ux-writing

name	ux-writing
description	UX writing rules — universal best practices + language-specific rules (Chinese, English). Use when: creating UI text, writing button labels, form copy, error messages, empty states. Load after language is confirmed in designPreflight.

UI Copy — Interface Text Conventions

UI copy conventions for Figma designs. Universal best practices plus language-specific rules for Chinese and English. Covers buttons, forms, feedback messages, and text length adaptation.

Extends UI/UX Fundamentals (loaded separately). Scope: UI text content and copy conventions only. Typography rules (font, size, weight, line-height) are in platform skills (platform-ios, platform-android).

Skill Boundaries

• Use this skill for UI text decisions (button labels, form copy, error messages, empty states).
• Typography (PingFang SC / Noto Sans SC / SF Pro type scale) is in the platform skill — not here.
• If the task is bulk text replacement or localization, switch to text-replace.

Design Direction

Design rules are delivered by _workflow.designPreflight (from get_mode). For detailed rules by category, call get_design_guidelines(category).

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Universal Rules (All Languages)

Buttons

• Verb-first, specific action — "Save changes" not "OK", "Delete account" not "Delete"
• 1–3 words (English) / 2–4 characters (CJK)
• Primary: affirmative verb. Secondary: neutral/negative. Destructive: state consequence explicitly
• Paired buttons should be semantically symmetric ("Save / Discard", not "Save / Cancel maybe")
• NEVER end button text with a period

Form Labels & Placeholders

• Labels: noun phrase ("Email address", "Phone number")
• Placeholders: show example format ("[e-mail]", "[phone]") — not instructions
• NEVER mismatch label language and placeholder language

Feedback Messages

• Errors: state what happened + how to fix ("Password is too short. Use at least 8 characters.")
• Success: concise confirmation ("Saved", "Sent", "Account created")
• Empty states: encouraging tone + action CTA ("No projects yet. Create your first project.")
• NEVER use technical jargon ("HTTP 500" → "Something went wrong. Please try again.")
• NEVER use blaming tone ("You entered the wrong password" → "Incorrect password")

Text Length

• Use padding not fixed width — text length varies across languages
• NEVER set fixed height on text containers — content length varies by language

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Chinese — 中文特定规则

按钮文案

• 2–4 个汉字，动词优先（「登录」「注册」「提交」「取消」）
• NEVER 冗长文案：「立即注册新账号」→「注册」；「确认并提交表单」→「提交」
• 主操作：肯定动词（「确认」「保存」「发送」「继续」）
• 次操作：中性/否定词（「取消」「返回」「跳过」「稍后再说」）
• 破坏性操作：明确后果（「删除」「退出登录」，而非泛化的「确认」）
• 配对按钮语义对称：「确认 / 取消」「保存 / 放弃」「同意 / 拒绝」

表单文案

• 标签：名词性短语（「邮箱地址」「手机号码」「验证码」「收货地址」）
• 占位提示：「请输入…」格式（「请输入邮箱」「请输入密码」「请选择日期」）
• 下拉菜单：「请选择…」格式（「请选择城市」「请选择支付方式」）
• 必填标记：红色星号 * 在标签前
• 帮助文本：简短说明规则（「密码需包含 8 位以上字符」）

反馈文案

• 错误提示：问题 + 解决方案（「密码不正确，请重新输入」「网络异常，请稍后重试」）
• 成功提示：简洁确认（「保存成功」「已发送」「注册完成」）
• 空状态：鼓励性语气 + 行动建议（「还没有订单，去逛逛吧」「暂无消息，有新动态会通知你」）
• 加载状态：「加载中…」「正在获取数据…」
• 权限引导：说明用途（「开启通知以便接收订单更新」）

导航与标题

• 导航栏标题：≤6 个汉字（超长时截断加省略号）
• Tab 标签：≤4 个汉字（「首页」「发现」「消息」「我的」）
• 页面标题：简洁明确（「订单详情」「账号设置」「帮助中心」）
• 返回按钮：用图标（chevron），不用文字；如需文字用「返回」

中英混排

• 英文单词前后加半角空格（「使用 Google 账号登录」「版本 2.0 更新」）
• 数字前后加半角空格（「共 12 条结果」「还剩 3 天」）
• 品牌名保持原文不翻译（Apple、Google、WeChat、GitHub）
• 单位与数字之间加空格（「100 MB」「30 分钟」）
• 中文标点用全角（，。！？：；），英文标点用半角
• 括号内容跟随内容语言（中文内容用中文括号「（）」，英文内容用半角括号）

中文文本长度

• 中文比英文紧凑约 30–50%（「Settings」→「设置」，8 字符→2 字符）
• 导航栏标题容器预留 ≤6 个汉字宽度
• Tab 标签预留 ≤4 个汉字宽度

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English — 英文特定规则

Copy Style

• Sentence case for UI labels ("Sign in" not "Sign In"), except proper nouns and acronyms
• Contractions are OK for conversational tone ("Don't have an account?" not "Do not have an account?")
• Active voice preferred ("We couldn't save your changes" not "Your changes could not be saved")

Placeholders

• Show example format: "[e-mail]", "[phone]", "Search products..."
• NEVER use instructional placeholders ("Enter your email here")

English Text Length

• English expands ~30–50% vs Chinese — plan wider containers
• Button min-width: accommodate longest reasonable label
• Truncation: ellipsis for overflow, never mid-word