Laura V.
Sample Better than I expected for free
Clear, practical and kind in tone. The style guide template alone was worth the time.
UX writing: clear microcopy for buttons, errors and forms
Write interface text that helps people finish tasks: labels, buttons, error messages, empty states and the moments in between
Created by Owen Gallagher
- Updated August 2026
- English
- Beginner
What you will learn
- Write button labels that describe the action and its result
- Rewrite error messages so they explain the problem and the fix
- Choose between labels, placeholders and helper text in forms
- Turn empty states into useful starting points
- Define a product voice and adjust tone to the situation
- Create a one page content style guide for a team
Course content
Foundations of interface writing
Forms and inputs
- Article: Labels, placeholders and helper text 9 min
- Article: Error messages that help 10 min
- Article: Success and confirmation messages 7 min
- Article: Writing within space limits 8 min
- Article: Asking for personal information 8 min
Guiding people through a product
- Article: Onboarding copy that gets people started 9 min
- Article: Empty states that teach 8 min
- Article: Tooltips and inline help 7 min
- Article: Notifications that respect attention 8 min
- Article: Navigation and menu labels 7 min
Writing for difficult moments
- Article: Destructive actions and confirmations 9 min
- Article: Outages and system errors 8 min
- Article: Permission and privacy requests 8 min
- Article: Pricing, billing and plan limits 9 min
Working as a content designer
- Article: Content in Figma and developer handoff 9 min
- Article: Testing your words 10 min
- Article: A one page content style guide 8 min
- Article: Writing for translation 8 min
- Quiz: Final check 6 min
Requirements
- No writing or design experience required
Description
The words in an interface are part of the design. A vague button, a missing hint or an error message that blames the user can stop someone from finishing a task as surely as a broken layout. This free course teaches the practical basics of UX writing, also called content design, so your products say the right thing at the right moment.
What you will learn
You will start with the principles that apply to every piece of interface text: be clear, be concise, be useful and match your product's voice. Then you will apply them to the parts of a product where words matter most.
- Buttons and calls to action that say what will happen
- Form labels, hints and error messages that prevent mistakes
- Empty states and onboarding that help people get started
- Confirmation dialogs for destructive actions
- A short content style guide your team can share
How it works
Each lesson includes before and after examples from a sample project management app, so you can see exactly what changed and why. Exercises ask you to rewrite real interface text and check it against a simple checklist.
You do not need to be a professional writer. Designers, product managers, developers and support staff all write interface text, and this course gives them a shared approach. The final section covers how to hand copy over in Figma, test it with users and prepare it for translation.
Who this course is for
- Designers who write the text in their mockups
- Product managers and developers who ship interface copy
- Support and marketing staff moving into content design
Instructor
Owen Gallagher
Accessibility specialist and UX writer teaching inclusive, clear interfaces
- 4.4 instructor rating
- 16 reviews
- 5,330 students
- 2 courses
- Sample
I work on accessibility and content design for web and mobile products. I audit interfaces against WCAG, test with screen readers and keyboards, and write the words people see in buttons, forms and error messages.
I teach these two skills together because they overlap more than most people expect: a clear label helps a screen reader user and everyone else. My courses cover practical WCAG 2.2 testing, accessible patterns for common components, and writing microcopy that is short, specific and kind.
I keep the tone practical. You will test real pages, rewrite real copy and learn to explain accessibility issues to a team in a way that gets them fixed.
Student reviews
Hannah S.
Sample Error messages finally make sense
I rewrote every error in our checkout form after the forms section. Support tickets about failed payments dropped noticeably over the next month.
Amara N.
Sample Great intro for developers
As a developer who writes most of our UI text, this gave me a clear set of rules. I would have liked more on localisation.
Giorgos P.
Sample Short lessons, real examples
The before and after examples are the best part. I keep coming back to the button and empty state lessons.
Elif Y.
Sample Useful for product managers
I write a lot of release copy and notifications. The section on difficult moments made me rethink our outage messages.
Oliver J.
Sample Voice and tone explained well
The 'we are, we are not' format for voice traits is simple and it worked for our team immediately.
Tariq M.
Sample Good basics, quite introductory
If you already work in content design most of this is familiar. Still a good resource to share with engineers and PMs on my team.
Keep exploring
All UI and UX courses
More in UI and UX
Free
Enroll now