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title: Interface copy quality — review lens contract applies_to: [web, mobile, all-ui, ux-audit, website-improvement, korean-market] version: 1.0.0 last_updated: 2026-09 stability: beta

Interface copy quality

This is the review contract for interface copy: button labels, form text, errors, empty states, notifications, onboarding, and destructive confirmations. It is a lens inside UX and website review, not a standalone command. The fixture set holds one Korean and one English before/after case for every surface, and npm run content:check validates the fixtures against this contract.

Copy is judged against the user's goal in that moment. A string is good when the user knows what happened, what the control does, and what to do next, in the product's own voice, and when a screen reader conveys the same meaning.

Criteria

Every finding names exactly one criterion. Use these IDs verbatim.

Criterion The copy passes when Typical failure
purpose Each control says what it does, and each message says what happened, in terms of the user's goal. 확인, OK, or Next on a button whose result the user cannot predict
clarity It uses the user's words, one idea per string, and no internal codes or system jargon. Error 502, 데이터 없음, Invalid input
concision The key information comes first and nothing repeats. Length follows the moment, not a character quota. A welcome headline that runs to two lines before saying anything
conversational-fit The tone suits the moment and the product voice. It never blames the user or cheers over a failure. Contact your administrator. as the only path forward
error-recovery A failure says what happened, keeps the user's input, and offers a concrete next action. An error whose only button is 확인
accessibility The accessible name contains the visible label (WCAG 2.5.3), status changes are announced with the same meaning (WCAG 4.1.3), and nothing relies on color or an icon alone. A button labelled 확인 whose accessible name is 버튼; a toast announced as Alert
localization No string is built by concatenation. It uses locale formats for numbers, dates, and money, handles plurals and Korean particles, and has no untranslated fragments. photo(s), Welcome inside a Korean screen
korean-honorific-consistency One register holds across a flow: 해요체 for consumer products, 합쇼체 for formal or financial moments. Button labels stay register-neutral nouns or verb stems. 입력하세요 next to 잘못된 입력입니다 in one form

korean-honorific-consistency applies only to Korean copy. The register is a property of the product voice, not of the moment: 해요체 for consumer products, 합쇼체 for formal products such as banking or government. Record it before the review. A finding under this criterion quotes a sentence whose register differs from the product register.

Surfaces

Each surface has required parts, one primary control, and facts the copy must convey. The primary control's accessible name must start with its visible label, and the label must not be a generic acknowledgement such as 확인, Yes, OK, Next, or Continue.

Surface Required parts Primary control Must convey Must also hold
button label label action The label names the result.
form label, helper, error label object, format The error states the valid format; the helper gives an example when the format is not obvious.
error title, body, action action object, input-kept, action The body says whether the user's input is kept; the action retries or routes around the failure.
empty-state title, body, action action object, action It says why the space is empty and how it fills.
notification message, announcement — object, result The live-region announcement carries every conveyed fact.
onboarding title, body, action, secondary action action, skip The action names the first useful step, and secondary keeps skipping possible.
destructive-confirmation title, body, confirm, cancel confirm object, consequence, action The title names the object, the body states the irreversible consequence, and confirm repeats a key word of the title.

A conveyed fact has a role (object, action, result, format, consequence, amount, input-kept, or skip) and the exact text that carries it. The Korean and English versions of one case must convey the same roles with the same numbers.

How to review

  1. State the user goal and the voice. Write down the moment ("the payment just failed", "the list is empty on first visit") and the product register.
  2. Collect the exact strings. Record the visible text, the accessible name of each control, and any live-region announcement. If you can only see a screenshot and not the accessible name, mark accessibility findings unverified instead of guessing.
  3. Walk the surface row. Check the required parts and the primary-control rule first, then the eight criteria.
  4. Write one finding per defect. Quote the exact current string as evidence, name the criterion, explain the user impact, and give the replacement string.
  5. Keep meaning across locales. When the product ships Korean and English, the replacement in each locale must convey the same facts: object, amount, consequence, and next action. Do not translate word for word.

Finding format

Field Rule
criterion One ID from the criteria table
surface One ID from the surfaces table; a fixture records it once for all its findings
part The required part that holds the string, or accessibleName
severity p0–p3, as in the design-quality contract
evidence The exact current string from that part, quoted
why The user impact in one or two sentences
fix The exact replacement string for the same part
verification How to confirm the fix: re-read, screen-reader pass, or locale check

A finding without a quoted current string stays unverified.

Readability scores are context, not verdicts

No readability score becomes a substitute for the user goal or for evidence. Formulas such as Flesch reading ease do not model Korean, UI fragments, or task context. You may record one as background, but it never passes or fails a string, never ranks findings, and never becomes an aggregate copy grade. Each finding stands on its own quoted evidence and criterion.

Korean specifics

  • Register. 해요체 (저장했어요) is the default for consumer products. 합쇼체 (저장했습니다) suits formal products such as banking or government. Never mix registers in one flow. Avoid 음슴체 (사용할 수 있음) in sentences, and use 반말 only when the brand voice explicitly defines it.
  • Buttons. Use a noun (저장, 삭제) or a verb stem with -기 (다시 결제하기). Keep one style per product.
  • Particles with variables. {name}을(를) reads as machine text. Choose the particle from the final consonant in code, or rewrite the sentence so no particle follows the variable.
  • Numbers. Write money as 12,400원 and counts with counters (사진 3장).
  • No English fragments such as Welcome or Error in Korean UI unless they are brand names. List the brand terms with the review.

See Korean product conventions and Korean document style for the wider rules.

Don't

  • Don't use 확인, OK, Yes, or Next when the label can name the result.
  • Don't blame the user (잘못 입력하셨습니다) or cheer over a failure.
  • Don't show internal codes without a plain explanation and a copy affordance.
  • Don't let the accessible name drift from the visible label.
  • Don't treat a shorter string as better without checking that it still carries the object, consequence, and next action.

Cross-reference