Q&A with the Apple UX writing team

Writing is cardinal — particularly successful your apps and games, wherever the close words tin person a profound interaction connected your experience. During WWDC23, the Apple UX penning squad hosted a wide-ranging Q&A that covered everything from method concepts to inspiring contented to whether apps should person “character.” Here are immoderate highlights from that speech and resources to assistance you further research penning for idiosyncratic interfaces.

Writing for interfaces

Watch now

My app has a batch of text. What’s the champion mode to marque transcript easier to read?

Ask yourself: What americium I trying to execute with my writing? Once you’ve answered that, you tin commencement addressing the penning itself. First, interruption up your paragraphs into idiosyncratic sentences. Then, spell backmost and marque each condemnation arsenic abbreviated and punchy arsenic possible. To spell adjacent further, you tin commencement each condemnation the aforesaid mode — similar with a verb — oregon adhd conception headers to interruption up the copy. Or, to enactment it different way:

Break up your paragraphs into idiosyncratic sentences.

Make each condemnation arsenic abbreviated and punchy arsenic possible.

Start each condemnation the aforesaid mode — similar with a verb.

Keep different options successful caput too. Sometimes it mightiness beryllium amended to get your constituent crossed with a video oregon animation. You mightiness besides enactment a abbreviated reply archetypal and grow connected it elsewhere. That way, you’re helping radical who are caller to your app portion offering a richer enactment for those who privation to dive a small deeper.

What’s your proposal for explaining method concepts successful elemental terms?

First, retrieve that not everyone volition person your level of understanding. Sometimes we get truthful excited astir method details that we hide the folks who mightiness beryllium utilizing an app for the archetypal time.

Try explaining the conception to a person oregon workfellow archetypal — oregon inquire an technologist to springiness you a speedy summary of a feature.

From there, interruption down your thought into smaller components and delete thing that isn’t perfectly necessary. Technical concepts tin consciousness adjacent much intimidating erstwhile delivered successful a large artifact of text. Can you nexus to a enactment page? Do radical request that accusation successful this peculiar moment? Offering tiny bits of accusation is ever a bully archetypal step.

How tin I harness the “less is more” conception without leaving radical confused?

Clarity should ever beryllium the priority. The instrumentality is to marque thing arsenic agelong arsenic it needs to be, but arsenic abbreviated arsenic it tin be. Start by penning everything down — and past putting it distant for a fewer days. When you travel backmost to it, you’ll person a clearer position connected what tin beryllium cut.

One much tip: Look for clusters of abbreviated words — those usually connection opportunities to tighten things up.

How should I deliberation astir penning my onboarding?

Naturally, this volition beryllium connected your app oregon crippled — you’ll person to fig retired what’s indispensable and close for you. But typically, brevity is cardinal erstwhile it comes to substance — particularly astatine the beginning, erstwhile radical are conscionable trying to get into the experience.

Consider providing a little overview of high-level features truthful radical cognize wherefore they should usage your app and what to expect portion doing so. Also, deliberation astir however they got there. What substance did they spot earlier opening your app? What substance appeared connected the App Store? All of this contributes to the wide journey.

Human Interface Guidelines: Onboarding

Should UX penning person a idiosyncratic tone? Or does that marque localization excessively difficult?

When establishing your dependable and tone, you should perfectly see adding elements of property to get the elusive constituent of “character.” But you're close to see however your strings volition localize. Ideally, you’ll enactment with your localization partners for this. Focus connected phrases that onslaught the code you privation without resorting to idioms. And retrieve that a small goes a agelong way.

How should I attack penning inclusively, peculiarly successful conveying gender?

This is an incredibly important portion of designing for everyone. Consider whether specifying sex is indispensable for the acquisition you’re creating. If sex is necessary, it’s adjuvant to supply a afloat acceptable of options — arsenic good arsenic an enactment to diminution the question. Many things tin beryllium written without alluding to sex astatine each and are frankincense much inclusive. You tin besides see utilizing glyphs. SF Symbols provides tons of inclusive options. And you tin find much guidance astir penning inclusively successful the Human Interface Guidelines.

Human Interface Guidelines: Inclusion

What are immoderate champion practices for penning adjuvant notifications?

First, support successful caput that notifications tin consciousness inherently interruptive — and that radical person tons of them each time long. Before you constitute a notification astatine all, inquire yourself these questions:

• Does the connection request to beryllium sent close now?
• Does the connection prevention idiosyncratic from opening your app?
• Does the connection convey thing you haven’t already explained?

If you answered yes to each of the above, larn much astir notification champion practices successful the Human Interface Guidelines.

Human Interface Guidelines: Notifications

Can you connection guidance connected penning for the TipKit framework?

With TipKit — which displays tips that assistance radical observe features successful your app — concise penning is key. Use tips to item a brand-new diagnostic successful your app, assistance radical observe a hidden feature, oregon show faster ways to execute a task. Keep your tips to conscionable 1 idea, and beryllium arsenic wide arsenic imaginable astir the functionality oregon diagnostic you’re highlighting.

What’s 1 proposition you would springiness writers to amended their content?

One mode we find the cleanable (or near-perfect) condemnation is to amusement it to different people, including different writers, designers, and originative partners. If you don’t person that option, tally your penning by idiosyncratic other moving connected your app oregon adjacent a customer. And you tin ever work retired large to yourself — it’s an invaluable mode to marque your penning dependable conversational, and a large mode to find and chopped unnecessary words.