{"id":625,"date":"2019-02-05T17:50:38","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T17:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uxwritinghub.com\/?p=625"},"modified":"2021-07-06T09:26:45","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T09:26:45","slug":"microcopy-video-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uxwritinghub.com\/microcopy-video-games\/","title":{"rendered":"The Deep Connection Between Microcopy, Product Design, and Gaming"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hey There! My name is Nicole Winestock and I\u2019m a Senior UX Designer (though I prefer the term UX unicorn! ?). <\/span><\/p>\n

For the past 3 years, I\u2019ve been working for WalkMe<\/a>, which is a B2B SaaS company. My mission is to make the world user-friendly.<\/span><\/p>\n

My darkest secret is that I used to sing in high-school ceremonies all the time. I also tried to learn to play the guitar because I wanted to be a musician. I gave up that dream because I didn\u2019t think I\u2019m that good of a singer and I was a terrible guitar player\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

In one single word, what does microcopy mean to you?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Humanity \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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How did you get into UX design?<\/b><\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve landed my first UI design gig nearly 5-6 years ago when I started working for an advertising company called Gitam BBDO. That was more or less design school for me, I learned how to work with different departments and teams and how to design using both my heart and brain. <\/span><\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t enough, I was missing project continuation and I was also starting to pick up basic UX principles without even knowing it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Soon enough I started learning stuff online by reading articles and researches and I realized this was my niche. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

WalkMe\u2019s director of UX saw the potential in me and decided to add me to the team. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tell me about your process as a Senior UX designer at Walk Me?<\/b><\/h2>\n

First and foremost I want to understand the situation. If our users are facing a problem I want to know what it is and why it is, if we\u2019re requested to add a new feature I want to understand the requirements and the expected value. <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I deep dive into research, talking to users always help you get a clear image. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>After a bit of market and competitors research, the Product Manager and I would start writing down the requirements and the suggested solutions. I usually go for at least 3 concepts of the solution (on paper). <\/span><\/p>\n

You should always sketch as many as you can, even if you don\u2019t believe in one of the concepts, it will help you strengthen your other solutions and convince others why some ideas are better than others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once we decided on the solution and sit with Dev to be aligned UX and Dev wise we start the initial wireframing process and eventually I reach the UI design on Sketch. Of course, both the wireframe and design process includes endless irritations with the Product Manager and Dev team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Projects tend to get complicated when teams are not properly synced.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>I love to be the owner of my features and products from end to end. I believe it\u2019s a more holistic approach \ud83d\ude42 <\/span><\/p>\n

How do UX writing and microcopy meet with your design process? \u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

Usually, I start during the wireframe stage. <\/span><\/p>\n

For me, it\u2019s a very strong part of the usability of the product and since I work on a very complicated system it\u2019s important to have clear directions and descriptions and know what this feature or item means and how to communicate it to the user in the best way. <\/span><\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t stop there, I\u2019d usually add and change microcopy during the final design stages and make sure it\u2019s aligned with the product\u2019s language. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have methods for UX writing (conversation, microcopy, language) research? If so, what are they?<\/b><\/h2>\n

I love researching Microcopy and saving interesting bits from all sort of products (B2B, B2C and even video games). <\/span><\/p>\n

I see something that I like and take a screenshot right away. <\/span><\/p>\n

I also love to hang around Facebook groups which discuss microcopy, such as Microcopy & UX Writing<\/a> and I also read the wonderful book by Kinneret Yifrach<\/a> which helps a lot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have a content style guide in Walk Me? If so, what was the process of setting up the content style guide of Walk Me?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

We have guidelines which were composed by Udy Ravid<\/a> our director of UX. Udy is the one who first brought UX writing into our notion after doing vast research work and defined the principles for UX writing in WalkMe. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read a brilliant article you\u2019ve written about microcopy in video games<\/a>.\u00a0<\/b>Tell me more about how you came up with that?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Well, my other life is video games!<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a gamer since my dad bought me my first computer when I was 6 years old and it was love at first sight. I truly believe that one of the reasons why I\u2019m a product designer today is because in a way gaming helped me understand UX without knowing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Video games are products and gamers are users. <\/strong><\/p>\n

So as a person who does UX for a living and also loves playing video games, I enjoy researching the interface of every game I start playing and then I write down the things I conclude and learn. It happens to be that microcopy in gaming is something that I notice quite a lot, so I decided to further research it. <\/span><\/p>\n

I noticed how a lot of games uses phrases and text that support the narrative and atmosphere while maintaining descriptive, clear and valuable microcopy and it taught me on how important it is to create that communication with your user which enhances their experience and connects them to the same product that they are using. <\/span><\/p>\n

How learning from gaming experience can help product designers today?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Video games are meant to be an immersive experience, it\u2019s supposed to draw the user in and keep her or him engaged.<\/strong> Needless to say, the experience must be clear, instructions, directions, which key or action to perform when, it should all be accessible and memorable. <\/span><\/p>\n

So if we\u2019ll look at it like that, a video game is a system which has its own defined rules, a system where the players are presented with a problem we want them to solve and we need to give them all the right tools for that purpose and always keep them engaged.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what can you learn?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n