Reflection · · 1 min read
The words are part of the interface
Why a label deserves as much care as the button around it.
A button labelled Continue looks reasonable until there are two possible meanings of continuing. Does it save the work? Send it to someone? Take the person to another step?
The shape and colour of a control can show that it is clickable. The words explain what clicking it will do. I find it difficult to separate those two parts of the design.
Specific wording can help expose an unclear flow. If I cannot name an action without writing a vague label, perhaps I have not decided exactly what the action does yet.
The same applies to error messages. “Something went wrong” names a problem without giving someone much to work with. If an upload fails because the file is too large, explaining the limit gives the person a possible next step. That explanation depends on knowing the actual failure, rather than guessing at a reassuring message.
Shorter wording is not always clearer wording. “Save changes” takes more space than “Done”, but it describes a different commitment. The right label depends on the action, the surrounding context, and what someone needs to understand.
I want to review copy inside the interface rather than as a final layer of polish. Read the heading, action, and confirmation together. Do they describe the same event? Does the wording stay consistent when the state changes?
A few carefully chosen words can make the interaction more understandable. They deserve room in the design process.