Actions, Confirmations, and Decision Points

General Guidance

When writing things like dialogs or buttons, imagine that the user and the interface are having a conversation. Think about the way you interact with a voice interface like Alexa or Google. But instead of verbalizing a request, the user communicates with the interface by clicking elements on the screen. Good UX copy mimics a verbal conversation between the user and the interface and distills the key nouns and verbs into UI elements.

Here’s an example:

As a Verbal Conversation	As Interface Copy
User: I want to delete this list.	Menu option: Delete List
System: You sure, boss?	Dialog: Permanently delete this list?
User: Yes, delete the list.	Dialog button: Delete List
System: Done.	Confirmation message: Your list “5-star stocks” was deleted.

Notice the use of repetition to reinforce the action taken. In most cases, the same verb or action that was used to begin a flow should be used throughout. This blog post does a wonderful job explaining the value of repetition in creating a cohesive conversational UI.

“When we repeat a key piece of information from the user’s request, that’s called “implicit confirmation.” This sort of repetition is useful in conversation design so that users know whether or not they’ve been understood correctly by the system. On one hand, when the recognizer gets it right, implicit confirmations offer reassurance. This reassurance gives users confidence in the recognition technology, especially if they’ve been burned by bad experiences with other, less accurate systems in the past.”

The Talk Bubble exercise is an excellent tool that helps you think through a natural conversation between the user and the system.