Our words, phrases, and sentences must be as brief as possible without sacrificing clarity.
Why
- Users have limited time and attention.
- Too much text can be distracting and discouraging.
- Translated text often requires more space than the original.
How
- Address only the most important use cases in the user interface.
Use help or other methods to provide guidance for other workflows.
- Eliminate any word that isn't essential.
- Don't be more comprehensive or precise than needed.
- Use short sentences, paragraph breaks and lists.
- Limit the length of text lines to improve readability.
- Use progressive disclosure methods to show more information only when it is needed or wanted.