Editing and Proofreading Tips for Design Copy
Theme selected: Editing and Proofreading Tips for Design Copy. Polish every microcopy snippet—from CTAs to tooltips—so it sounds human, aligns with your interface, and guides users confidently. Subscribe for weekly checklists, practical tactics, and honest stories from the product trenches.
Clarity First: Saying More With Fewer Words
Look for phrases like really, very, simply, and in order to. Replace them with verbs that act. When every word earns its place, interfaces breathe and users instantly understand what to do.
Nominalizations turn actions into fog. Choose activate instead of activation, start instead of initialization. Action-focused verbs speed comprehension, reduce cognitive load, and make buttons, menus, and empty states feel energetic and helpful.
If a line explains two ideas, split it. Break complex steps into sequential, scannable instructions. Short sentences survive small screens, reduce ambiguity, and prevent users from guessing what happens next.
Consistency You Can Feel: Style, Voice, and Terms
Document capitalization, emoji policy, serial commas, punctuation around units, and UI terms like Sign in versus Log in. Keep it versioned with owners, dates, and examples pulled from real screens.
Consistency You Can Feel: Style, Voice, and Terms
If the menu says Profile, avoid Account elsewhere. Audit navigation labels, button text, and settings names. Consistent terms reduce relearning, shrink tooltips, and turn first-time users into confident repeat navigators.
Proofreading Workflow That Fits Design Sprints
Three-Pass Method
Do one pass for structure and intent, one for sentence-level clarity, and one for typography and punctuation. Separating concerns prevents tunnel vision and reveals issues that a single hurried read might miss.
Read Aloud, Then Read On Device
Mouth the words like a user hears them. Pauses expose friction. Then test on the smallest screen you support to check truncation, line breaks, and awkward hyphenation in real layouts.
Plain Language, Not Dumbing Down
Use everyday words, short sentences, and concrete instructions. Prefer choose a file over select an asset. Plain language respects time, supports cognitive diversity, and increases success rates in critical flows.
Labels, Alt Text, and Focus States
Write labels that describe action or content, not internal jargon. Alt text should convey intent, not keywords. Ensure messages make sense when read by screen readers and when focus moves programmatically.
Be Global-Ready
Avoid idioms that break in translation, limit cultural references, and keep expansion room for longer languages. When writing CTAs, consider verbs that translate cleanly so localization remains faithful and efficient.
Data-Informed Editing: Let Users Decide
Pick the outcome—activation rate, task completion, or error recovery—before changing words. When goals guide edits, you avoid chasing clever lines and instead write copy that improves user success.
Common Pitfalls and How to Fix Them
01
Ambiguous CTAs
Buttons like Continue or Submit force guesswork. Write destination-oriented CTAs: Create project, Save changes, or Send feedback. When users know the outcome, they click faster and abandon fewer flows.
02
Over-Explaining Errors
Users need resolution, not a postmortem. Say what went wrong and exactly how to fix it. Include examples, limits, and next steps. Avoid blamey language that implies fault or incompetence.
03
Placeholder Text That Lies
Placeholders are not labels. If placeholders disappear on focus, users forget requirements. Keep persistent labels, use helpful examples, and ensure validation messages teach, not scold, at the precise moment needed.