Voice and tone
- Be Concise and factual
- Be polite
- Address the reader
- Use an informal tone
- Be inclusive
- Use active voice over passive voice
- Use positive language
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Be concise and factual
Keep your writing short and to the point. This is also important for product UI localisation. The shorter a sentence is, the easier it is to translate into other languages.
Use an informal tone
Aim for an informal tone. Avoid formal phrases and heavy academic sentence constructions. At the same time, do not use colloquialisms, slang or idioms or abbreviate words the way you would in spoken language.
The notifications contain information about new service releases.
The notifications contain info about new service releases.
Be polite
Be polite, but don't overdo it. Avoid using the word "please" unless it’s a situation where the reader is asked to do something inconvenient.
See the for more information.
The notifications contain information about new service releases.
The notifications contain info about new service releases.
"type": "expired_token", "message": "The token has expired, please request a new one"
Address the reader
Address the reader directly. For our documentation, this means Signicat's customers. Use "you" instead of “the customer”, “the merchant” or “the service provider”.
You can configure which attributes nPA should return.
Once the end-user has completed the signing process, you can obtain the result via a getStatus call.
Be inclusive
Keep non-native English speakers in mind
Most of our readers do not have English as their first language. Use simple words, e.g. "use" instead of "utilise" or "leverage". However, we are writing for developers and should assume they know domain-specific technical terms.
This functionality uses Signicat's Sign product.
This functionality utilises Signicat's Sign product.
Use gender-neutral pronouns
Use singular "they". Use gender-specific pronouns only if you are referring to a particular person.
If the person who has received the signing order is not the one who is meant to sign it, they can choose to pass it on to someone else.
When a natural person registers on the RA app, their identity on the app will be valid as long as the original ID document they used to prove their identity is valid.
The bank asks Claire to provide some basic information about herself, such as her full name, date of birth and address.
Use active voice over passive voice
- Use active voice to set a friendly, personalised conversational tone.
- Use active voice when you want the reader to take an action.
- Use passive voice in notifications or error messages.
General conversational tone
You can find instructions[...]
Instructions can be found[...]
Calls to action
To test the iOS app via TestFlight, contact us at <support@signicat.com> and provide the following:
Notifications or error messages
The task has been deleted and is no longer available.
Use positive language
Emphasize what a user can do instead of calling out what the user cannot do. Using negative words can set users on edge unnecessarily, so avoid phrases including do not or cannot. Instead, tell user what they can do. Resources from uxmatters ↗
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