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  • 👋 Introduction
  • 1️⃣ Title copy
  • 2️⃣ Button copy
  • 3️⃣ Placeholder copy
  1. Product Design
  2. Microcopy

How to write phrases

PreviousHow to write wellNextHow to write messages

Last updated 1 year ago

👋 Introduction

Titles, buttons and placeholders are short strings of text that help the user navigate, take actions and enter information.

1️⃣ Title copy

A title is often the first and only thing a user reads. It tells the user where they are in the journey or what action they might need to take. You can write different kinds of titles:

Brand as title—When you want to reinforce the brand image, use the brand name as the page title.

Content as title—When the screen is based on content like an FAQ or a blog post, use the title of the content.

Task as title—When the user has to take an action, describe the task. Always use a verb phrase.

Summarise actions—When there are many actions for a user to take, the title should summarise all actions. These titles are often ambiguous. They can be a noun phrase or a verb phrase.

2️⃣ Button copy

Buttons allows the user to commit to an action or navigate to elsewhere. It should be unambiguous.

Make it specific—Use 1-3 words to describe the action.

Make it simple—Use words that users would say in a conversation. You can sit in on research calls with users, read support tickets by users to learn about the words users are most familiar with.

Make it consistent—When you’re using single task titles, use the same verb in the button and the title.

Make it reassuring—A click trigger is a short reminder next to the button. Think about what the user would be concerned about when taking this action and address it in the click trigger.

3️⃣ Placeholder copy

Input fields appear when the user has to enter information or run a search. The placeholder text appears inside the input field and helps the user enter accurate information. You can write different kinds of placeholder text:

Questions—Ask your users a question to guide the entry. This works well for search and open-ended questions.

Categories—If the user can search for a range of things, define the categories to help the user.

Examples—An example or sample text can show your user the best way of using the field.

Prompts—For text fields where the answer is long and the user will have to think, a guiding sentence can give them a starting point.

2️⃣