Daily UX Writing Challenge

A traveler is in an airport waiting for the last leg of a flight home when their flight gets abruptly canceled due to bad weather.
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Write a message from the airline app notifying them of the cancellation and what they need to do next.
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Headline: 45 characters
Body: 175 characters
Button(s): 25 characters

‘Flight Cancellation’ easily informs the traveler, but it is not very personable. The traveler is given bad news. This message shouldn’t be delivered to them as if it were meant for a robot.

‘Your flight was canceled’ is the better choice. The airline has already taken the action to cancel the flight, and since the traveler is informed afterwards, ‘was’ being the past continuous form seems appropriate here. It also conveys more of a conversational feel.

‍The airline needs to apologize. They canceled the flight after the traveler had reached the airport. Even though the reason is beyond their control, an apology never hurts in this kind of situation. Not apologizing can make the experience worse for the traveler.

‍‘Inconvenience’ is a better option than ‘sudden cancellation’, as it shows that the airline is acknowledging that this is an inconvenience for the traveler. It shows empathy.

As for the instructions, a simple ‘this is what you need to do’ type of message was not going to cut it here. At this very moment, the traveler is upset. For the airline to leave vague instructions-‘Please visit our customer service counter’-will not sit well with them. The addition of ‘We want to help’ conveys empathy and a willingness to assist the user on behalf of the airline.

If someone causes me an inconvenience (intentional or not), any expression of remorse and their willingness to help course-correct will go a long way.

A user is a working parent, and a big sports fan, in the midst of their favorite sports season who can no longer attend games.
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Write a promotional screen for an app that lets a user choose teams, sends game reminders, real-time score updates and highlight videos.
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Headline: 40 characters
Body: 175 characters
Button(s): 25 characters

The challenge mentions that the user is a working parent. I entertained the idea of referencing this in the headline, but I decided to leave it out. This decision was to make the app more inclusive to a wider audience and not just a working parent.

A close contender was “Missed the big game?”. I decided against this as the user is more likely to sign up for the app if the headline targets an upcoming game versus a game they have already missed. It creates a sense of urgency.

The user is busy, they’re working, they’re running around after their kid(s). “Let the game come to you” signals a sense of convenience. I don’t know one parent that would turn away convenience. Game information delivered right to their fingertips? Yes, please!

‍Three of the features are listed as bullet points in the prototype. Scanning a list makes for easy reading.

I wanted the button text to scream excitement. The user is anticipating an upcoming game, with the listed features delivered right to them. They’re excited. ‘Let’s Go!’ propels that excitement and the user will want to click the button.

The user entered the wrong email address to sign in to their account.
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Tell the user to enter the right email.
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40 characters max

An error message shouldn’t use negative language. I don’t want the user to think the message is condescending. It could possibly discourage them from trying to solve the error. What is worse for the user experience than wanting to give up altogether?

A user is in their favorite supermarket. They open the supermarket’s app on their phone to see what’s on sale and are greeted by a promotion.
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Write a promotional home screen for a subscription service that delivers groceries to the user once-a-month for a flat fee.
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Headline: 45 characters
Body: 175 characters
Button(s): 25 characters

The user is in a grocery store and it is probably wanting to get in and out quickly. People in your personal space, children screaming, noisy shopping carts, etc. This is a great time for them to see a message about grocery delivery. A service where they don’t have to be in busy and loud atmosphere as often? They are intrigued and keep reading.

Aside from the hectic atmosphere, they are having to carry a basket or push around a cart that gets increasingly heavier with every item added to it. The answer to the question posed to them about why they would want to deal with this when they can have someone else do it for them should be a no-brainer.

I went against a traditional “Sign me up” button, as that may make the user feel like they were committing to something. What if they didn’t enjoy the service. Are they stuck with it? I used the word ‘try’ in the button, as this conveys to the user that this is something that they can experience without making that commitment. This way, they are more likely to give it a shot.

