My 15-Day UX Writing Challenge
Thanks to dailyuxwriting.com for their awesome 15-day UX Writing Challenge! Their prompts were so much fun, and I'm a better UX writer because of them. Have a look yourself...
Day 1 Challenge - "Flight Canceled Because of Weather"
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
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For this prompt, I imagined the flight cancellation happening under three sets of circumstances, from best to worst (from the traveler's point of view), as detailed below...
Best-case scenario: The flight’s been canceled, but the airline has taken care of next steps and treated the customer to a free hotel room. By the time the customer finishes reading the notification, the canceled flight might not seem so bad after all...
Headline: Unsafe flying conditions, flight canceled
Body Copy: Sorry Mike, your flight’s been canceled. We’ve got you covered, though. You’re already re-booked for the next departure, and we’ve reserved you a room at a nearby hotel.
Button: See your new itinerary
Middle-ground scenario: Modest (read: meager) conciliatory gestures are being made by the airline (a free drink and preferential seating on the next available flight). But the fact of the matter still stands: the customer doesn’t know when they’re getting home yet, and will probably end up in some Lord-of-the-Flies-style scenario squaring off against other unhappy travelers for a spot on the next departure.
Headline: Unsafe flying conditions, flight canceled
Body Copy: Sorry Mike – your flight’s been canceled. We know that’s frustrating, so you’ll get preferential seating and a complimentary beverage on the next available flight home.
Button: Speak with Customer Service
Worst-case scenario: The airline is making no conciliatory gestures, and the customer will have to do all their own legwork to get onto the next flight; the possibility of the Lord-of-the-Flies-style face-off again looms large...let's just focus on the weather, shall we?
Headline: Unsafe flying conditions, flight canceled
Body: Bad news, Mike. Because of the nasty weather, we had to cancel your flight. We’re so sorry. Our customer service team is here to help you get home safe...
Button: Speak with Customer Service
