Interacting with your viewers, readers, in a conversational manner is paramount to building long-lasting relationships with them. Avoiding jargon and other industry forms of communication and approaching all editorial efforts from the point a point of view that values respect, empathy, and clarity with all interactions helps build trust between the company and its customers. 

Allison H., Amanda M.

Problem

How do we craft a set of guidelines for our application to ensure that we are speaking with our visitors and customers in an authentic manner that generates trust and builds relationships?

Solution

Define guidelines based on the identity of product or brand we are speaking as while also maintaining an understanding of the best practices of the industry and what Jared Spool calls current knowledge. We want to ensure that the tone we use in the site’s communications harnesses that sum of previous experiences to navigate our site. 

As we worked to define some of the key guidelines for our applications, we researched a competitive set of businesses to learn some of the ways companies “speak” to customers across the industry. We focused on specific areas of interest (button text, error message, guiding text or onboarding, and empty states) to analyze sentence structure, grammar, tone of voice, etc. 

What we found was that communications should be to-the-point, honest and credible. Situations should be realistic and achievable as a genuine part of every work day. Concepts should not be heavily involved or deeply emotional but consumers should feel like they can trust us. Language should be practical and vocabulary simple.

Two of my team worked on the research in crafting our point of view for our editorial guidelines, We worked together on the goals and outlines, while Allison H. and Amanda M. did the research and developed conclusions to inform our team as we build out the guidelines for our upcoming development sprints. This helped not only inform our application, but the findings were shared with the larger design discipline for peer review and inclusion in other application development across the enterprise. 

Overall Best Practices 

• Use simple, clear and direct language 
• Be an expert, but not arrogant 
• Be optimistic without being obvious and intentionally exaggerated 
• Provide a clear objective and agenda 
• Tell a clear story through the headlines 
• Tell the users something they didn’t already know 
• Make a case with reason, intelligence and empathy 
• Remove redundancy 

Capitalization

Title Case

Title case capitalizes the first letter of every word, excluding articles and prepositions. Use title case for: 

• Buttons 
• Call to action that is not a traditional button (“View More”) 
• Dialog headers 
• Navigation Text 

Sentence case

Sentence case only capitalizes the first letter of the sentence. Use sentence case for: 

• Dialog content 
• Guiding or first time use content 
• User profile details 
• Detail panel content 
• Error messages 

Navigation Tone

When figuring out where to navigate, what is the user Thinking or saying?  

What is the user feeling? 

Explorative, Interested, Motivated 

How to respond: 

The user is looking for obvious routes to a desired destination. Avoid elaboration or uncommon words that may make the user stop and ponder. 

What tone to apply: 

Direct and Neutral 

• Navigation text is noun-driven because it is answering the question, “Where to?” Never have more than two words. 
• Keep the tone personal, but neutral. 
• Do not make the user feel more panicked about his health score. 
• Do not use sentence case for actions 
• Use “Show” instead of “View” because its tone is more inclusive

Do not use all caps (including small caps). All caps make words appear more aggressive and less approachable. 

Button Tone

When looking for a button, what is the user thinking or saying?  

What is the user feeling? 

Curious, Interested, Motivated 

How to respond: 

The user is looking to make a quick decision with minimal hold-ups. Keep the word(s) succinct. Avoid obscure words that only a certain group of people may know. 

What tone to apply: 

Approachable and direct 

• Use a single word as much as possible. 
• Only use two words if relating an action to a specific noun clarifies understanding for the user. 
• Use title case 
• Each word is 3 syllables or less 
• Do not use more than 3 words. 
• Do not use exclusive words that only a specialized group of people would understand (such as acronyms). 
• Do not use acronyms 
• Do not use prepositions or articles 
• “Next” is a noun, use “Continue” instead 

Dialog Tone

When confronted with a dialog, what is the user thinking or saying?  

What is the user feeling?

Curious Interrupted Inquisitive 

How to respond: 

The user is likely to feel interrupted by the dialog. Avoid using complex sentences that may slow the user from continuing quickly. Be sure to explain the cause for the interruption and the effect of the user’s choice. 

What tone to apply: 

Explanatory Neutral Direct 

Dialog Text

• 10-12 words per sentence 
• Each word is 8-10 characters 
• Each word is 4 syllables or less 
• Keep the verb consistent between header and button 
• First sentence: Address the action in question. 
• Second sentence: State the consequence of the action. 
• Avoid using abrupt, impersonal sentences that alarm the user. 
• Never state the consequence without an explanation. 
• Do not use exclamation points. Do not use contractions. 
• Exclude articles and prepositions 
• Do not alarm a user without explaining the cause for the dialog. 

Error Message Tone

When an error message surfaces, what is the user thinking or saying?  

What is the user feeling? 

