UX Writer Portfolio
Below you will find three speculative UX writing case studies. I looked at many websites and applications and came up with three instances of UX writing that I re-edited with user experience in mind. I have provided examples of the process and my thinking below for your consideration .
Case Study 1: HSBC Website
I noted several points on the ‘Saving’s Account’ section of the HSBC website that I thought could be improved. Below are pictures of the page in question before and after my intervention. The third picture is an end-to-end flowchart of the user experience.
Points
There were spelling and grammar issues in the ‘Apply for HSBC Basic Savings Account’ heading, as well as in the body of text that followed it.
I believe the ‘Click Here’ section was wordy.
The ‘Visit branch’ tool was unclear as to its function: was its function to find a branch? To book an appointment? Or both?
Changes
I changed the spelling and grammar, keeping in mind the customer friendly yet formal voice of the brand to ensure it was consistent with all their output.
I streamlined the ‘Click Here’ section by removing words I thought impeded upon clarity, thus making it more concise.
I renamed the tool ‘Find your nearest branch and book an appointment’ as I believe that is a clearer and more concise description of the function the tool performs as well as being more purposeful in beginning with the objective and maintaining active voice.. I could further truncate the tool title to ‘Find your nearest branch.’
I would also suggest turning the ‘For better browsing experience’ notice into a tool tip that hovers above the ‘Instant Apply’ tool, as I feel that it makes the page more scannable in terms of how the content interacts with the design.
Case Study 2: The Co-operative Bank Website
I noticed several points in the description of the ‘Cashminder Account’ on the Co-op Bank’s Current Accounts page. Below are pictures of before and after I intervened.
Points
There is mention of the Cashminder account providing a card, but there is no specification of what type of card.
The wording of the first sentence in the description may be awkward and unclear to a customer.
The final sentence ‘Manage your cash,’ does not demonstrate the ways in which a prospective customer can manage their cash with this type of account.
Changes
I researched the benefits of the Cashminder account and found that the type of card available is a debit card. I included this information in the text as I thought it would be helpful to the customer and is more consistent with how the Co-op website formatted the descriptions of their other accounts. The added information acts as an incentive for customers who may be interested to click through.
I reworded the first sentence for clarity, ensuring the content remained concise, informative and was consistent with the Co-op brand’s voice across their platforms, which is non-jargonistic and conversational.
I included some of the ways in which you can manage your cash as an incentive for customers to improve the click through rate. I researched the benefits of the account to ensure that all methods were applicable.
Case Study 3: Aldermore Website
I decided to look at a smaller bank and assess their UX. On the Aldermore website I noticed three main points where I felt the UX was unclear. Below are pictures referencing the website before and after I applied changes.
Points
The ‘Log In’ option does not specify to what end. Log In to continue browsing? Log In to apply for the account?
The ‘Customers’ title does not specify what type of customer. Is this the portal for ‘New’ or ‘Existing’ customers?
Again, the ‘Existing’ title is unclear. A user could potentially guess that the ‘Existing’ stands for ‘Existing customer’ as this is the typical wording used to refer to this type of customer on most banking websites but it could be made clearer.
Changes
I added another sentence following the ‘Log In’ option to specify where clicking that option would take the customer.
I renamed the ‘Customer’ title to specify that it is for new customers.
I renamed the ‘Existing’ title to specify that it is for existing customers.
Case Study 4: Chase UK Application
***The Nutmeg app has been fully integrated with Chase by this point, as such, the information provided below is more so to provide an extra case study of how I would have altered the content prior to these changes and how this exemplifies how I think in terms of problem solving with user experience in mind.
On the ‘Discover’ function in the Chase UK app, I noticed wording on one of the slides I thought could be improved. Below is a picture of the page in question. I have also created an end-to-end flowchart to show the user experience of the discover function. I will detail the points I sought to change and explain my reasons why below.
Points
If you zoom in on the first picture below, you will see that the disclaimer that follows the advertisement of the Nutmeg app seems bifurcated. It reads ‘And coming soon, you’ll be able to explore investing with Nutmeg, capital at risk.’
Changes
I scanned the Chase UK application and found that the typical disclaimer following any mention of investments is ‘as with all investments, capital is at risk.’ The disclaimer in the image below is missing the first half of the disclaimer, the ‘as with all investments’ part. I would reword the text to read:
‘The home of your future plans. You’ll find saver and round up accounts here. Just tap ‘Add+’ to open a new one. And, coming soon, you’ll be able to explore investing with Nutmeg. Just remember, as with all investments, capital is at risk’
The ‘Just remember’ foregrounds the disclaimer that follows, providing necessary context, so that what follows does not seemingly come out of nowhere and flows better with the preceding text.
I conducted research and found that Nutmeg has only recently been integrated with Chase. As such, I believe the changes I am proposing better synthesises Chase’s customer friendly, personable brand voice without loosing the authoritative significance of the disclaimer that follows it. I have included a screenshot of the Nutmeg app in the carousel below for comparison.
As I was considering an application and not a website, it was important for me to consider specificities of app UX that does not necessarily correspond to web UX. Screen size is one such consideration. As mobile devices and tablets have limited screen space compared to computers and the basic form of interaction on an application is different from a website, as app UX revolves around touchpoint, gestures and swipes and Web UX involves mouse clicks, hover states and scroll wheels, I ensured any content changes I made would not leave the screen too cluttered or too empty as well as minimising distractions and prioritising user tasks.
