Cognitive Overload and Unexpected Copy Writing Insights from Psychology and UX
By: Markus Hagen
Tags: User Experience, Branding, Content Strategy, Cognitive Overload, Brand Strategy

A recent project reminded me of what a fine line there is between expressing one’s creativity and how it can potentially lead to immense frustration on the user side. No judgment here, just an observation that might humor you or hopefully bring some insights.

The sentiment came up during a homepage re-design[for a SaaS company]. Our client planned on the typical hero banner, mission statement and product introduction modules leading to subsequent product pages, the classic sales funnel.

What seemed like a pretty straight forward project [from a UX point of view] ended up being this hard-fought battle over words. We advised on strategy and reviewed the Figma boards every once in a while after the client’s MarComm team updated the copy in each iteration. I noticed that I had this intense reaction to the writing every time I reviewed, even though technically and contextually there was nothing wrong with it.

I tried to take a step back and ask myself why did all these emotions come up? Was it just me or are there some [higher] mechanisms at play?

Psychology might have an answer:

We all know that actively paying attention is very hard, literally. It turns out that stress is actually the gateway to becoming mindful. Our brain mostly operates in the ‘Default Mode Network.’ We are scanning information throughout the day, so we are not really reading word-by-word until something sticks out. This allows the brain to conserve energy, we are being pulled in a million directions every day, and mindfully interacting with content is a substantial commitment in energy. We have this built-in mechanism that makes it literally hard to [mindfully] interact with new stimuli, almost as a test to see if we really want to do this. Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman Ph.D. found in his research that to get into a focused mind state it literally needs a neurotransmitter, epinephrine (adrenaline), that resides in the stress center of your brain to get you going. That’s why you feel stressed and agitated when you have to crack that difficult problem. The brain wants to know why it should engage.

So what can we learn from that when we write content?

Simplicity: The reason I literally experienced stress [when reading that copy] was due to the fact that each content module was written in such a pompous style that it forced my attention for literally every headline and phrase. “What does it mean? What does it say?” Once I tackled a micro problem it took me away from understanding the content as a whole and I had to switch gears, again. A user should be able to quickly scan each section to see if something sparks any interest. Given my level of frustration, I could only assume that most users would bail at this point. Simplicity goes a long way. Do not overcomplicate your copy. Consistency: If a user reads one of your headlines or paragraphs, others should have the same construction, tone and feel. Again, it allows for faster scanning and requires less energy to process. Avoid disruptive patterns. UX designers always think in terms of patterns, when we recognize an interaction that appears over and over, we create a component. It creates familiarity and alleviates stress. Follow Industry Standards: Your target audience might be somebody who is researching your offering and literally has been to a dozen of your competitors’ websites that same day. This can be a very stressful task and carry a lot of responsibility. There might be much at stake for them and the company they represent. Selecting a SaaS offering like yours might be a decision that has ramifications for their company for years to come. So make it easy to extract the key points. This is by no means a call to conformity and sameness but there is a place to be unique and there is a place to follow proven patterns. I am speaking from experience, researching products has been and is part of my job, comparing different vendors and their offerings. I have a clear matrix for this, I am looking for certain data points that I need to get out of a product offering so I can compare features and functionalities with other vendors side-by-side, I literally copy them into a Smartsheet and present my findings to my clients. If a website does not provide this information in a quick and easy way, I will move on to the next competitor. Look at the Bigger Picture: In the heat of the design process, each square pixel is often seen as “real estate,” space to be taken advantage of by the parties involved, the last bridge between a user converting or not. Multiple iterations often lead to overly inflated content, as if the future of the company depends on this corner of the page. UX people worry more about how a certain section fits into the whole ecosystem of the website and abides by the rules established to make it a cohesive customer experience. It would be beneficial to take this holistic approach. Taking a step back and having a closer look at what role a specific section has in the bigger picture of a website is key. Not every summary needs to be the hero. Conversion happens after you provided enough information that lets the user find your value. And, the higher the sticker price, the fewer the chances that conversion will happen with one interaction alone. So relax. I keep using this analogy: You are invited to a cocktail party, somebody approaches you and starts a conversation. You have never met that person before and he/she starts to tell you the whole life story, the strengths and clear choices why he/she is the best [future] life partner. You would be overwhelmed. You would probably run away. The same for your content. Feeding information is a dance, give the user small bite-sized info snippets first, and then, if they show interest, provide more.

What do you think? What has your experience been? Leave your comments below.

Takeaways

Simplicity: There is no need to make copy overly complicated, say it in simple words, allow for easy scanning. Consistency: Use the same construction, tone and feel. Follow Industry Standards: Hit the industry-specific points to allow users to compare you easily with competitors. Look at the Bigger Picture: Keep the bigger picture in mind and stay aware of what purpose certain content serves.

Markus Hagen is the Director of User Experience at verso.