Everybody loves a great story, and your app is a story waiting to happen. Whether you’ve created a game that takes people into another world, or a plugin that will make it easier for artists to work their craft, it’s important that your Leap Motion App Store profile tells that story. Here are five tips for writing a compelling app description.

Make It Readable

Great stories can be ruined by clunky writing, so your app description needs to flow smoothly. As we mentioned in App Store Essentials, be sure to break up your description with headings and bullet points. Avoid emojis, slang, or inappropriate language, and always use proper spelling and grammar.

Why Should Anyone Care?

This is the first question that your app description should answer. You know that your app is awesome – otherwise you wouldn’t have made it! Bring the unique idea behind your app to the surface and let it shine.

Bad: Hands-Off Cookery brings touchless Leap Motion control to the kitchen. Browsing recipes has never been easier.

Good: Browsing recipes on the computer is great – but it can be messy. With Hands-Off Cookery, you can easily prepare meals and browse recipes with touchless control.

Talk to Your User

Imagine the person reading your app description as a single person, like a pen pal. Avoid referring to your reader as a collective blob (users, people). Instead, speak to them personally (you) or as a member of a particular userbase (artists, musicians, gamers).

Bad: Users will love browsing through recipes with touchless control.

Good: You’ll love browsing through recipes with touchless control.

Also good: Home cooks will love browsing through recipes with touchless control.

Show, Don’t Tell: Use the Active Voice

As human beings, we don’t want things to happen to us – we want to make things happen. Use the active voice to help potential readers imagine themselves using your app:

Bad: Hands-Off Cookery allows you to browse recipes in a whole new way.

Good: You’ll be able to browse recipes in a whole new way.

Also good: Browse recipes in a whole new way with Hands-Off Cookery.

Actions First, Features Second

Another key to showing, not telling, is to focus on actions rather than features. If possible, tell your readers what they can accomplish with your app, and save the list of features for the end. (Easy reading bonus: if your app has lots of features, use a bullet-point list!)

Bad: Hands-Off Cookery has a variety of features, including touchless browsing, recipe ratings, and a search function. Users can browse and read recipes in the kitchen without getting their computers dirty.

Good: Browse and read recipes in the kitchen – without getting your computer dirty. Rate your favorite recipes and search for dinner ideas.

What are your favorite tips for compelling app descriptions? Let us know in the comments.

(Photo credit: Steve Evans, Wikimedia Commons)

Update 9/12/2014: The Airspace Store is now simply called the Leap Motion App Store.