ux-writing

name	ux-writing
description	Microcopy discipline — buttons, errors, empty/loading/success states, alt text. Voice and tone come from the project's memory, not from this skill.

Skill: UX Writing

The discipline of interface copy. The project's voice (tone, vocabulary, banned words) lives in memory-long §conventions — seeded by /init, refined by the humans. This skill is how to structure copy regardless of voice.

Microcopy patterns

Surface	Pattern	Never
Buttons/CTAs	[imperative verb] [+ object if needed] — "Send message" · primary CTAs ≤24 chars (one line at 320px)	"Submit", "Click here", exclamation marks
Form errors	[specific cause]. [corrective action]. — "Invalid email. Check the format."	"Error", vague politeness ("Please fill correctly")
Empty states	[context of emptiness] [+ next possible action]	Dead ends ("Nothing here")
Loading	Say what is happening — "Validating email…"	"Loading…", "Please wait"
Success	[concrete confirmation]. [next action or link]. — "Message sent. Reply within 48h."	"Success!" (zero context)
Alt text	Decorative → alt="" · Informative → describe what it communicates, not what it is	Inventing text for decorative images
ARIA labels	Expand context beyond visible text	Duplicating visible text

Rules

1. Every state a component can enter has copy designed for it (error/empty/loading/success are part of the component contract — see component-patterns).
2. Copy is content, not decoration: review it like code. A vague error message is a bug.
3. Generic marketing-speak is banned by default (the project's memory may extend the blacklist): "innovative", "seamless", "leverage", "unlock", "empower", "best-in-class", "next-gen", "streamline", "supercharge", "world-class", "enterprise-grade", "cutting-edge".
4. If the project is bilingual, the primary language leads and the mirror follows the same patterns — never machine-translate microcopy without pattern review.
5. AI-cadence tells (Impeccable-verified): more than two em-dashes in one passage · the aphoristic rebuttal cadence ("X. No Y." / "Not a feature. A platform.") repeated across sections · buzzword stacking. Once is voice; the pattern is the tell — rewrite with plain verbs and nouns.