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Plate WRT·008 · UX writingGrid E2 · Rev. 2026-09-12

Button and Action Labels

Label the outcome, not the mechanism, and make the label make sense read on its own.

UX writingExpert heuristicFoundational

Definition

A button label is the shortest possible description of what will happen when it is pressed. It is read out of context more often than in context: by people scanning, by screen reader users listing controls, and by anyone deciding whether to commit.

Expert heuristic. A review criterion developed by practitioners. Useful and widely taught, but evaluated by judgement rather than measurement.

On this plate
  1. 1Definition
  2. 2The same button, three ways
  3. 3Working rules
  4. 4Length
  5. 5Labels that answer the question the reader has
  6. 6In practice
  7. 7Local chart
  8. 8Sources
  9. 9Continue from here

Reach for this when

  • Writing any control that commits, navigates or destroys.
  • A dialog is being misread, or people press the wrong option.
  • Auditing a flow before rebuilding it.
  • A control's consequence is not obvious from its position or its context.

Common mistakes

  • Labels that describe the system's operation rather than the reader's outcome.
  • Two buttons with equal emphasis on the same screen.
  • Generic confirmations that hide scope: 'Are you sure?' with an 'OK'.

The same button, three ways

WeakBetterBestWhy the last one wins
SubmitSendSend requestNames the object as well as the verb, so it survives being read alone.
OKContinueSave and continueSays what happens to the work in progress, which is the actual question.
YesDeleteDelete 12 filesCarries the scope, so the consequence is visible at the moment of pressing.
Learn moreRead the guideHow refunds workDescribes the destination rather than the act of going there.
Get startedCreate a projectCreate your first projectMatches the state the reader is actually in.

Working rules

Do

  • Start with a verb, and keep the verb in the reader's vocabulary rather than the system's.
  • Match the label to the heading it sits under, so a dialog titled 'Delete project' has a 'Delete project' button.
  • Keep the cancelling option explicitly named: Cancel, Keep editing, Go back.
  • Use sentence case, which reads faster than title case at small sizes.

Do not

  • Do not use Yes and No as the only labels in a dialog. They force the reader back to the question.
  • Do not write 'Click here'. The label should work regardless of input device.
  • Do not put the brand voice in a destructive action. Nobody wants a joke next to Delete.
  • Do not repeat the same label for two different outcomes on one screen.

Length

Short is a side effect of being specific, not a target in itself.

  • One to three words for repeated actions in dense interfaces.
  • Up to about five words where the action is rare, consequential or easy to misread.
  • Never truncate a label to fit. Redesign the control instead, because a truncated verb is a guess.

Labels that answer the question the reader has

WeakBetterBecause
SubmitSend for reviewNames what happens next, and to whom
OKDelete 3 filesConsequence and scope in the label
YesKeep subscriptionAnswers the dialogue without re-reading it
ContinueContinue to paymentSays where continuing leads
SaveSave draftDistinguishes saving from publishing
Get startedCreate your first projectDescribes the actual first action

In practice

  1. i.

    Two primaries in one dialog

    A dialog offering 'Save' and 'Save and publish' as two filled buttons makes the reader compare two emphasised options under time pressure. Emphasising the safer one and demoting the other to a text button removes the comparison without removing the choice.

  2. ii.

    The label that changed the support load

    Renaming 'Deactivate' to 'Pause billing' removed most of the tickets asking what deactivation did, because the old label described an internal state change and the new one describes the outcome the reader cares about.

  3. iii.

    The button that read as the opposite

    Dialogue pairs

    Cancel your plan? with buttons Cancel and OK is genuinely ambiguous, and readers press the wrong one in both directions. Naming both actions removes the question entirely.

Local chart

WRT·008 · Region III · Grid E2

This entry and the entries it is stated to connect with. Each line is labelled with what the connection means.

Framing EffectBIAS·003 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISAccessible NamesA11Y·008 · DEPENDS ONButtonCMP·001 · RELATED CONCEPTConfirmationPAT·008 · RELATED CONCEPTDestructive ActionsPAT·009 · RELATED CONCEPTConfirmation and Destructive CopyWRT·012 · RELATED CONCEPTMicrocopyWRT·001 · RELATED CONCEPTVoice and ToneWRT·003 · RELATED CONCEPT

Sources

Where a source establishes something narrower than the popular reading of it, the note says so.

  1. [1]

    Words as Material

    Nielsen Norman Group

    Practitioner guidance on action labelling. Expert heuristic rather than measured effect.

Continue from here

Each link says what the connection is, so you can tell a principle from an alternative from a thing people mix this up with.

Principles behind this

The reasoning this solution is an application of.

Depends on

Get these right first, or this one will not hold.

  • Accessible NamesA11Y·008 · Accessibility

    The label is usually the accessible name, so vague copy is an accessibility defect as well as a writing one.

Related concept

Connected closely enough to change how you apply this.