DEV Community

Cover image for UX Writing Challenge: Day 12
Johnny Santamaria
Johnny Santamaria

Posted on • Edited on

UX Writing Challenge: Day 12

From:
DailyUXWriting

80% done with the challenge!!

Scenario: A user is creating an account. When they come to the step where they are asked to enter their name, they get an error message. A fraud detection software thinks their name is fake—but it’s wrong 5% of the time.

Challenge: Write an error message that prompts them to fix the error without shaming them for having a fake-sounding name.

Message: 45 characters max

--

Message: Please double-check your username

Why I chose this:

  1. Neutral tone: The message avoids making assumptions or accusations about the user's name, ensuring a respectful interaction.

  2. Actionable: It clearly prompts the user to take a specific action—checking their input—without introducing confusion.

  3. Concise: At 45 characters, it remains within the limit while effectively conveying the necessary information.

  4. Universal: The term “double-check” is understood across various demographics and doesn't alienate users with complex terminology.

  5. Polite and empathetic: The phrase acknowledges the user’s agency and avoids implying any fault or judgment about their name.

Conclusion

This error message balances clarity, politeness, and efficiency. It ensures users feel respected while addressing the issue, maintaining a positive user experience.

cover image credit

Billboard image

Deploy and scale your apps on AWS and GCP with a world class developer experience

Coherence makes it easy to set up and maintain cloud infrastructure. Harness the extensibility, compliance and cost efficiency of the cloud.

Learn more

Top comments (0)

Cloudinary image

Optimize, customize, deliver, manage and analyze your images.

Remove background in all your web images at the same time, use outpainting to expand images with matching content, remove objects via open-set object detection and fill, recolor, crop, resize... Discover these and hundreds more ways to manage your web images and videos on a scale.

Learn more

👋 Kindness is contagious

Please leave a ❤️ or a friendly comment on this post if you found it helpful!

Okay