What is UX writing – and why does it define the customer experience?
I see a lot of beautiful mockups and concepts online, whether on Dribbble or Behance, that try to sell people on a beautiful UI filled with Lorem Ipsum. And yes, it gives the illusion; yes, superficially, it paints a visual picture – but if you want a picture, go to an artist.
We are UX designers. We are supposed to not only be bringing an interface to life, but an experience.
Our words are a critical tool in our arsenal that differentiate us from the herd – and this skill is finally being appreciated as a powerhouse in its own right.
Words are the means by which users successfully navigate a product and define it. We may laugh, but as simple as it may seem, the wording on the call-to-action button is more important than its container. Beautiful UI may be one thing, but the text that sets the context for the proceeding user journey establishes how comfortable a user feels from the beginning; the copy throughout your products has the power to delight or confound and frustrate people – and ultimately, make or break your offering.
“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” – Yehuda Berg
So for me, there’s always time for a good word.
I have always been a writer. My attic floors strain under the pressure of over 50 diaries spanning from age 6, accompanied by boxes upon boxes filled with all manner of stories, poems, songs, and plays, as well as a thousand scribbled notes of ideas on restaurant and hotel napkins. I was obsessed with words and the power they had to evoke passion and feeling.
At a young age, I was already highly aware of the impact a well-phrased concept could have, as well as the different note you could strike with the same concept in a different approach.
Recognising the power of voice and tone in customer experience
I have very lucid memories of my first experiences of news writing in secondary school English class, where at the age of 13, we learned the differences between sensationalism and fact-driven prose, ultimately leading to amazing exercises in creating scandalous tabloid articles as well as stiff upper-lipped broadsheet reporting.
At this point, I was already appreciating tone of voice, brand and identity in words without realising it. I was already starting to associate values to the words coming from specific voices and – most importantly – I recognised the necessity to stay true to these voices, to remain consistent if you were to make a piece meaningful.
It was a simple exercise but a resonating lesson.
More and more, I am grateful for my love of words and my love of writing because it serves me daily as I support my clients and users through my designs.
At the end of the day, an incredibly important part of the customer experience are the words that talk us through.
Can you create a decent walkthrough of a user journey for a client with Lorem Ipsum? I’m not sure. Here’s why.
We’re the bridge between the client’s core concept and the user they’re trying to reach. Language plays a massive part in this. How we invite them to engage, how we congratulate them on completion, how we comfort them when they can’t achieve their goal – as much as real people talk, encourage, cajole and comfort each other in different ways, our copy and our word choice distinguish the voice of that concept, the character of that product. These characters can be remarkably different. They have to be if we want them to resonate with our users. Empathy is our greatest ally here – know your users, know your character, and talk to them appropriately.
This ability to write from an empathetic place is only going to become a more sought-after skill in 2026, with the continued rise of Voice UI, conversational interfaces, AI-powered customer interactions, and the need to communicate through words alone. Moses Kim, UX writer and researcher, puts it perfectly:
Designing logic means operating psychology.
You need to actively do the deeper dive into the personas you’re dealing with, their needs, behaviours and habits, and speak to them directly. The words need to not only be on point and hit home in terms of usability and message, but also play their part in the sense that you are communicating with someone real on the other side.
Writing in the rise of the Voice User Interface and AI-powered customer journeys
I remember the need for more character becoming increasingly clearer in the early 2000s, when I felt the shift in language across applications and software moving from “Enter” to a way too familiar “Right on, let’s do it!” – a leap too far, perhaps.
I appreciated the move towards a more humanised approach but at the same time, felt it was speaking to enthusiastic 17-year-old surfer kids rather than to everyone in the room.
Propel forward to 2026, and we have – for the most part – found a better balance: writing language that is accessible, conversational and relatable, which is exactly what is required as voice interfaces, AI assistants and chatbot-driven customer journeys have moved from novelty to expectation. The challenge now is not whether to humanise the language but how to do it consistently across an increasingly fragmented set of touchpoints – each one a moment where the right word can reinforce trust or break it.
