Even though the digital landscape is fast-evolving, UX writing continues to be a relatively unfamiliar term. Over time, its importance has seen adequate relevance with more and more brands relying on copy to help with creating a more personal touch with end-users. It consists of minuscule texts that are seen when one visits the page of a product and it helps to ensure users face zero to minimal usability issues when they interact with a website or app.
ROI and UX Writing
UX writing is not just a process to create a smooth and frictionless user experience but ensures users are able to communicate with a website/app with minimum hassle and enjoy a comfortable experience. It removes all possible barriers that lead users to abandon a product and simultaneously encourages them to engage with the product. Thus, investing in UX writing not just ensures good ROI but also helps increase conversion and the profit margin of a product.
Measuring the ROI of UX Writing
UX writing may sound simple and ubiquitous, but it holds the ability to not just simplify technical difficulties and journeys, but also ensures retention of users. It is worth investing in since the returns are equally rewarding and long-term. Some of the key returns one can expect through investment in writing are —
Increased User Engagement — UX writing ensures users have a smooth and easy experience when interacting with the website/product. When a user associates a website/app with easy, instinctive handling and a positive UX, then the user is more likely to engage and interact longer with the app, download it, and subscribe to its services. This shows a positive outcome on the search engine algorithm. In the case of ROI, higher user activity leads more users to take actions and that leads to greater revenue. Similarly, there is an increase in revenue through copy. For example, some years back, Google opted to change the microcopy of their ‘Hotel Search’ by changing the copy in its UI from ‘book a room’ to ‘check availability'. This small tweak led to a 17% growth in its user engagement!
Increased Conversion — UX writing isn’t content marketing but it helps in increasing traffic within the app/website, looks to drive action, and also encourages users to interact with the page, move forward, and take actions. It ensures users don’t reach an inconclusive dead-end wherein they might have to leave the site without getting to complete what they had originally come for. It helps users to confidently move ahead with their next step and be aware of how to go about it. For example - when a user looks to sign up or subscribe to a newsletter or mailing list or opts for push notification, it aids in reflecting good value to the user and provides them reasons to get on-board, thus increasing subscribers.
Lesser friction and more delight — UX writing has the ability to turn a dull and uncomfortable experience into a delightful and neutral one. By ensuring a smooth and fun experience, the chances of repeat users, as well as incoming new users, tends to increase. So, if a user is to visit a site and they are unable to figure out how to proceed to the next step or are unsure what outcome the next step might entail, chances are that they will drop off from the site. One of the better ways of preventing this is through the inclusion of UX writing.
Rewards of UX writing
UX writing no matter how minuscule the content is, works. Here are a couple of reasons that might affirm this thought.
It aids in solving technical barriers — While a product is created keeping all the technicalities of the user and creator well aligned, sometimes the user is unable to proceed. This may happen because of a lack of clarity or clear instructions. By putting adequate explanations that guide the user regarding possible steps and clarifying any doubts that might occur when they interact with a product. This ensures users don't opt for a competitor product over yours due to technical reasons.
It clears doubts — Users have questions and doubts when they interact with a product. Explaining and clarifying doubts even before they’re asked, by understanding their mental headspace through expressed empathy, helps in user-centric products. Good UX writing ensures users are made well aware of what they’re signing up for, whether they should be careful before entering certain sensitive information and letting them know whether the next step might give them the expected outcome they’re hoping for.
It motivates action — By introducing newer features within a product, it helps to motivate a reaction from the user. It can be in the form of purview texts, pop-up content, transient hints as well as banners - something that engages the user to interact with the product in a new way as they have the scope of doing so. Also, in the case of error states, it always comes in handy, by explaining the possible flaws in an action. This helps in contributing to increased retentions and decreasing churn.
Helps save Dev. time and decrease support tickets — UX writing helps to save Dev. efforts. Research by UX News Magazine states that it has the ability to save 1/8th of Dev’s time. Since Dev is a costly affair, saving their time definitely leads to excellent ROI. Also, the easier to comprehend the UI, the lesser the chance for a user to raise a support ticket for clarification of doubts. Since support costs money, saving their time will lead to a good ROI.
Conclusion
There are multiple benefits to incorporating the process of UX writing. While it is an extremely important element of the entire user experience, it also aids in clearing the path for the user by helping them understand complex problems through simple solutions. This helps in bringing the user up to the very end of the task they had initially set out to do. It ensures the user is able to move ahead within the product through increased empathy and motivation. This ensures the user spends a greater amount of time engaging with the product and that leads to an increased ROI and greater revenue for your brand.