I don’t think I’ve ever followed a set of instructions without rewriting at least part of it in my head. I recognise and acknowledge that this is possibly/probably an occupational hazard.

Sometimes it’s just wording I’d change. Sometimes it’s because I’ve reached instruction five only to discover that I can’t actually complete it until I’ve done instruction seven, so it’s the order that needs a heavy edit. I often wonder whether anyone has actually followed the instructions before publishing them. You absolutely have to test drive instruction copy. Them’s the rules.

And then there’s microcopy. Microcopy is all those tiny bits of copy we encounter every day: buttons, labels, error messages, signs (I LOVE signs), form instructions, booking confirmations and those little sentences telling us what happens next.

Tiny bits of writing that are doing quite a big job. Or not.

The right words

I recently received this:

“Your item(s) will be ready for collection from 13:00 Tuesday 4th August. Once arrived, we will send you a message to confirm.”

Once what has arrived? Me? The item? The message?

I know what they mean because I made it make sense. I’d ordered something, so I supplied the missing context myself and worked out what was likely to happen next. But I shouldn’t have to.

And there’s another problem. Is it definitely ready from 13:00, or do I have to wait for the message? Those are two slightly different instructions.

Something like:

“Your item(s) will be ready for collection from 13:00 on Tuesday 4th August. We’ll message you when your order is ready to collect.”

would at least be clearer.

Although even then, I’d still want to know whether I can arrive at 13:00 or whether I need to wait for the message. Screwfix and Argos are very clear in their post-sales messaging that you shouldn’t turn up to collect until you get a text or email confirmation.

Which rather proves the point.

The right order

This sounds ridiculously obvious. Apparently it isn’t.

If I need to remove the widget before I unscrew the whatsit, don’t tell me that three instructions later.

If I need my account number before I start a process, tell me before I start it.

If something takes 24 hours before I can move on to the next step, don’t mention that after I’ve cleared my afternoon to finish the job. And boy does this one grate as a freelancer juggling projects, clients and time.

Good instructions don’t just contain the right information.They deliver it at the right moment.

Short ≠ clear

There can be a temptation with microcopy to get everything as short as humanly possible. I’m all for getting rid of unnecessary words. It’s my mantra. But five confusing words aren’t better than eight clear ones. Microcopy isn’t a competition to see how few characters you can use. The job is to make the next action obvious.

What do I do?

What happens next?

Do I need to do anything at all?

If I’ve had to stop and work that out, your tiny bit of copy hasn’t done its tiny-but-important job.

Test drive

This may be my favourite highly technical copywriting technique. Do what the words tell you to do. Nothing more.

Don’t fill in the gaps using what you already know.

Don’t mentally reorder the steps.

Don’t assume what “it”, “this” or “once arrived” means.

Follow the instructions exactly as a person encountering them for the first time would.

Better still, give them to someone who genuinely is encountering them for the first time.

Because the best test of instructional copy isn’t whether the person who wrote it understands it. Of course they do. It’s whether everybody else does. And if step five only works after step seven? You’ve got some rewriting to do.

Signs

I couldn’t write about microcopy without mentioning signs. I LOVE signs.

I have, for example, strategically placed a sign on my drive saying NO REVERSING OR TURNING.

I appreciate this may seem excessive to some people, but if you’d had a bin wagon and a car transporter – two fairly recent examples in a long line of them – reversing the full length of your drive, you might get a bit narked too.

I can categorically state that the sign has had ZERO impact. Which raises another microcopy problem: sometimes the words are perfectly clear and people simply ignore them. People. The unknown element! I’ve currently added a bin at the end of the drive as a more physical ‘nudge’.

If anyone has suggestions for legally worded signage that means please stop using my private drive as your personal turning circle – without simply saying **** off – I’m all ears.