Erika Hall, cofounder of Mule Design, gave a presentation at the BayCHI monthly program titled “Copy is Interface.” She spoke about how to craft text to create effective user interfaces. Notes from the presentation after the break.

There was a movement in the late 90’s to replace words in user interface with icons, agents, other nonverbal gestural symbol.

 

But today, many of the most successful interfaces are extremely textual

• google

• craigslist

• feedburner

 

So how we make our textual interfaces compelling?

 

Be authentic!

• avoid indirect, legal sounding, generic language

• use everyday speech, gain the user’s trust

• consumating.com “a new way to find people who don’t suck”

  • for the “bored at work generation”

• eharmony.com - selling a very intimate product, uses very generic language

• �submit� button � not an everyday use of language!

• George Orwell - “The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.”

 

Be Engaging!

• virgin-atlantic.com - opens heinous action of booking a flight with “Hello Georgeous!”

• citibank.com - security question “Who was your arch rival when you were growing up?”

 

Be Specific!

• etsy.com - Spell out the meaning of icons - image complemented by text

 

Be Appropriate

• What role does your website play in the lives of users?

• the bank and the DMV are not your buddy

• Amazon.com - “Where’s my stuff?” mirrors the user’s mind

• flickr.com - talk like a pirate day

 

Be Polite

• be considerate and respectful of your users, and why they are there

• feedburner.com - “Welcome, can we burn a feed for you?”

• particletree.com - default for comment text box is “Everyone needs a hug.”, decreased flame wars.

 

8 Kinds of Bad

1 vague - “must” instead of “should”

2 unnatural - bank website asks “Expand Your Relationship?”

3 Don’t be passive

4 Don’t be too clever or cute

5 Don’t be rude

6 don’t be oblivious to your surroundings

7 don’t be inconsistent

8 don’t be presumptuous

Finally, don’t forget-

You will still need visual designers.