What’s your software saying? Designing interfaces with language

Interface components like buttons, menus, errors, and confirmation messages are built with words, and it’s remarkable how much a consistent voice and tone matter. Are you using an efficient, informative voice, or do you sound more like a quirky, lovable goofball? The appropriate voice builds trust, increases retention, and humanizes interaction.

Michael and Andy will utilize their experience writing and designing for digital products to help you learn the best ways to integrate your team’s voice into the design process in a way that’s clear and consistent. You’ll also learn how to validate your decisions through prototyping and testing.

Transcript

1. What’s your software saying? Michael J. Metts - Senior UX Designer, The Nerdery Andy Welfle - Content Strategist, Facebook
2. Today’s happenings: 1:30 - Opening activity: collaborative meaning 1:40 - Why this matters 2:00 - How to do it 2:20 - Discovering and documenting voice 2:45 - Break for delightful treats 3:30 - Designing conversations with tone 4:15 - Wrap-up
5. Let’s talk about interfaces.
6. Source: Mig Reyes - https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3404-reminder-design-is-still-about-words
7. Source: Mig Reyes - https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3404-reminder-design-is-still-about-words
8. Source: Mig Reyes - https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3404-reminder-design-is-still-about-words
9. But what about conversational UI?
11. All UI is a conversation. Apps Forms Errors Sign-ups CTAs Emails Navigation Social media
13. Apps and complex systems are filled with content. It’s a hot mess.
14. Source: Sara Wachter-Boettcher - https://medium.com/@sara_ann_marie/dear-tech-you-suck-at-delight-86382d101575#.rdv40ejg3
15. How do you do it well?
19. Prepare for it to be hard work and prepare to make lots of mistakes. It’s not about sprinkling some funnies across your 404 page or your error messages. It’s about thinking long and hard about who you are as a company and what your customers need from you in each interaction. Importantly, it’s about drawing a line so that it’s clear where jazz hands are inappropriate. - Amy Thibodeau How to build and care for your own sassy, quirky, funny interface robot Source: https://blog.prototypr.io/how-to-build-and-care-for-your-own-chatty-quirky-funny-interface-robot-5d0be81a0f50#.ftb2ahtnn
20. It takes a strategy. And maybe a bunch of content strategists.
22. We help merchants run their businesses faster and more profitably, and use content to teach them to be better entrepreneurs over time. We also create repeatable, scalable content systems that let us design and build our products faster. We’re the voice of empathy for our merchants, and advocate for their needs and emotions. We educate our UX and development teams on how to write their own content (the next best thing to cloning ourselves). - Alaine Mackenzie Content Strategy Lead, Shopify
23. How to do it
24. A quick primer on Voice vs. Tone (explained using two GIFs from the Little Mermaid)
27. Discovering your voice
28. Be human. Not a bae. human vs. colloquial
32. Exercise: Discovering and Documenting Voice
33. Part 1: The Stakeholder Meeting
34. Let’s talk about it. What went well? What didn’t? What did you learn?
35. Break! Let’s grab some coffee and a bite to eat.
36. How do we keep this consistent?
37. Style Guide
38. *swoon*
39. Source: MailChimp Content Style Guide: http://styleguide.mailchimp.com
40. Source: Grammar and Mechanics | MailChimp Content Style Guide:http://styleguide.mailchimp.com/grammar-and-mechanics/
41. Source: Voice and Tone | MailChimp Content Style Guide: http://styleguide.mailchimp.com/voice-and-tone/
42. Above: Voice and Tone | MailChimp Content Style Guide: http://styleguide.mailchimp.com/voice-and-tone/ Right: Shopify's voice and tone guide | Medium: https://medium.com/shopify-ux/shopify-s-voice-and-tone-guide-968539e06777 "ADJECTIVE, but not ADJECTIVE"
43. "ADJECTIVE, but not ADJECTIVE" • Soft-spoken but not hesitant • Funny, but not a cut-up • Humble, but not deferential • Confident, but not braggadocios Michael's Voice
44. Part 2: Documenting the Voice
45. Let’s talk about it. What went well? What didn’t? What did you learn?
46. Crafting a Tone
48. Could your account BE any more hacked? Go you!
50. The Situation You Your user
51. Questions About the User Circumstance: What scenario might cause one to see this language? Emotion: What might someone be feeling when they encounter this message?
52. Questions about the Situation Persona: If we were to personify the product/message, who would it be? What would their relationship with the user look like? Goal: Why are we showing something this message? Mood: What feeling should we be expressing to the user?
53. Exercise Designing Conversations with Tone
54. Part 1: Writing Worksheets
55. Let’s talk about it. What went well? What didn’t? What did you learn?
56. Part 2: Tone Documentation
57. Let’s talk about it. What went well? What didn’t? What did you learn?
58. Bring it all together. Share your work with the group.
59. Why does this all matter? Testing, validation and metrics
60. Source: Nielson Norman Group, "The Impact of Voice and Tone on Users' Brand Perceptions: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/tone-voice-users/ Neilson Norman Group:
61. A/B Test! Funny Serious With
 Headline We got you, boo
 So it looks like your password is not so fresh — how about you work on that? Something went wrong We care about you and your account, so please take a moment to update your password. Without
 Headline So it looks like your password is not so fresh — how about you work on that? We care about you and your account, so please take a moment to update your password.
62. A/B Test! Funny Serious With
 Headline We got you, boo
 So it looks like your password is not so fresh — how about you work on that? -2.18% CTR Something went wrong We care about you and your account, so please take a moment to update your password. +5.45% CTR Without
 Headline So it looks like your password is not so fresh — how about you work on that? +.47% CTR We care about you and your account, so please take a moment to update your password. +1.2% CTR
64. Thank you!