UX Writing Challenge — Write Multiple Variants of CTA Language

Scenario: A user is shopping for a used car online. They’ve found a car they like on a website that they’ve never used before.

Challenge: Write three different test variants of “call to action” button text that would encourage the user to click to get more info about the car.

12 characters max

Tip: When it comes to “who do you trust?”, used car dealers rank somewhere between journalists and politicians.

Accordingly, this challenge is a perfect opportunity to flex your muscles in writing language for an apprehensive audience.

Try to use a different tactic of persuasion (curiosity, scarcity, etc.) for each variant. That way, once it’s time to test them, you’ll be testing different strategies as opposed to just testing text. Action verbs tend to work well when you need to let a user know there’s more info on the “other side of the button” so to speak.

As always, feel free to post to the Facebook group if you want feedback.

What else is new:

There’s two active Tumblr (remember Tumblr?) accounts in this world that have done a pretty good job of aggregating some interesting examples of effective UX Writing. Check ‘em out. Microcopy Patterns & Good Microcopy.

Morgan Marie Quinn wrote a fantastic write-up of the 14 Rules of UX Writing. I know, I know. Listicles are usually awful. This one, however, is not. This one is the opposite of awful. This one is great. She even designed hero cards for each rule and shared them as a PDF.

Patrick Stafford of the UXWC had a great chat with Annie Adams on UX writing for the fashion industry (as well as many other tips on the fundamentals of UX Writing) on his podcast. Give it a listen.

Also, the discount you get for UX Writing Fundamentals Course from the UXWC went from 15% to 20%. Why? Because you’re awesome, that’s why.

Use the code “DAILYUX20” when you checkout.

Ok, ‘til next week (or month, hopefully? maybe… )

Ryan

This content originally appeared in the Daily UX Writing Challenge Newsletter as a “Bonus Challenge” on June 6th, 2019. Subscribe to the newsletter if you want to get similar stuff. Ain’t gonna bother the Pope if you don’t.

TL;DR is a blog about how to write short, effective copy for user interfaces and digital products. Brought to you by Ryan Farrell, maker of Daily UX Writing. Follow on Twitter.