VUI and conversational AI remain an incredible challenge and one well worth brushing up those word-smithing skills for. Not only do designers need to understand the power of hitting messages effectively, but now that we’re actively writing scripts for people to vocally interact with and building elaborate customer journeys based solely on dialogue, empathy and clarity of message are more critical than ever.
Five UX writing principles that win pitches and users
To return to the crux of this article: the copy sells the concept. From a business development perspective, language is critical to winning over the client. When we pitch for work and the delivery demands that I create accompanying visuals, and when we create and test prototypes with end users, the following five things are, in my mind, non-negotiable.
No Lorem Ipsum on the visuals
Even if I have to make informed guesses, I will populate that UI with something relevant to that client and that speaks to what they have explained to me. Even if we get it wrong at this point, we are creating the first draft that starts the conversation and pushes things in the right direction.
A distinct voice in the language
I will always try, in initial meetings, to ascertain who the brand voice is – it is as important from a marketing point of view as a user persona is from a UX point of view. We need to know: if this brand were a person, what would they sound like, who would they be, what would their back story be, who are they trying to appeal to, and why? It may sound conceptual, but it goes a long way in enabling me to imagine how they’d come across in the different scenarios they’ll guide people through in the user journeys I craft.
Words that are few and meaningful
The key is the right words, not a lot of verbiage that doesn’t cut to the chase soon enough. A haiku is powerful because its structure requires you to hit a concept in few words – apply this approach to your copy, get to know your writing style, identify where you tend to waffle and cut, cut, cut. Bombarding a user with too much information at the wrong points is as much of a UX fail as forgetting the onboarding – you risk overwhelming them and triggering immediate drop-off. Voltaire once said, “The secret of being boring is to say everything.” The man knew his UX.
Copy that has already been pre-tested
Practise what you preach: put your designs out for feedback and have testers pay close attention to the wording. After looking at a page for 10 seconds, can they tell you what functionality was available on it? What did the copy make them feel – nothing, assured, condescended to? You never know until you ask. Asking questions about this specific element will open new avenues for feedback and help you gauge the effectiveness of what you’re writing and the impression your product leaves on users.
Work priorities on full display to your client
The effort and time it takes to write meaningful copy tells the client a great deal: the depth of your understanding of what they’ve communicated, your dedication to quality, and the level of detail you will go to in order to reflect their concept back properly. This is our gift. When it comes to selling a concept, this is where we bring the thing that makes a client say yes and an investor invest.
UX writing is a skill – and in 2026, it’s more valuable than ever
Practice makes perfect.
“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” – Jodi Picoult
UX writing is a skill and, like any skill, you need to practise. Start with filling out your Lorem Ipsum and go from there. Drive your progress by challenging yourself with different writing exercises. Take the opportunity to write presentation content, proposals, business development reports – take an active role in your own development and watch how this serves you long term.
In 2026, with AI tools generating first-draft copy at scale, the value of a UX writer who understands tone, context, empathy and customer intent has not diminished – it has sharpened. The organisations producing the best digital customer experiences are not the ones with the most AI-generated content; they are the ones who know how to edit it, shape it, and make it sound like a person who actually understands the user on the other end.
Watch as your designs come to life more compellingly than before. Watch how your user journeys sell a more complete customer experience. Watch how your designs move through sign-off more efficiently because your clarifying text actually clarifies.
At the end of the day, you are the conduit for your client to ensure their product resonates with their users’ minds and behaviours. Take that mantle with pride – and remember that the words you design around will be just as instrumental to achieving your goals as any visual you produce.
The visual will bring you to the table. The experience will make them sign the dotted line.
At Elemental Concept, UX writing sits at the heart of how we approach experience design – shaping not just how products look, but how they speak to the people using them. Find out more about our UX research and design services.
