Jargon is specialized language used by a certain group to make communication quicker

In UX design we use jargon all the time. The acronym "UX" is technically jargon, and we use it because "user experience" takes longer to say or type. While jargon isn't bad, it's often exclusionary. Using jargon is poor practice, and decreases trust because it prevents clarity.

After ensuring I understood what whisper technology was, the copy was changed to customizable privacy settings.

Before

After

You win some, you lose some: making a case for alliteration, but ultimately not gaining buy-in

"Buy-in" is jargon for "getting everyone to agree with my idea", and this time I wasn't able to convince my team to use my exact wording.

I wanted to use "personalized" instead of "customizable" because it's easier to read, and paired with "privacy", it's an alliteration. Alliterations are when we use words with similiar sounds or letters next to each other, such as "personalized privacy".

Alliteration helps emphasize specific text, and it's often a good way to gain and keep a user's attention.

Testing with a screen reader proved my efforts had increased accessibility

Further clarification was provided by changing DM's to messaging feature. Not all screen readers read abbreviations or acronyms, sometimes making these forms of jargon incoherent. When I tested the initial copy with Voiceover, DM's was relayed as DIMS.

UX writing can allow for the shorthand of common words, especially when we clarify the meaning upfront, but lessening ambiguity and increasing accessibility should outweigh brevity.