school, so I would assume the majority of people have at least this level of mathematical understanding.
I would also opt to do the same for ...
2
Maybe even less "boolean" kind of language than your suggestion. Instead of
URL contains google.com and Visits > 1000 and Date is before
30.12.2011
maybe a more language-ish approach might be better
The address contains google.com and has more visits than 1000 and it was created before 30.12.2011
If the string gets really long, mabye splitting it up ...
4
The Apple terminology dates back to a time when the options in the list were:
Black & White
4
16
256
Later, it changed to:
256
Thousands
Millions
The amount of millions doesn't matter for two reasons:
The number is really a relative measure of size and is presented in sequence with others like it. "Millions of colours" in isolation isn't ...
0
That icon is mixing metaphors, confirming something with an error icon. I agree with you. A better option would be a checkmark perhaps. Such as this one:
http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/ux/middleware/richclient/index.html?/webfolder/ux/middleware/richclient/guidelines5/messaging.html#confirm
Use icons consistently that reflect the type of interaction so ...
2
I think the Apple terminology "millions of colors" is a marketing term used to communicate sales information and it doesn't have to be precise, and being understood by a broad audience is more important than being truly informative. If you are going to use a term in a more technical context "24 bit color" is more accurate, hence better in this context. ...
1
Do remember your product do not live by itself but within a system with other products. Users are rarely going to focus only on your product but they are going to buy it, use it and compare it relatively to other products.
For transparency reasons you want your product to be comparable with its competitors, therefore you want to use the same referential.
...
9
A lot depends on your audience and your product, but in general the term "Millions of colours" isn't particularly helpful. Do you mean 2 million or 786 million?
If you're selling a new DSLR camera, the common jargon is 12-bit, 14-bit, etc. and not the number of colours - so that is what you should stick to.
If you're talking about software (especially ...
2
The answer depends on the amount of data a refresh would require.
Small
If a user has already selected refresh, then they have already indicated their wish to have whatever it was refresh. So it makes sense that you refresh it when you are next able to, thus saving the user an additional button press.
The catch here is that you need to make sure that ...
2
I have actually come to appreciate this approach, especially with Amazon, as I commonly use several accounts (employer, personal).
I regularly need to answer the question "What account am I signed in as" and if it is the wrong one, I need to switch without much hassle. After all, I usually only care who I'm logged in as if I'm going to make a purchase, and ...
10
Naming it "sign out" is actually missing something important; clicking "not Bob" doesn't just sign you out of Amazon, it presents the page to sign in. So you're not really just signing out, you're signing back in as someone different; because you're not Bob, you're Alice. I think this is an important distinction from the current answers; you're doing more ...
3
Another reason: for many users, it is more understandable.
"Log in" and "Log out" are odd concepts, written in computer-speak, and with terminology left over from timeshare machines. (What are you 'logging', anyway? Are you a log now?) We're so used to them after 40 years, but they still trip up new users.
The language "If you're not FOO" is in the user's ...
2
You can look at it as some form of calling-to-action.
If you only see the "logout" option, you wouldn't feel there is anything wrong or needs to be done in the case your are logged in under someone else.
15
Some sites show this in the header to indicate a presumed identity for low risk actions (like add to wishlist), but you can't actually buy anything until you log into the site. So "log out" here would be misleading.
Sometimes "Not John? Sign out." is shown as in place of 'sign out' when properly signed in. This is simply a more human way of speaking to ...
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