I’m frightened of bike shops.

I like cycling but I’m not obsessed with my bike. I know the basics of how it works – wheels, gears, brakes and that kind of thing, but I couldn’t tell you about every detail of its composition. Frankly, it doesn’t really interest me.

That’s why when I enter a bike shop and ask them to give my bike the once over, I feel a bit daunted. A bit stupid. When speaking to an expert in their field about a subject they’re passionate about, often the expert is unable to talk to you without using specialist terms or unnecessary levels of detail.

The last time this happened to me, I was a little nervous and when I went back to the shop to collect my bike, I was asked “what is it?” to which I replied “the silver one”. I do actually know the brand of my bike, but my mind went blank.

This translates online. All too often, copy is written by a specialist within the organisation (particularly true within the public sector) and specialist terms are used which makes the user feel a little daft.

I’m not saying that all copy should be dumbed down to one syllable grunts, but check your copy with some target users before setting it live. Maybe look to hire an external copywriter too.

Don’t make your users feel like they have just said “the silver one”.