What is written on the button is decisive
Imagine a user wants to try out your digital product for the first time. He fills out a form, clicks through a registration – and finally comes across a button with the inscription: “Submit”.
Sounds unspectacular? Perhaps. But it is precisely such inconspicuous text passages that decide whether your user feels safe, understood – or confused and abandoned. Because it is precisely these micro-moments that create brand impact.
UX writing makes digital interactions feel smooth, intuitive, and brand-typical at the same time. This article shows how to design language in the interface in such a way that it is both user-centered and strengthens your brand identity.
What is UX writing – and why does it affect brand management?
Contents
UX writing is the art of writing texts for user interfaces. It’s all about microcopy – the small texts that have a big impact: labels on buttons, placeholders in forms, error messages, confirmation dialogs, tooltips or onboarding notes.
The focus is on the question: How can we accompany users linguistically in such a way that they feel safe, understand what needs to be done – and at the same time feel picked up by the brand?
Good UX Writing…
- communicates clearly and functionally,
- reflects the tonality of the brand,
- strengthens trust in digital products.
It’s the quiet voice of your brand – often overlooked, but all the more effective when it’s heard consistently.
Brand voice meets user needs
The balancing act: functionality meets personality
Many companies find it difficult to understand UX writing as part of brand communication. The balancing act seems too big: here the sober instruction in the interface, there the emotional brand message from marketing.
But this contradiction is a myth. Clarity and character are not mutually exclusive – on the contrary, they are what make good UX writing.
Example:
Brand tone: empathetic and supportive
Error message: “Hm, that didn’t quite work out. Do you want to try again?”
Instead of: “Error 500 – Server Request Failed”
One speaks to people. The other is only the technology.
The 5 Golden Principles for Brand Impact UX Writing
1. Clarity is a priority – but not at the expense of tone
Users want to complete tasks – not guess what is meant. Therefore, comprehensibility is the top priority. But clear doesn’t have to mean cold.
Better:
- “You forgot a field – please add your email address.”
- instead of: “Invalid input.”
This creates orientation and trust – without any taciturnity.
2. Consistency creates recognizability
Brand impact comes from repetition. Terms, tonality, sentence structure – everything should be consistent across all touchpoints.
Tip: Maintain a UI wording glossary with preferred terms and example sentences. So everyone in the team speaks the same language.
3. Empathy: Write for real people
UX writing starts with listening. What do your users need? What hurdles do they experience? What emotions resonate?
In stressful moments – such as mistakes or waiting times – language is decisive for frustration or fairness.
Example:
With empathy: “Don’t worry, your entries have been saved. You can continue later.”
Without empathy: “Session expired.”
4. Context beats standard formulations
Many UI texts are generic – but context is crucial.
Depending on the situation, a button with “Back” can mean:
- back to overview
- previous step in the form
- or: cancel and discard data
Result: Don’t write in templates – write in context.
5. Brevity is a must – personality is the key
Short texts are good. But ultra-short texts without style are interchangeable.
Example:
- “Further” → functional
- “Next step” → concrete
- “Continue to summary” → informative & orienting
Choose brevity with your head – and with your voice.
Translating brand voice into UX writing
From style guide to concrete dialogue
If you’ve already defined a brand voice , UX writing is the perfect place to bring that voice to life.
Add to:
- Typical UI situations (error, success, interaction)
- suitable choice of words depending on tonality
- Formulation examples in the brand’s typical style
Mini-Template:
Situation: User deletes an item
Brand tone: cautious, competent
Copy: “Are you sure you want to remove that? This action cannot be reversed.”
Teamwork with design and product
UX writing is part of the design process – not its post-processing.
Coordinate early:
- What is the goal of the screen?
- What is the user intention?
- How do you want the interaction to feel?
This creates text that is embedded – not glued on.
Conclusion: UX writing is brand management in micro format
UX writing decides how users feel about your digital product. Clarity, empathy and brand voice – this is the triad for strong microtexts.
If you write consistently user-centered and think about your brand identity, you create more than functional interfaces: you create dialogues. Short but meaningful conversations between people and brands.
Practical impulse:
Create a microcopy playbook for your 10 most important interface situations – including brand-typical examples. This ensures consistent communication and saves valuable time in the product process at the same time.