Microcopy and its massive impact

🤔 What is microcopy?

Microcopy is the very short pieces of writing you see on website buttons ('click me!'), clothing labels (wash at 30, I won't stay dirty), website 404 pages (page broken — how embarrassing, let's get sorted), cookie use agreements (I prefer cheese but my website uses cookies — click yes if you're ok with that), and lots more places.

It improves user experience, or UX, by:

- getting the user from A to Z comfortably

- building trust between user and brand

- establishing a conversation between user and brand

and makes you smile when you read how to wash your clothes, or creates fun out of frustration when a website crashes... Now — here's an example of some microcopy on a lemonade bottle cap:

Schweppes, I don't want to seem like a mega-bitch, but I think I could have done better here.

♻️While I LOVE the idea of sticking the cap to the bottle so that consumers can recycle them both together and not put that silly, small, unimportant lid in the bin instead of the recycling pile, we could better engage the user and improve their experience.

⭐I'd go for "I AM ATTACHED; RECYCLE US TOGETHER"

🎬Why? Well, design-wise it still fits: same number of letters on the third line. However, there is a CTA (call to action) in my version, which encourages users to do something. Act, in fact. I've asked/instructed them to recycle, using the imperative.

🍒I've also created a relationship between the bottle and the lid. By using "us", I've brought them together, giving consumers the impression of an anthropomorphic link that shouldn't be broken. What awful person would think of tearing that lid from that bottle at the end of their liquid lives together now?!

✍️Let me know what you think about the original copy and what you think about my new line.