Apprehensive Interrupted Perplexed 

How to respond: 

Guide the users to how they can fix the problem. Use clear and concise language to avoid confusion. Although the user does not need to be explicitly comforted, it is best to never imply that the user is the cause of the error. 

What tone to apply: 

Helpful Explanatory 

Dialog Text

• Start with a verb 
• You may use “Please” at the start of a sentence if the user is being inconvenienced 
• 10-12 words per sentence Each word is 8-10 characters Each word is 4 syllables or less 
• Use a second sentence to explain the reason for error if it is
  not obvious because of place- ment or context. 
• Use a single sentence when the placement and context explains the reason for error. 
• Never place blame on the user with a sentence structure of “You verb noun incorrectly.” 
• Using error codes makes the product feel less human 
• Do not use a sentence structure that makes the user feel at fault. 
• Error codes do not explain what the user needs to do to fix the error. 

Empty State Tone

When an area is not yet populated, what is the user thinking or saying?  

What is the user feeling? 

Intrigued Interested Curious 

How to respond: 

Explain the space instead of just stating that it’s empty. Inform the users of how to populate the area and why it is in their interest to do so. 

What tone to apply: 

Empowering Opportunistic 

Dialog Text

1-2 sentences 

• 1-2 sentences
• 10-12 words per sentence 
• Each word is 8-10 characters 
• Each word is 2 syllables or less 
• Only use one sentence when the purpose of the space is obvious because of placement or context 
• Empower the user to take action
• Make an empty space into an opportunity. 
• Do not just inform the user that the space is empty. 
• Do not use exclamation points or question marks. 
• Do not include negative words like “no”, “nothing” and “there is not.” 

Guided Experience Tone

When an area is not yet populated, what is the user thinking or saying?  

What is the user feeling? 

Curious Uncertain 

How to respond: 

Assure users of what step they’ve reached with a clear and concise headline. In the following one to two sentences, explain the benefit of that particular step and any actions to take. 

What tone to apply: 

Informative Conversational 

Dialog Text

• 10-12 words per sentence 
• Each word is 8-10 characters 
• Each word is 4 syllables or less 
• Sentence case 
• Exclamation points can be used in this context, but only in peak moments of the guided experience (example: reaching the final step) 
• First, inform the users where they are in the process 
• First sentence: Call to action that will lead to the next step. 
• Second sentence: Explain the importance of the step. 
• For the title of the step, only lead with a verb on steps after the first one and before the last one. 
• Avoid redundancy in the first and second sentence. 
• Do not over-explain the reason for the step. 
• Should not be verb-lead because it is the beginning. Inform the user that they are at the start of multiple steps. 
• Provide just enough level of detail to guide user to the next step/stage.
• Beware of redundant calls to action or directives.

This type of research is key in developing a point of view that focuses on aiding our customers the ability to interact with the company in an authentic manner that builds a relationship. It is important to enforce rules around all behaviors across the site, documenting the reasoning behind the choices and research that provides back-up for those decisions.

Competitive set 

• MailChimp 
• Intuit 
• Google 
• Apple 
• Amazon

Areas of Interest 

• Button text
• Error message
• Guiding text & first time use • 
• Empty text 

Analysis of:  

• Sentence structure
  Grammar
  Tone of voice
  Word capitalization, length and complexity 

MailChimp | Conversation, but direct tone

Button Text key findings

• No more than 3 words per button
• Rarely a single word
• No word has more than 8 letters
• No word has more than 2 syllables
• Phrase always starts with a verb 
• Phrase almost always ends in a noun
• Always written in title case
• Articles are capitalized
• Includes personal pronouns like “my”
• Excludes prepositions like “for” 
• No punctuation 

Error Messages key findings

• Always starts with “Please” 
• Under 10 words in sentence or phrase 
• No word has more than 6 letters 
• No word has more than 2 syllables 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” 
• Does not state the problem, only directs user to fixing the issue
• Sentence type = imperative

Guiding Text and onboarding key findings

• Uses punctuation for full sentences, but not for phrases 
• No word has more than 10 letters 
• No word has more than 3 syllables 
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” 
• Uses sentence case 
• No contractions 
• Text either tells the user what to do next or gives specific requirements of an entry 

For confirmation text: 

• Uses punctuation 
• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 2 syllables 
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” 
• Uses sentence case 
• Uses conversational language like “good to go” 

For instructional text: 

• No word has more than 3 syllables 
• Starts with “please” 
• Includes personal pronouns like “we” 
• Uses punctuation in title 
• Title case for title, sentence case for additional. 
• No more than 2 sentences.
• Uses punctuation 
• No word has more than 10 letters 
• No word has more than 3 syllables 
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” and “we” 
• Uses sentence case 
• First sentence is explanation, second sentence is next step 
• No contractions 
• Uses conversational language like the word “thing” 
• Title case for title, sentence case for additional. No more than 2 sentences. 

