Questions tagged [copywriting]
the art of writing promotional text to make an emotional impression on the reader, usually to encourage a purchase. Don't confuse with the [copyright] tag.
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Should I use Yes/No or Ok/Cancel on my message box?
Semantically, the Yes/No buttons are roughly equivalent to the Ok/Cancel buttons, but in general what would you recommend to use? Should I always use Yes/No or always use Ok/Cancel? Or does it depend ...
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12
answers
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What to call "Cancel" when "Cancel" is already the default action?
When attempting to cancel a service or setting, "cancel" is the default action. What should the normal "cancel" button be called?
Redbox uses a playful "just kidding", which may not be appropriate in ...
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votes
13
answers
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"Your" vs "My" in user interfaces
Some user interfaces feature titles such as:
My documents
My photos
My previous orders
While others opt for:
Your documents
Your photos
Your previous orders
Are their any guidelines addressing ...
Philip Morton
330
votes
23
answers
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Using "Sign in" vs using "Log in"
Is there any research in this area, it seems "Sign in" is more common and hence more recommended.
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13
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Why shouldn't we use words such as 'here' and 'this' in textlinks?
Over the years of surfing on the web I have found numerous examples of people saying that you shouldn't use the word "here" in a textlink etc. Personally I like the idea of using the word, because it ...
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answers
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Should error messages apologize?
We are having a discussion on our team about an error message that says "Sorry, you do not have permission to access this feature. Please contact your administrator for assistance."
Is it ...
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votes
8
answers
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Should we use 'Title Case' or 'Sentence case' for headlines and buttons?
I am wondering if we should use Title Case or Sentence case for buttons and headings in websites and web/mobile apps?
Title Case:
Manage my Account
Delete my Account
Sentence case:
Manage my account
...
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70
votes
8
answers
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How to tell a user their login credentials are incorrect?
When a user has entered incorrect details into a login form, is it better to tell them:
The username or password you have entered is invalid.
or
The username you have entered is invalid (for ...
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67
votes
6
answers
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Should an interface ever say "please"?
Often I'll see a website, especially when registering or filling out a form that says something like "Please only use letters and numbers in this field" or "Please try again."
Please is a pleasantry ...
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votes
7
answers
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User Profile, My Account, or just Settings?
I am writing a little webapp, and am stuck on a UI hangup. I have a global menu bar at the top of the screen, that when the user is signed in consists of:
Signed in as Joe User (with username as ...
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votes
4
answers
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What are good rules for naming menu items? [closed]
I'm establishing some style guidance for naming items which are accessed from my application's menu bar.
What are the commonly accepted rules for naming menu items?
When should the names of the ...
barry
118
votes
24
answers
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What word can be used to mean either click or tap?
Very often we need to speak generically about clicking or tapping an item, but there seems to be a lack of vocabulary in English for this. We could just say "click or tap" every time, but ...
- 68.3k
95
votes
12
answers
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"New" vs. "Create"
For buttons that initiate some content creation interaction, which label is better:
"New X" or "Create X"? Are there specific uses that in which one is better than the other?
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67
votes
23
answers
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Better term for "user" [closed]
I often have to explain some aspect of an application, and often need to refer to users. I really don't like the term as it is not something with a good connotation (e.g. drug users) to the non-...
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answers
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What are some alternatives to the phrase "Are you sure you want to XYZ" in confirmation dialogs?
I don't like seeing the word 'you' in the message twice. Examples:
Are you sure you want to delete this item?
Are you sure you want to continue?
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votes
7
answers
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What is the right success message?
What would be the right success message when the the user deletes a record?
I could think of the following:
Record has been successfully deleted
Record has been deleted
Record was successfully ...
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votes
5
answers
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Why do we have OS names like Mountain Lion, Jellybean, and Quantal Quetzal instead of numbers?
Less of a pressing question and more a "what happened here"?
At some point in the past decade (most) OS's have switched over to these codenames for their versions with names like Mountain Lion, ...
- 2,879
22
votes
7
answers
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How to define/classify messages and notifications in web applications
I have seen content from various style guides and UX guidelines about this, and was wondering if there is a much more simple system to create a consistent and easy to implement design for various ...
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votes
4
answers
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How can the classic footer elements be integrated into an infinite scrolling layout?
Infinite Scrolling is a fairly new and effective way to display practically infinite amounts of data in a user's window, but one page element simply does not suit itself to this method; the footer. A ...
- 40.8k
12
votes
2
answers
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Formatting relative dates and times
First, when I talk about relative times (or would dates be more accurate?), I mean these 4 minutes ago, 1 hour ago, etc.
When should they be used? With what degree of precision? Shouldn't it be the ...
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3
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Where should I display 'free shipping if payment by debit card'?
I've been working on an e-commerce website, and the stakeholders want to add the following text: 'free shipping if payment by debit card'. Where should I display this on the website?
I think the most ...
user25518
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votes
4
answers
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What is an alternative way to display a very large number?
In my application I have a text field that should display numbers (representing money) ranging from 0 to 999 trillion.
The users of my application are the general public, so displaying a scientific ...
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How to notify the user of a system error (out of their control)?
What's an easy-to-understand error message for situations where the error is a system error (out of the control of the user and cannot be fixed by the user)?
Here's a few that I came up with, but it'...
- 5,888
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Should a sentence ending with a URL terminate with a period?
Suppose my web service needs to send a password recovery e-mail message to the user. The message will contain a link (with some disposable token). Something like:
To reset your password please ...
- 5,847
103
votes
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answers
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When to use "join," "register," or "sign up"?
