I'm taking the Daily UX Writing challenge to become a better UX Writer in 15 days.
Scenario: A traveler is in an airport waiting for the last leg of a flight home when their flight gets abruptly canceled due to bad weather.
Challenge: Write a message from the airline app notifying them of the cancellation and what they need to do next.
Headline: 45 characters
Body: 175 characters max
Button(s): 25 characters max
Discovery
What is this feature? What are we trying to achieve with this feature?
This feature is a mobile notification, email, or text message delivered to a traveler. I want to inform the traveler that the last leg of their flight is cancelled. I want to reassure the traveler and offer them a clear solution or next step.
What problem are we trying to address?
Inform the user, reassure the user, and offer a clear path forward.
What do we want to include in the message?
Which flight is cancelled?
Why is it cancelled?
What should the traveler do next?
What are the top 5 reasons flights are cancelled?
Bad weather, security, knock-on effect of other planes being delayed, mechanical issues with the airplane, lack of passengers, air traffic restrictions, and so on.
What do airlines typically do when a flight is cancelled?
By law airlines need to offer:
re-routing as close as possible to the original departure time
re-routing at a later date, or
a refund of the cost of the unused flight ticket.
Highlight the terminology and structure flows that other companies in the industry are using?
American airlines
Frustrated traveler on X
Ryanair email
Should I stay consistent to accommodate the user's mental model or can it be improved upon?
Passive tense is widely used in this situation: Your flight has been cancelled
The messages are often long but they don't need to be. It would give the reader a lot of anxiety to read through a long message while not knowing what to do. The sooner you can answer the what and why and get to next steps, the better.
Building the flow
What’s the required sequence of information on the screen? Why?
What does the headline do? Inform, assure, or offer next step
What does the body do? Inform, assure, or offer next step
What happens when the user clicks on the button?
If we use a text message to inform, where should we redirect the user to?
Brainstorm: Quickly writing out every idea for the copy, good or bad
Your flight AE3345 from Manchester to Dublin has been cancelled due to bad weather. You can choose from the following flights which leave later today: <Options>
Alternatively, you can choose to go at a later date or request a refund. <Button>
We're sorry, your flight AE3345 from Manchester to Dublin Dublin has been cancelled because of the ATC strikes. The earliest possible flights to Dublin are <options>
If you don't like these options, you can:
leave at a later date OR
request a refund
Research: Looking at competitors and similar types of apps to find the common approach to a scenario
Example of a flight cancellation notice
Drafting: Quickly writing copy to get an overview of a flow
Flight cancellation and rebooking options
<Name>, we are sorry your flight from Manchester to Dublin has been cancelled due to poor weather.
See the flights available later today to Dublin. You can aslo fly at a later date (at no extra charge) or request a refund.
Accept alternative flight today Fly later Request a refund
Editing: Checking and correcting points of confusion, areas for improvement in the design, and issues with accessibility, localization/globalization, terminology, and brand voice/tone
<Name>, we are sorry. Your flight AE667 from Manchester to Dublin has been cancelled due to poor weather.
The quickest option to Dublin today is
Monday, January 27
MAN - DUB
hh:mm - hh:mm
Accept flight today
You can also fly later (at no extra charge) or request a refund.
Fly later Request a refund
We are here to help! Call us at 0333 006 6921 or start a <Live Chat> to speak to us in your preferred language.
Proofreading: Checking and correcting use of contractions, grammar and spelling errors, casing errors, and punctuation errors
Mockup created in Canva
Testing
Test UX copy using any one of these methods:
A/B testing
Usability testing
High fidelity prototype testing with Figma
Scorecards using content heuristics
The method you choose will depend on the context, time, and constraints on your team.
