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| 1 | +The following guidelines for writing copy are intended to create a consistent style and voice for the intelliHR product. |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +## Language |
| 4 | +* **Keep text short and simple** to make text accessible to people of all backgrounds |
| 5 | + * **Do**: This person doesn't have a job record |
| 6 | + * **Don't**: This individual whose digital profile you are viewing does not appear to have a job record |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +* **Use industry standard proper nouns** as feature names |
| 9 | + * **Do**: Private Notes |
| 10 | + * **Don't**: Diary Notes |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +* **Use a friendly tone and avoid niceties** to appear more conversational |
| 13 | + * Toasts |
| 14 | + * **Do**: All done. The job end date has been finalized. |
| 15 | + * **Don't**: Job end date has successfully been finalized. |
| 16 | + * **Do**: Exciting! Your new starter has been created. |
| 17 | + * **Don't**: Person successfully created. |
| 18 | + * **Do**: All set. John Wick's job record is ready to go. |
| 19 | + * **Don't**: Job successfully created. |
| 20 | + * **Do**: 8 forms have been scheduled. We'll automatically email the recipients when it's time. |
| 21 | + * **Don't**: Successfully scheduled 8 forms. |
| 22 | + * **Do**: Goal Template has been enabled. |
| 23 | + * **Don't**: Goal Template has been enabled successfully. |
| 24 | + * **Do**: Your changes have been saved. |
| 25 | + * **Do**: Your changes to John Wick have been saved. |
| 26 | + * **Don't**: Person successfully updated. |
| 27 | + * **Do**: Thanks! Your answers have been saved. |
| 28 | + * **Don't**: Task completed successfully. |
| 29 | + * Empty State |
| 30 | + * **Do**: Great! You've completed all of your outstanding tasks. |
| 31 | + * **Don't**: No outstanding tasks. |
| 32 | + * **Do**: We couldn't find any results matching your search terms. |
| 33 | + * **Don't**: No results found. |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +* **Use contractions** to sound more natural |
| 36 | + * **Do**: You can't delete an active goal |
| 37 | + * **Don't**: You cannot delete an active goal |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +* **When to use 'My' and 'Your'** |
| 40 | + * **You/Your**: When asking questions, giving instructions, or describing things to the user. Imagine writing from the perspective of a personal assistant. |
| 41 | + * **Me/My**: When the user is interacting with the product on things like buttons- ONLY if absolutely necessary for clarity. _First person is not preferred._ |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +* **Dates** |
| 44 | + * **Do**: Always respect the user's shorthand date format (DD/MM/YY, MM/DD/YY, YY/MM/DD, etc.) |
| 45 | + * **Do**: Use `d MMM YYYY` (eg: 7 Jul 1977) in contexts where a more conversational date is required |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +* **Use input agnostic language** where possible instead of input specific terminology |
| 48 | + * **Do**: Pick your preferred email address |
| 49 | + * **Don't**: Click on your preferred email address |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +* **Action words should follow the following rules** |
| 52 | + * **Create/Delete**: When a user will be creating/deleting a system object like a Self-Service Action, Pulse, or Person |
| 53 | + * **Add/Remove**: When a user is adding/removing additional data to a system object like a Phone Number to a Person, or Measurements to a Goal |
| 54 | + * **Update**: When a user is editing a system object |
| 55 | + * **Exceptions**: Occasionally there will be more context appropriate action words such as `Set Goal` and `Issue Task` which are preferred to the above. The appropriate destructive action word should still be used. |
| 56 | + * **Page Titles and Submit Buttons**: For titles and buttons, use the following format `[Action Name] [System Object Name]`. For example: `Create Person`, `Add Phone Number`, `Set Goal`. On edit forms the submit button should always be `Save` |
| 57 | + * **Don't**: Use the word `new` on creation actions. It is implied. |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +## Capitalization and Punctuation |
| 60 | +* **Use Title Case for buttons, page titles, menu items, and labels** most words are capitalized |
| 61 | + * **Example**: Expected Start/End Date |
| 62 | + * **Example**: Set a Goal |
| 63 | + * **Example**: Check-in Now |
| 64 | + * **Example**: Create a Self-Service Action Tile |
| 65 | + * **Do**: Capitalize all words except articles (“a,” “an,” “the”) and short prepositions (“to,” “on,” “at,” “by,” “from”) which should only be capitalized if they are the first or last word (eg: 'A Goal') |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +* **Use Sentence Case for descriptions, help text, and anything conversational** most words are lowercase |
| 68 | + * **Example**: You haven't completed any training in the last quarter. |
| 69 | + * **Do**: Only capitalize the first word of the text element, as well as any proper nouns. |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +* **Explain acronyms at the first instance on the page** when using acronyms |
| 72 | + * **Example**: Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +* **Use serial (Oxford) commas** for clarity in lists |
| 75 | + * **Do**: The Performance Improvement page features all of your skills, goals, and training records |
| 76 | + * **Don't**: The Performance Improvement page features all of your skills, goals and training records |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +* **Numbers should always be digits** to make text easier to scan |
| 79 | + * **Do**: You have 27 outstanding tasks |
| 80 | + * **Don't**: You have twenty-seven outstanding tasks |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +* **Plurals should always be context sensitive** |
| 83 | + * **Do**: You have 1 task remaining |
| 84 | + * **Do**: You have 5 tasks remaining |
| 85 | + * **Don't**: You have 1 task(s) remaining |
| 86 | + * **Don't**: You have 5 task(s) remaining |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +## References |
| 89 | +Many of these guidelines have been lifted from Google and Firefox's design standards. |
| 90 | +* https://designguidelines.withgoogle.com/conversation/style-guide/language.html |
| 91 | +* https://designguidelines.withgoogle.com/conversation/style-guide/capitalization-punctuation.html |
| 92 | +* https://design.firefox.com/photon/copy/capitalization.html |
| 93 | +* https://medium.com/@jsaito/is-this-my-interface-or-yours-b09a7a795256 |
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