A success message appears after someone has taken an action or completed a task. The message is an opportunity to confirm the action or congratulate them.
When crafting a success message, remember that most people scan text instead of reading everything. Make every word count and avoid irrelevant details.
Writing best practices
Title
Titles are optional depending on the component you choose. Avoid using ‘Success!’ ‘successfully’ in a title.
Include an informative, scannable title. Try and imagine people trying to understand what’s happening by reading the title on its own.
Limit titles to three to four words where possible, excluding “an”, “a”, or “the”. The character count will depend on the component you choose.
Write in sentence case and no use of periods.
Avoid using exclamations! We don't want to be overly enthusiastic about everything!
Body
Include the reason for the success — confirm what action someone has taken or what task has been completed. If someone has created something give them an opportunity to view it.
Avoid repeating content from the title.
Keep messages to 1 to 2 sentences. Use a few words of praise followed by one or two sentences of informative insight.
Avoid putting technical information in the message or having people look in another location. If it can't be avoided, use a link to support content.
It’s important to show possibility once someone has achieved something. We want to tell people the result of something, for example ‘you’ve closed the ticket'; how to undo it, for example, ‘ask your space admin to restore the page, if needed’; and the step forward if possible, for example ‘View your new space or set the permissions on your new space’.
Call to action (CTA)
CTAs are often optional unless there are any follow-up options. Don’t include a CTA unnecessarily.
Always give people an option to dismiss the message.
When a success message invokes a choice, use imperative verbs such as “Save”, “Remove” or “Create”, in the CTA to describe what action people will be making instead of vague terms such as “OK”.
Limit your CTA to 1 or 2 words.
Voice and tone
Success messages should leave people feeling empowered, motivated, and satisfied with their efforts.
You want to confirm the outcome and then get out of people’s way. Follow some of the following Atlassian Voice and Tone principles to build your message:
Delight with unexpectedly pleasing experiences
We’re celebrating success or progress once we’ve built trust. Write to convey excitement. You are giving a pat on the back for a job well done.
But remember not to overdo it. Timing and repetition are critical. Success messages that appear more frequently should be more concise and have less delight. If messages are appearing repeatedly, consider multiple versions if you want to add some humor. These are low commitment experiences, we want to give flowers not puppies.
Messages that appear after a bigger, optimistic action can be more playful, for example a modal dialog. Remember that depending on the component you use, illustrations can also help to add a wink to your message.
Use success messages in the following components:
Accessibility
Use alternative text for illustrations and symbols in your messages.
Avoid jargon and use simple language.
Make links as descriptive as possible.
Make text easily scannable to highlight key information.