Bit out dated but resurrecting this thread.
I think we would benefit from having a better strategy / better thought process around copy text.
http://www.mail-archive.com/mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org/msg00134.html
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Maggie Dennis mdennis@wikimedia.org Date: Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 1:18 PM Subject: Re: [WikimediaMobile] Copy text on mobile site To: Mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Interjecting, I think it's a great idea to try to find the most friendly, effective language to draw people in that we can get. Wish I had expertise myself to help out, but, alas, writing short has never been my strong point. The idea of bringing in community feedback on mobile language is an interesting one. :) We have all kinds of expertise out there, although finding it can be hard. Obviously, we'd just have to be clear that we're bringing in advice from multiple streams, so that people aren't disappointed if the ideas they propose prove unworkable for some reason, such as if they are not accessible to ESL users.
I've been trying to think of any discussions that could be useful already on Wiki for this kind of thing, but it's such a different skillset, writing this succinctly.
In terms of copy-text experts, there must be somebody out there who teaches people this stuff. Not sure how easy they are to find, though, or if they'd be in budget.
Maggie
-- Maggie Dennis Community Liaison WikimediaFoundation.org
_______________________________________________ Mobile-l mailing list Mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mobile-l
-- Jon Robson http://jonrobson.me.uk @rakugojon
I agree with the need for friendlier or more inspiring copy where appropriate. The thoughts I'd add to this are:
1. Let's not overdo it (e.g. a search button shouldn't say "*Search the largest knowledge base on the planet*"). 2. The visual treatment should always match the character of the copy to maximize its impact.
What I mean by (2) is that, say, an inspiring message, such as "Join the movement" should be prominent and stand alone.
Some resources on this topic: http://bokardo.com/archives/writing-microcopy/ http://voiceandtone.com/freddies-jokes http://www.slideshare.net/mulegirl/copy-is-interface
On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 4:18 PM, Jon Robson jrobson@wikimedia.org wrote:
Bit out dated but resurrecting this thread.
I think we would benefit from having a better strategy / better thought process around copy text.
http://www.mail-archive.com/mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org/msg00134.html
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Maggie Dennis mdennis@wikimedia.org Date: Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 1:18 PM Subject: Re: [WikimediaMobile] Copy text on mobile site To: Mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Interjecting, I think it's a great idea to try to find the most friendly, effective language to draw people in that we can get. Wish I had expertise myself to help out, but, alas, writing short has never been my strong point. The idea of bringing in community feedback on mobile language is an interesting one. :) We have all kinds of expertise out there, although finding it can be hard. Obviously, we'd just have to be clear that we're bringing in advice from multiple streams, so that people aren't disappointed if the ideas they propose prove unworkable for some reason, such as if they are not accessible to ESL users.
I've been trying to think of any discussions that could be useful already on Wiki for this kind of thing, but it's such a different skillset, writing this succinctly.
In terms of copy-text experts, there must be somebody out there who teaches people this stuff. Not sure how easy they are to find, though, or if they'd be in budget.
Maggie
-- Maggie Dennis Community Liaison WikimediaFoundation.org
Mobile-l mailing list Mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mobile-l
-- Jon Robson http://jonrobson.me.uk @rakugojon
Design mailing list Design@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/design
On 12/11/2012 04:35 PM, Munaf Assaf wrote:
- Let's not overdo it (e.g. a search button shouldn't say "/Search the
largest knowledge base on the planet/").
It is more radical than this: use always the shortest strings possible. English tends to be pretty efficient in computer UIs but many other languages will struggle with longer words, more articles, prepositions, etc.
Two obvious real examples I found yesterday by using Mobile Beta in Catalan:
"Mobile settings" is better than "Mobile site settings" http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Thread:Support/About_MediaWiki:Mobile-frontend...
"Save" is better than "Save settings" http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Thread:Support/About_MediaWiki:Mobile-frontend...
Talking to Stephen Walling I suggested we should run a half day / day discussing our approach to copy text.
It would be great to get an expert in and open this to the wider volunteer community as well. I'm sure there is a lot we can learn from such a session and find some concrete ways of improving copy throughout our products. We ran a similar session with Cooper [1] for our approach to UX and this could be done in a similar way.
Would anyone be up for this? Does anyone know someone who could lead such a session? Is anyone up for organising this?
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGoTmNU_5A0
On Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 9:50 AM, Quim Gil qgil@wikimedia.org wrote:
On 12/11/2012 04:35 PM, Munaf Assaf wrote:
- Let's not overdo it (e.g. a search button shouldn't say "/Search the
largest knowledge base on the planet/").
It is more radical than this: use always the shortest strings possible. English tends to be pretty efficient in computer UIs but many other languages will struggle with longer words, more articles, prepositions, etc.
Two obvious real examples I found yesterday by using Mobile Beta in Catalan:
"Mobile settings" is better than "Mobile site settings" http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Thread:Support/About_MediaWiki:Mobile-frontend...
"Save" is better than "Save settings" http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Thread:Support/About_MediaWiki:Mobile-frontend...
-- Quim Gil Technical Contributor Coordinator @ Wikimedia Foundation http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil
Design mailing list Design@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/design
Haha I pasted the wrong link It should be http://cooper.com
Although the one I pasted is a good one too but very unrelated ;-)
On Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 10:59 AM, Jon Robson jrobson@wikimedia.org wrote:
Talking to Stephen Walling I suggested we should run a half day / day discussing our approach to copy text.
It would be great to get an expert in and open this to the wider volunteer community as well. I'm sure there is a lot we can learn from such a session and find some concrete ways of improving copy throughout our products. We ran a similar session with Cooper [1] for our approach to UX and this could be done in a similar way.
Would anyone be up for this? Does anyone know someone who could lead such a session? Is anyone up for organising this?
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGoTmNU_5A0
On Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 9:50 AM, Quim Gil qgil@wikimedia.org wrote:
On 12/11/2012 04:35 PM, Munaf Assaf wrote:
- Let's not overdo it (e.g. a search button shouldn't say "/Search the
largest knowledge base on the planet/").
It is more radical than this: use always the shortest strings possible. English tends to be pretty efficient in computer UIs but many other languages will struggle with longer words, more articles, prepositions, etc.
Two obvious real examples I found yesterday by using Mobile Beta in Catalan:
"Mobile settings" is better than "Mobile site settings" http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Thread:Support/About_MediaWiki:Mobile-frontend...
"Save" is better than "Save settings" http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Thread:Support/About_MediaWiki:Mobile-frontend...
-- Quim Gil Technical Contributor Coordinator @ Wikimedia Foundation http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil
Design mailing list Design@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/design