The user works in graphic design. While critiquing a design in a mobile app, their phone abruptly turns off. When they restart the phone, they reopen the app.

Write a message that the user will read immediately upon opening the app. What do they need to know? What steps (if any) do they need to take to recover their content? What if they can't recover the content?

Headline: 40 characters
Body: 140 characters
Button(s): 20 characters

The fear of losing something can strike real fear in a person. To welcome them back with a positive and uplifting message is the first step to easing their nerves.

The user’s phone abruptly turned off. It was not their fault. It was also no fault of the app. But to mitigate the situation as a whole, I felt a lighthearted message here was the way to go. With this message, the app is not suggesting that it or the user did something to cause the hiccup. It is super important not to play the blame game here.

To touch on that further fear of loss, letting the user know that there is a draft saved, and that they can retrieve it (if they wish to do so) instills trust in the app. They are likely to want to continue to use it if they trust it.

With these two buttons, I am mirroring the language from the body text of “Continue” and “Start Over”. I have seen countless messages where the button text differs from the message conveyed to the user. It shouldn’t be up to the user to figure out which button coincides with which call-to-action. It should be clear as day.

It’s Monday. A user has just gotten into their car to drive to work. They plug their phone into the car and start driving.

How would you let the user know there’s a fire happening in a nearby town that is causing road closures? The effect on their commute is unknown, but there is a definite danger if the fire gets closer. How do you communicate this to them? When? Write it.

Headline: 30 characters
Body: 45 characters

The notification pops up as the user is about to approach the road closure in question. The headline indicates ‘what’ (road closure) and ‘why’ (fire). No question here to display the headline in all capital letters. An alert that is going to reroute the user while they are driving due to something urgent such as a fire? The user needs. to. know. NOW.

Now that the user knows the ‘what’ and the ‘why’, the app needs to redirect them to a safe route. This is done automatically without giving the user the option to decide. This creates a very real sense of urgency. It will hopefully mean less distraction for the user if they don’t have to click a button to be rerouted. The message implies to the user that the new route will most likely be a faster option. Any reasonable person would accept that any route that avoids a fire is a safer option.

A sports fan is at a wedding while their favorite team is playing against their arch-rivals. Their team scores.

How would you, quickly, let the sports fan know about the latest play, the current score, and the key players? Write it.

Headline: 30 characters
Body: 45 characters

The user is otherwise occupied at a wedding. This headline should be short and easy to scan. Which players of which team scored and the current score is all that is needed here.

I’m a big fan of less is more in this case. If the user was not a sports fan, ‘G’ and ‘A’ wouldn’t mean anything to them. However, since this is a sports app being used by a sports fan, ‘G’ for ‘Goal’ and ‘A’ for ‘Assist’ can be safely implied here. Same thing goes for ‘3rd’ (meaning 3rd period).

The user is a casual music fan and (on occasion) goes to live concerts. They have a music player app on their phone.  

Tell the user that one of their favorite bands is playing live in their town. How would you compel them to want to go?

Headline: 30 characters
Body: 45 characters
Button(s): 25 characters

An attention grabbing headline should always be brief and to the point. The band, name of the city and an exclamation mark to entice the user. One and done.

‍Date, time and place. That is enough information to allow the user to scan the text quickly, avoid cognitive overload, and allow the user to check their schedule and make a decision.

The user is trying to rent a car using an application but the credit card on file has expired.
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Write them an error message so that they can correct the problem.
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Headline: 30 characters
Body: 45 characters

I went with ‘Your card has expired’ versus ‘This card has expired’ to notify the user that it is a card under their name that is on file and has expired. This will save the user a step of having to type in their name again when updating the card information. The assumption that the user has an account in their name for this car rental business means their information is already saved. Less steps for a user, especially in the process of a checkout, will help speed up the transaction.

The user most likely didn’t know that their card has expired. ‘No problem’ suggests to the user that it won’t be much of a hassle to fix this issue.