interface-text.md

published	layout	issue_id	title	tags	description	summary	writers	figure
false	definition	9	Interface text		Short strings of text (1-5 words) used in digital interfaces to guide exploration, text input, personalization, and the like. Not the same as microcopy.	The auxiliary text elements used in interface design — headers, labels, feedback messages, menu items, et cetera — that help people navigate and use application interfaces, whether for websites, mobile applications, kiosks, wearable devices, appliance panels, analog/digital dashboards or what have you.	name affiliation affiliation_url country Destry Wion Wion Media https://wion.com France name affiliation affiliation_url country Marit Letnes Marit Letnes Media SA https://maritletnes.no Norway	fig_alt fig_caption fig_slug A placeholder. A belle figure of mysterious nature. placeholder

{{ page.title }}

{{ page.summary }}

Interface text refers to all the bits and pieces of text used in a given product's user interface (UI). Such text includes navigation items, headers, labels, system feedback messages, pop-up help dialog, title attributes, and so on.

Interface copy should be the epitome of plain language writing; specific, concise, jargon-free, and void of any abbreviations, colloquialisms, clear in meaning (i.e., specific, jargon-free, keywords are put first, doesn't use abbreviations…), free of brand personality, clearly called out (e.g., the purpose of a list is made clear with a lead statement), and is real (i.e., no lorem ipsum or other fake text used in a [[wireframe]] or [[prototype]]).

Interface text is known by many other terms, including: interface copy¹, interface strings², interface writing³, microcopy⁴⁵⁶⁷, and transactional content⁸, to name the most common.

---

1. ¹ J. Zeratsky, From Google Ventures: 5 Rules For Writing Great Interface Copy, Co.Design, 2014, (accessed March 25, 2016).
2. ² D. Wion, Words in the Interface, Medium, 2016, (accessed April 28, 2016).
3. ³ N. Fenton, Interface Writing: Code for Humans, Nicolefenton.com, undated, (accessed April 28, 2016).
4. ⁴ J. Porter, Writing Microcopy, Bokardo.com, 2009, (accessed March 25, 2016).
5. ⁵ B. Beard, Five Ways To Prevent Bad Microcopy. Smashing Magazine, 2013, (accessed March 25, 2016).
6. ⁶ N. Babich, Microcopy: Tiny Words With A Huge UX Impact, Medium, 2016, (accessed March 25, 2016).
7. ⁷ H. Loranger and J. Nielsen, , Nielsen Norman Group, January 2017, (accessed February 7, 2017).
8. ⁸ G. Charlton, Graham, How ecommerce sites can use microcopy, Econsultancy, 2015, (accessed March 25, 2016).