Add Personality to Your App Through UX Writing - WWDC24

Introduction

In the dynamic world of app development, the voice and tone of your app can significantly influence user engagement. The recent WWDC24 session on this topic provided valuable insights into how UX writing can inject personality into your app. Here, we’ll explore the key takeaways and practical applications of these techniques.

Personality, Voice, and Tone

Personality in an app can be expressed through four main elements: colors, fonts, illustrations, and writing. This article will focus specifically on how writing contributes to your app’s personality.

Understanding Voice and Tone

Voice represents the brand’s core values and identity through language. Tone, on the other hand, adapts this voice to suit different situations and contexts. For instance, a progress-tracking app might use playful language and exclamation marks to match its cheerful design.

Practical Application

Following Apple’s exercises for defining voice, I applied this approach to several of my apps. Here’s a breakdown of the adjectives I used to describe the personality of each app.

Christmas Guide

Adjectives
Fun, festive, cheerful, joyful, interesting, informational, easy-going, polite.

Grouped by Relevancy

• Festive: Fun, festive, cheerful, joyful, easy-going
• Informational: Interesting, informational
• Polite: Polite

Defining Words
Festive, Interesting

Huh? Dictionary

Adjectives
Smart, professional, encouraging, helpful, devoted, straightforward, caring, elegant

Grouped by Relevancy

• Helpful: Smart, professional, straightforward, elegant
• Encouraging: Encouraging, helpful, devoted, caring

Defining Words
Helpful, Straightforward

Modulart Studio

Adjectives
Creative, serious, meticulous, witty, ingenious, surprising, straightforward, efficient

Grouped by Relevancy

• Creative: Creative, witty, ingenious, surprising
• Serious: Serious, meticulous, straightforward, efficient

Defining Words
Creative, Serious

Voice in Action

To illustrate how these defining words shape writing, consider the following examples.

Christmas Guide

Without Voice
Be ready for Christmas season.

With Voice
Deck the halls and jingle the bells because the magical Christmas season is waiting for you!

Actionable
Let’s get decking the halls and jingling the bells because the magical Christmas season is waiting for you!

Casual
Let’s get decking the halls and jingling the bells because the magical Christmas season is definitely waiting for you!

Huh? Dictionary

Without Voice
Get any word’s definition.

With Voice
We help you look up the clear definition of any word.

Actionable
Let’s get looking up a clear definition for any word.

Casual
Let’s get looking up a clear definition for really any word!

Modulart Studio

Without Voice
Create art with math.

With Voice
Harness powerful numbers to create stunning patterns.

Actionable
Let’s get harnessing powerful numbers to create stunning patterns.

Casual
Let’s get harnessing some powerful numbers to create really stunning patterns!

Conclusion: To Be or To App

When crafting UX writing for your app, prioritize clarity and inclusivity, steer clear of jargon, and infuse personality by imagining your app as a character with its own voice. A fun tip from my experience: I name my apps—Nicolas, Robert, and Benoit—to reflect their unique personalities and roles.