For a user, when is it better to be asked to do the following:
"Sign In" vs. "Log in"
"Join" vs. "Register" vs. "Sign Up"
"Sign Out" vs. "Log out"
Different websites seem to use them differently, ...
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votes
10
answers
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What is the recommended wording for a generic error message
What would be the best wording for a generic error message?
With generic error message I mean a message for an error that has occured but there are no details on what the error is or how to recover ...
- 1,452
32
votes
7
answers
9k
views
Next vs. Continue
Is there any situation in which either Next vs. Continue would be more appropriate to use?
I'm working on an application that has many, many different forms (data entry), and have been using the word ...
- 1,189
27
votes
4
answers
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views
You, Me, or Joe Soap
When listing content in an application (think of a list of documents) we show the name of the document and the name of the author.
What should be shown for the author's name when the person reading ...
- 68.3k
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votes
3
answers
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What are the rules of using ellipsis on buttons
I read about the rules of using ellipsis (three dots ...) in a menu command:
Indicate a command that needs additional information (including a
confirmation) by adding an ellipsis at the end of ...
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votes
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Recommendations for good resources on writing good error messages [closed]
Writing good error messages which help users understand how to use the system is difficult. Often we get bug reports stating "Error message x is confusing" which usually sparks a long debate in the ...
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7
answers
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What's a better label for the traditional "Browse..." button for selecting files to upload?
I've been working on an advanced file uploader, complete with folders and animated progress bars, and wanted to improve the vague "browse" button generally used for launching a file selector window. ...
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votes
4
answers
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Should an interface ever say "thank you"?
I just read an answer to another question, in which Roger Attrill wrote:
You might not need to say Thank you if this is a very frequent action
or if your user's won't appreciate the nicety - just ...
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answers
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What will be the Best notifications and error messages?
As a UI architect, I am always wondering about the best format to display errors and notifications to users.
Which of the following examples is the best format?
Name is required
Name cannot be ...
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votes
10
answers
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Best description for "tags"
Although the concept of tags has become commonplace on the internet in the last few years, there are still many people that don't know what they are or what the point of them is.
You want to make ...
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14
votes
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answers
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Creative alternatives for word 'Home' on a web application
What could be creative alternatives for word 'Home' on a social network applications that implies as a default space/ a living space or a place where all the updates gather?
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7
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Which makes for a better UX: using copy that is short and simple or copy that is casual, yet possibly more wordy?
In the context of a web app, which makes for a better User Experience: using copy that states the facts as simply as possible or copy that speaks in casual language, yet could end up being more wordy?
...
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votes
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Does using bold font for keywords and key points increase readability of user manuals?
I find myself writing quite a lot of articles, user manual-like documents, as well as posting hundreds of questions on stackexchange sites.
Over time, I developed a certain style of writing, which ...
- 1,617
11
votes
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answers
9k
views
Difference between 'modify' and 'edit' buttons
Is there a difference between the words 'modify' and 'edit'? I am creating a form that will allow users to make changes to their order - what should the call to action button name be - 'edit your ...
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answers
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Which grammatical person should I use when writing to the user?
Say a user is signed in to my website and looking at his dashboard which may have a section for his/her incoming messages.
Should I label that section "My incoming messages", "Your incoming messages" ...
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votes
4
answers
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views
Should numbers be written in numerals or words?
When writing numbers, should we use numerals ("5,000") or words ("five thousand")? I'm particularly interested in how easy each is to read and interpret, and whether it's an important consideration ...
- 4,572
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votes
4
answers
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Help or support?
I'm interested in the difference between using the words help or support when used in the context of customer help/support on a website or application.
Which would you use and why? As always any ...
- 68.3k
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Should a username be truncated?
Is it ever OK to truncate a username? Is there any good solution / trade-off?
Site shows username as:
Username: Shrinivasuk View: Shrinivasu...
Username: Ritesh View: Rite
Username: Poonam View: ...
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What is the correct way to indicate something can be either singular or plural?
Taking it as a given that the system is not intelligent enough to be able to recognise a single result as apposed to multiple results (don't ask!), what is the correct way to represent the possibility ...
- 1,102
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2
answers
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Best UX to ask for donations
I currently run a free local hiking site for California and people have recently been suggesting I add a way to enable people to give donations since the site is free.
Has anyone had success asking ...
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4
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Context sensitive help for wordy user preferences
Current UI
Here is a poorly designed panel on a preferences dialog for the open source audio editor 'Audacity'. I'd like to do something about it.
How it got that way
In the past the text beside ...
- 4,593
6
votes
3
answers
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views
"File" for name of drop-down menu
In Windows mostly, a lot (most?) applications have a "File" drop-down menu, with things like "Exit", "Import/export settings", "Preferences", ...
Is "File" a blindly accepted standard/default? ...
- 2,163
6
votes
4
answers
1k
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Relative dates/times- Rounding and how accurate?
I was reading this question about formatting relative dates and times, but there are still some issue that I felt have not been addressed yet.
I would like to:
Keep relative times to just 1 unit, ...
- 5,888
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votes
3
answers
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Should field labels be nouns or verbs?
On a web form should field labels be nouns or verbs? This issue arose from two fields on an account request form that currently read:
Temporary Password
Re-Enter Temporary Password
There is debate ...
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votes
1
answer
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Prompt user to edit an inline-edit field
Background
Using an edit-in-place field for users to provide their name.
Problem
The phrase "Type your name" imperatively indicates that users can (and should!) type their name. However, unless the ...
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votes
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answers
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How to request a third-party login within a seperate mobile application
I'm designing a mobile app that requires the user to log-in with their LinkedIn account.
I feel I might have cluttered too much info into it, but everything seems to be important.
I want the user to ...
- 4,487