UX Writing Weekly #151

Preview
The potential pitfalls of gamification -
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WHAT’S INSIDE ✍️

Issue #151 (Sep 29th, 2021)
  • Is it game over for gamification?
  • Web 1.0 contact forms
  • No thanks. I’d rather confirmshame my users
  • Free UX portfolio event!



ARTICLES 📰  
This week, three articles by Built In, an online community for startups and tech companies. They have some great content, so sign up if you have a minute (or open articles in incognito).


🎲 Gamification is easy. Just toss in some points, rankings, rewards, a few sparkly unicorn graphics, and presto — engaged users, right? Not so fast. If you don’t understand the underlying psychology, it could easily backfire.

Gamification Is Over. Long Live Game Thinking.

📋 “Contact Us” forms have endured since the dawn of the internet. But from a UX perspective, they’re kinda … what’s the word … awful. Perhaps it’s time to update these web 1.0 remnants.

Contact Forms Don’t Have to Be So Irritating. Here’s How to Improve Them.

😔 “Want a HUGE discount on our new bear repellant?” “No thanks. I like getting mauled by grizzlies!!” So it goes with typical confirmshaming. Why? Because it works. But we can do better.

Confirmshaming Works. Resist It Anyway.




MICROCOPY BITE 💬

We love Airtable, but it’s a complex product. Luckily, great microcopy makes it easy to use. For example, this message appears when you press the down arrow when in a table’s bottom row.




TRENDING IN UX 🐦



UPSKILL: LIVE EVENTS & MORE 📚


How to build a content design team (Podcast)

FREE EVENT TOMORROW for everyone who's working on a UX portfolio. Jan Haaland will show us how to create a killer case study — perhaps the most important part of any portfolio. Jan runs the Case Study Club and has helped hundreds of designers level up their careers. All are welcome!

Sign up here:
The Confident Portfolio with Case Study Club (Sep 30th)




JOBS 👔


Momentive, formerly SurveyMonkey, is looking for a UX Content Strategist in Portland or remote USA.

Booking is hiring UX copywriters, both junior and senior.

And as always:



PORTFOLIO 🎨


Looking for a design workshop to help your team create a narrative? From intent-driven UX to strategic storytelling, Tizzy Asher has you covered.

https://uxfol.io/tizzyasher



KICK 'N' GIGGLES 👊🤕

Because we all know at least one Backpfeifengesicht.


17 German words with no English translation




VOX POPULI 🗣️

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See you next week for a special 150th edition!

— Written and curated by Yuval Keshtcher, Aaron Raizen, and the UX Writing Hub team —


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