Pillar · the words
Voice
The words that go with the motion. Calm, direct, human. Never cute, never robotic.
Tone
Three principles behind every string in the product.
Calm
Never shout. No exclamation marks, no urgency the moment doesn’t warrant.
Direct
Say what happened and what to do next. Skip the filler and the apology theatre.
Human
Write like a person texting a friend, plain words, contractions, warmth.
Button language
Buttons are verbs, name the action, not the concept.
Do
Save changes · Track delivery · Add stop
Don’t
OK · Submit · Click here
Error copy
Name the problem and the fix, in one calm line.
Do
Couldn’t save, try again.
Don’t
Error 500: an unexpected exception occurred.
Empty & success
Reassure, then point to the next step.
Do
No active deliveries yet. New orders show up here.
Don’t
Nothing to see here!!! 🎉 Start your journey now!