The following is excerpted with the author’s permission from a post that appeared recently on the ChangeOrder blog.
On the restaurant’s Web site: penne pasta, seared oyster mushrooms, greens, basil, reggiano.
At the actual restaurant: penne pasta, winter greens, alfredo.
Not much difference, right? But what I thought I’d be eating for lunch wasn’t exactly what I got. I’d had in mind an olive oil-based sauce with shaved cheese on top, maybe with a hint of tomato in the reduction …. But instead they offered creamy alfredo.
You may have had a similar feeling when the copy on a Web site wasn’t precise. Steve Krug’s tried-and-true rule of Web site copy offers a good starting point: “Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left.” But I think Steve’s message is a little oblique.
Beyond considerations of usability, specificity is what generates meaning for readers’ Web experience. Steve could have added this note: “After you rewrite your instructions to be more usable, review the copy that’s left and ensure the words you choose provide cues to what your audience really cares about.” In other words, trim down that five-sentence paragraph, but then be sure your word choice is ultra-precise. Users don’t build their mental models from navigational cues alone.
But why would I write this in a post on a design blog? Because this is where we get burned, over and over again. We say it’s the copywriter’s problem. Or the account manager’s problem. Or the client’s problem. We’re making it look good. We’re crafting the wireframes. We’re building the Flash applications.
Then, when the copy gets flown in, we scramble to figure it all out at the last minute. We try to cut it down to size. We try to salvage the right details. This happens with all designed deliverables, whether you’re typesetting the brochure or that big ol’ advertisement. But it hurts most when you’re making something for the Web.
Here’s a word of advice: If you’re trying to be a partner to your client, you should be “designing” your copy alongside your layouts and wireframes-before you get too far into the production process. You should be reading drafts and making comments, and billing for this work, even if the client says she’ll take care of it. Alternatively, if copy just isn’t your bag, you should have a content strategist overseeing the whole shebang.
Copy is not just sauce for the meal you’re offering to your customers, whether red, pesto, or vodka-and-cream. Segments of copy are their own dishes, and your site can become half-baked if they are not handled properly. The details really matter.
When your customer’s right at your door, you want everything on the menu to look enticing. Enough said. I’m going to go eat my (now-cold) lunch.
David Sherwin maintains the design blogs ChangeOrder and 80 Works and is currently writing his first book for HOW Design Press. He is senior art director of UX strategy at Worktank, a Seattle-based advertising agency.
