A button label should name the action that will happen, not a generic word

What it is

The words on a button are the last check on what will happen. Generic labels—OK, Submit, Done, Confirm—do not name that event; they name “end this dialog.” A specific verb puts object and action on the control: Publish this, Delete 3 items, Pay ¥128. The label should describe the action that will occur so people can catch a mistake in the glance at the button, without rereading the title.

Why it happens

The pre-submit check is a very short bout of output monitoring: the eye rests on the button and asks whether the world after the press is still the intended one. A generic word makes that check idle—OK looks identical for save, delete, and send—so monitoring gets no new information and must lean on memory of the dialog title. If that memory has been flushed by the next glance or by time pressure, people hit the primary out of habit. A specific verb puts the consequence back under the fixation, giving monitoring something to do. It also cuts confusion between a pair: Delete draft versus Save draft need not be guessed from position. Generic words look cheaper to translate and to fit. The cost is taking down the last safety net.

Studying it

Swap copy in the same dialog: OK / Cancel versus Save / Don't save / Cancel, or OK versus Delete this order. Insert a mild distraction (glance at a notification) before the choice.

Independent variables: whether the label contains verb and object, whether the primary stays generic, whether distraction occurred. Dependent variables: wrong-press rate, checking time, reports of “I thought it was something else.”

Lab participants have just read the title, which underestimates the harm of generic words. A delay—ten seconds of unrelated work between title and buttons—exposes the monitoring failure more honestly.

Where it stops holding

A single, unambiguous, low-stakes action (dismiss a read-only note) can say Close; it need not say Close this read-only note. A tight toolbar may have no room for the object; keep the verb (Save, not OK) and let a nearby selection carry the object. Specific verbs grow in other languages; do not budget as if English OK were global. Legal flows sometimes require a performative “I agree.” That is a commitment, not a generic word; do not “specify” it into Continue.

Applying it

• Rewrite every primary as verb + necessary object: Publish, Pay, Delete 3 selected items. Take OK, Submit, Confirm off the main path.
• Pair actions with paired specifics (Save / Don't save), not OK / Cancel covering different consequences.
• In copy review ask “looking only at this button, can you say what will happen?” If not, it is a generic word.
• Verify by covering the dialog title and body, leaving only buttons. Ask someone uninvolved what each key will do. “It will confirm” without naming what is a failed label.

Related

• Within the group: E1.06.2 Label and situation together complete the sentence · E1.06.3 Length is constrained by layout but must not give up clarity
• Adjacent: T1 Copy principles · E6.05 Confirmation dialogs · E1.03 Destructive action buttons
• Search terms: descriptive button label · generic OK · verb label