Article · About a 20 minute read

How To Improve Your Microcopy: UX Writing Tips For Non-UX Writers

Irina Silyanova · Smashing Magazine Free Beginner

If you are a founder or designer writing your own product copy without a UX writer on the team, this is the most practical single article we found, and it is written for exactly that reader. It walks through 15+ tips with real app screenshots covering buttons, empty states, and error messages, and ends with a copy checklist you can run against your own screens. It is honest about the traps too, like why leaning on "Oops" for every error stops feeling friendly and starts feeling lazy.

  • Write buttons the way a user would say the action out loud ("I'll reserve" reads more human than a stiff generic "Submit").
  • An empty state should hand the user their next move, not just announce that nothing is here yet.
  • A good error names what happened, why if you know it, and what to do next, instead of hiding behind a cute one-liner.
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It answers 2 questions

  1. How do I write clear button and error messages so users know exactly what to do next?
  2. How do I write microcopy for buttons, empty states, and error messages so the product feels friendly instead of robotic?

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