Our Blog Posts About Written Message Testing
How to motivate readers to read all of your copy
Insights from the psychology of language explain why and where readers stop reading or skip over text.
A new way to discover whether readers engage with your written content
In 2026, our focus for our content and messaging testing has shifted towards ‘engagement.’
How to Write IDR And Claim Responses That Members Read And Understand
Susan Bell Research conducts training for IDR and claims teams on how to write so that members understand
How to get rid of gobbledygook from your writing
“The reason we conduct user research …. is that humans always have unexpected behaviors. How do we know what people want, need, or prefer? ” Jakob Neilsen
How to spot ‘work voice’ and what to do instead
Work voice is a formal, impersonal writing style that disengages and confuses your users, customers, and members.
The ONE reason why business writers use jargon, and how to fix it
Jargon: everyone hates it, but most of us use it. Why is that? Read on to learn about the jargon impasse
Why reading is like running
Here is a short video I made about how reading is like running. If you test your content with users, your readers will not feel like this. https://youtu.be/FbbIB1C1sys Reading is…
What content testing is and when you need it.
Content testing (also called ‘message testing’) is a research method similar to user testing but it focusses exclusively on content – usually written content.
Plain Language is information that readers can find, understand, and use
‘A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and…