Empty text key findings

• No word has more than 15 letters
• No word has more than 4 syllables
• No more than 2 sentences of explanatory text 
• Includes personal pronouns like “you”
• Title points out the problem 
• First sentence of explanatory text defines while the second sentence directs user to more information.

Intuit | Informative and casual tone of voice 

Button Text key findings

• No more than 5 words per button
• Sometimes a single word
• No word has more than 8 letters
• No word has more than 2 syllables
• Phrase always starts with a verb 
• Case structure is inconsistent
• Excludes personal pronouns like “my”
• Includes prepositions like “for”
• No punctuation 

Error Messages key findings

• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 3 syllables 
• Phrase almost always ends in a noun 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “you” 
• Instructional text starts with “please” 
• No more than 2 sentences. First sentence states the problem while the second sentence gives action. 
• Uses conversational words like “oops” 

Guiding Text and onboarding key findings

• No word has more than 10 letters 
• No word has more than 3 syllables
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “you” 
• Instructional text starts with “please” 
• No more than 2 sentences. First sentence states informs while the second sentence gives action. 

Empty text key findings

• No word has more than 10 letters 
• No word has more than 3 syllables 
• Always written in title case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” 
• Instructional text starts with “please” 
• Does not state the problem, only tells the user what to do to populate the area

Google | Helpful and direct tone of voice 

Button Text key findings

• No more than 3 words per button
• Rarely a single word
• No word has more than 8 letters
• No word has more than 2 syllables
• Phrase mostly starts with a verb 
• Mostly written in title case
• Rarely written in all caps
• Articles are excluded
• Includes proper pronouns like “I”
• Excludes prepositions 
• No punctuation 

Error Messages key findings

• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 3 syllables 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “you” 
• Does not include adverbs like “Please” 
• Single sentence that states the problem but does provide a next step 

Guiding Text and onboarding key findings

• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 2 syllables 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “you” 
• Does not include adverbs like “Please” 
• Single sentence that reiterates the main action (example: “Pull up”) 
• May use an “If…then” structure 
• Uses contractions like “you’re” to read more like spoken language 

Empty text key findings

• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 2 syllables 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “you”
• Ends in a preposition (traditionally incorrect grammar, but mimics spoken language 
• Text tells the user either trouble shooting tips or the purpose for the space. 
• Starts with a negative word like “no” or “nothing

Apple | Informative and sometimes empowering tone 

Button Text key findings

• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No more than 3 words 
• No word has more than 2 syllables 
• Always written in title case 
• Does not capitalize articles or prepositions 
• Often a single word 
• Almost always starts with a verb 
• Incorporates proper noun and brand(example: “iTunes”) 

Error Messages key findings

• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 4 syllables 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “you” 
• Does not include adverbs like “Please” 
• Single sentence that states the problem but does provide a next step 

Guiding Text and onboarding key findings

• No word has more than 15 letters 
• No word has more than 5 syllables 
• Written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “you” 
• Does not include adverbs like “Please” 
• First sentence that explains the benefit, second sentence offers additional info. 

Empty text key findings

• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 3 syllables 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” 
• Does not include adverbs like “Please” 
• Single sentence that states the problem but does provide a next step 

Amazon | Considerate and direct tone of voice 

Button Text key findings

• No more than 4 words per button 
• Rarely a single word 
• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 2 syllables 
• Phrase mostly starts with a verb 
• Mostly written in sentence case 
• Rarely written in all caps 
• Articles are excluded 
• Uses a naked “this” in one of the button phrases 
• No punctuation 

Error Messages key findings

• No word has more than 8 letters 
• No word has more than 2 syllables 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” 
• Instructional text starts with “please” 
• No more than 2 sentences. First sentence states the problem, second sentence gives action. 

Guiding Text and onboarding key findings

• No word has more than 15 letters
• No word has more than 4 syllables
• Always written in sentence case
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” • Instructional text starts with “please”
• No more than 2 sentences
• May include a rhetorical question 

Empty text key findings

• No word has more than 15 letters 
• No word has more than 4 syllables 
• Always written in sentence case 
• Includes personal pronouns like “your” 
• Ends in a preposition (traditionally incorrect grammar, but mimics spoken language) 
• Text personifies the area (example:“Your shopping cart lives”) 
• Does not use obviously negative words like “no” or “nothing” 

Key Research Findings Overall 

Overall

• No word longer than 13-15 letters 
• No word should have more than 3-4 syllables
• No more than 2 sentences at a time, with each sentence under 15 words 

Button Text 

• No more than three words is ideal 
• Up to 8 letters per word
• Less than two syllables per word 
• Ideally starts with a verb 

Error Message 

• Some use the word “please”
• Usually tells the user what is wrong and how to fix it. 

Guiding Text & First Time Use 

• Uses punctuation to show movement through a process
• Tells the user how and why 

Empty Text 

• Tells the user that the space is empty
• Sometimes tells the user how to populate the space