UX Writing

This was a series of daily UX Writing prompts which I completed with an aim to learn how to develop clear and useful text in product interfaces to help users reach a specific goal. I used these daily challenges as well as an opportunity to work on my UI skills by creating my own custom app designs in Figma.

Day 1

Scenario: 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.

Challenge: Write a message from the airline app notifying them of the cancellation and what they need to do next.

Headline: 45 characters.
Body: 175 characters max.
Button(s): 25 characters max.

Day 2

Scenario: 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.

Challenge: Write a promotional screen for an app that lets a user choose teams, sends game reminders, real-time score updates and highlight videos.

Headline: 40 characters max
Body: 175 characters max
Button(s): 25 characters max

Day 3

Scenario: The user entered the wrong email address to sign in to their account.

Challenge: Tell the user to enter the right email.

40 characters max

Day 4

Scenario: 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.

Challenge: Write a promotional home screen for a subscription service that delivers groceries to the user once-a-month for a flat fee.

Headline: 45 characters max
Body: 175 characters max
Button(s): 25 characters max

Day 5

Scenario: 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.

Challenge: 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 max
Body: 140 characters max
Button(s): 20 characters max

Day 6

Scenario: 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.

Challenge: 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 max
Body: 45 characters max

Day 10

Scenario: The user is trying to view a website to help them buy a car. But, the content can’t load without the user’s location. They need to enter their ZIP code and first name.

Challenge: Ask them where they live and who they are without sounding like you're unnecessarily mining their data.

Headline: 25 characters
Body: 45 characters
Button: 15 characters

Day 11

Scenario: An elderly user is doing a Google search to find an easy way to buy contact lenses online.

Challenge: Write a title and meta description for a website that sells subscription contact lenses delivered to a user every 30 days—convince them to try it.

Title: 60 characters max
Meta Description: 160 characters max

Day 12

Scenario: A user is creating an account. When they come to the step where they are asked to enter their name, they get an error message. A fraud detection software thinks their name is fake—but it’s wrong 5% of the time.

Challenge: Write an error message that prompts them to fix the error without shaming them for having a fake-sounding name.

45 characters max

Day 13

Scenario: A short-haul truck driver has a phone app that monitors his route, schedule, fuel & deliveries.

He has 6 more deliveries before stopping for fuel and lunch. Due to unexpected traffic, he’s behind schedule.

He can choose to stay on his planned route for a few more stops, but risk running low on fuel and missing lunch, or he can get fuel and lunch now and finish the deliveries later.

Challenge: Write a push notification alerting him of this dilemma and options.

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

Day 14

Scenario: a user is shopping using a price comparison app that boasts “real-time” pricing on items. As they are checking the price of an item, something goes wrong. The problem is unknown.

Challenge: write a message that informs the user that they cannot access the app right now. You cannot specify "why" the app doesn't work, you also want them to continue using the app.

Headline: 30 characters max
Body: 120 characters max
Button(s): 15 characters max

Day 15

Challenge: Write a multi-screen onboarding experience for a banking app that automatically pays a user's bills every month—as long as they set it up correctly.

Character constraints per screen (all challenges):
Headline: 45 characters
Body: 100 characters
Button: 25 characters
Time limit: 1 hour