Poll Results: Action Verb Clarity

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Chris Coyier on (Updated on )

The latest poll was all about picking the best sentence for a user to perform a specific action on a website. The choices are listed below, sorted from most popular to least:

  • 39% – Select a user and then click the Update button.
  • 37% – Select a user and then click Update.
  • 8% – Select a user and Update.
  • 7% – Select a user and then press the Update button.
  • 5% – Select a user and then press Update.
  • 3% – Select a user and then choose Update.
  • 1% – Select a user and then choose the Update button.

Clearly, the action verb of “click” is the most popular. I don’t think that’s much of a surprise as that verb has been around and working for us for a long time. In the opening article, I suggested that “click” might be misleading since links and buttons can be used without having to use a mouse. Several people chimed in that, while that is true, those people still know what “click” means and can apply it to themselves. “Choose” was an device-agnostic alternative, but the least popular in this poll. “Press” only slightly more popular alternative. Surprisingly, the third most popular was to use the action verb from the button itself (since “Update” is already a verb).

New poll soon.