--- title: "Microcopy Guide" canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/DOCSGUIDE/685015045/Microcopy%20Guide" format: markdown --- This document provides general guidance on UX (microcopy) writing. ## **What is UX writing?** --- UX writing is the practice of creating clear, helpful, and concise text for digital interfaces. This text, often called microcopy, includes labels, buttons, tooltips, error messages, form instructions, notifications, and dialog boxes that help users navigate and complete tasks. The purpose of microcopy is to create a positive user experience and engagement, increase usability, and enhance branding and differentiation. *Fun fact: Joshua Porter invented the term microcopy in 2009.* ## **What steps does UX writing require?** --- The UX writing process consists of several major steps: - [Define the Product Voice](#Define-the-Product-Voice) - [Questions to Ask and Verify](#Questions-to-Ask-and-Verify) - [Preparing Drafts with Variants](#Prepare-Drafts) - [Discussing the variants](#Discuss-Variants) - [Choosing a final variant](#Final-Variant) ## **Define the Product Voice** --- **Voice **is the set of characteristics that gives app content a distinct feel, shaping the user experience in ways users associate with the product and the brand. The voice is the consistent, recognizable choice of words across an entire experience. ### **Who sets the voice?** The product's voice must be established by the marketing team in consultations with the PMs, as they know the product's audience best, and the PDIX members. ### **Voice Principles** The following principles must be taken into account when setting the voice: - **Define a word list** – a traditional part of a style guide to define spelling and usage choices like “canceled” [AmEn] vs “cancelled” [BrEn], “allow” vs “let”. In Chaos, the AmEn is the standard spelling for all types of texts and communications. You can find a list of approved word choices [here](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOCSGUIDE/pages/113290573). - **Define a terminology list** – the words that are given meaning specific to the experience, for example, “shader” vs “material”, “mesh” vs “geometry”. Products targeting ArchViz use different terminology than the products targeting VFX. For example, Envision and Enscape users use “material” instead of “shaders”, while Maya users use “shader”. Since Envision and Enscape users may not be familiar with the term “mesh,” use “object” or “geometry” in your microcopy. - **Define verbosity** – the use of too many or too few words can be an obstacle. For example, Envision and Enscape users may need more and simpler explanations, while V-Ray for Houdini users do not need too many explanations. - **Define grammar** – choice of sentence structures and other grammatical elements that support the product principles, and achieve a balance between usability and personality of the experience. Opt for short, simple sentences. Avoid long and complicated sentence constructions. Use active voice. Don’t omit connecting words if possible. - **Define punctuation and capitalization** – (as part of the grammar and the word list) English rules for punctuation and capitalization are mere suggestions and may cause problems during localization. In general, multi-word labels use sentence case, with only the first word capitalized. However, Enscape is an exception to this rule, and each word in its labels is capitalized. For example, the same button will be called “Change visibility” in Envision and “Change Visibility” in Enscape. ## **Questions to Ask and Verify** --- When working on a microcopy task, collaborate with the PM and UX teams to fully understand the feature and request any context needed for the UI text. Seek additional information about the feature in Aha, Jira, or any additional documents. Test the feature in the respective product, but first confirm the build you are using is working as expected. Imagine the interaction as a conversation between the user and the app, and use that dialogue to guide your writing. Focus on two key questions: - Why does the user need this experience? - Why are we offering this experience? The answers to these questions will help you write a better and more useful microcopy. ## **Prepare Drafts** --- Prepare 2–3 final drafts to share with the UX and PM teams for discussion. Avoid creating more variations, as too many options can overwhelm the teams. Use AI tools to help refine the text, but make sure the final wording stays true to the established voice. Refer to the [Editing Process](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOCSGUIDE/pages/697368578) and [UI Components](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOCSGUIDE/pages/696647683) articles for more information on what to take into account when writing text for different UI elements. ## **Discuss Variants** --- Share the drafts with the UX and PM teams and discuss any needed corrections. In case corrections are required, prepare new drafts. ## **Final Variant** --- Once an agreement is reached on the final version, it can be sent to the Dev team for implementation. > ✅ Refer to the [Tooltip Processes in Figma article](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOCSGUIDE/pages/686981142) for more information on the established microcopy workflow. ## **Reference** --- - Podmajersky, Torey. *Strategic Writing for UX: Drive Engagement, Conversation, and Retention with Every Word. *2nd ed. O’Reilly, August 2025. - Kinneret Yifrah, *Microcopy: The Complete Guide*. 2nd ed. Haifa Nemala MicroCopy Studio, 2019 --- > Macro (children)