Microcopy

Where it comes from

The term was popularized by designer Joshua Porter around 2009, and Kinneret Yifrah developed it in Microcopy: The Complete Guide (2017). Today it's part of UX writing, the discipline that covers all the text in a digital product.

Where it appears

• Buttons and links: "Create project" instead of "OK".
• Forms: labels, format examples and why each piece of data is requested.
• Error messages: what happened and how to fix it.
• Empty and loading states.
• Confirmations: what happened and what comes next.
• Copy next to the CTA: "No credit card required", "Cancel anytime", "We reply within one business day".

Good practices

• Clarity over cleverness. A joke in an error message annoys someone who has just lost their work.
• Talk about what users want to do, not how the system works internally.
• Useful error messages: visible next to the field, in plain language, with the solution and without blaming the user, as Nielsen Norman Group recommends.
• Consistency: the same action has the same name throughout the interface. A product glossary helps.
• Address objections at the exact spot: next to the phone field, explain what it will be used for.

Examples

• "Error 403" → "You don't have access to this project. Ask its owner to invite you."
• "Submit" → "Request a demo".
• "Invalid password" → "Your password must be at least 12 characters long."

Related terms

• Empty state
• Call to action (CTA)
• Usability
• Friction

Sources

• Nielsen Norman Group, Error-Message Guidelines.