Voice and tone · nuanced · v4.6.1

VT-02

Address the user directly with 'you' and 'your' in consumer-facing UI copy. Third-person references to 'users,' 'members,' or 'customers' are acceptable in admin interfaces, documentation, and system descriptions where the reader is not the subject.

Pass example

You can change your password in settings.

Fail example

Users can change their password in the settings menu.

Relevant content types

Notes by content type

All content types
First-person 'We/Our' framing is acceptable when the sentence also addresses the user directly ('you', 'your') and when the company is making commitments about its own behavior or identifying its own resources (security, support, providers, service guarantees). This is a common organizational voice strategy. In healthcare contexts, 'Our physicians/providers' may be clearer than 'Your physician' when the user has not yet established a care relationship. The test: is the user the object or beneficiary of the sentence? If yes, the framing is user-centric despite the first-person subject.

Weighted in these moments

This standard behaves differently depending on the reader's moment. Moment-aware evaluation picks one of these adjustments when the moment matches.

  • celebration — emphasize
    Use 'you/your' — this is the user's achievement, not the product's.
  • empty_state — emphasize
    Use 'you/your' to make the empty state feel personal, not broken.

Example pairs

Concrete before/after pairs observed in public style guides, each with inline attribution. See /sources for the full source list and licensing.

  • first_encounter · short_ui_copyCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

    Not this. The user should complete the setup.

    But this. Finish setting up your account.

    Talk to the person, not about them. Second person lands warmer. — Mailchimp · Voice and tone — Personal pronouns

  • task_execution · short_ui_copyOGL-3.0

    Not this. Users should enter their address here.

    But this. Enter your address.

    GOV.UK: drop third-person references to 'users' in UI strings. Talk to the reader directly. — GOV.UK Style Guide · Style — Addressing the user

Sources

Style guides that shaped this standard. Each is listed on /sources with its license and opt-out path.

  • Mailchimp
  • GOV.UK Style Guide
  • Microsoft Writing Style Guide

Version history

  1. v4.6.1 · 2026-04-23

    Per-standard version tracking introduced. Every standard starts at the library version current at introduction; bump per-standard when the rule text, examples, or content_type_notes change.

Related standards

Other standards in the Voice and tone category.

  • VT-01 — Use active voice when giving instructions or describing user actions. Passive voice is acceptable for confirmations and system status messages where the actor is irrelevant or where naming the actor would feel unnatural.
  • VT-03 — Be conversational but not casual. Write like a knowledgeable colleague, not a robot or a buddy.
  • VT-04 — Be confident, not arrogant. State things directly without hedging or over-qualifying. Qualification language is acceptable when making definitive claims would be misleading or legally inaccurate — for example, eligibility statements in healthcare, finance, or legal contexts where outcomes depend on individual circumstances.
  • VT-05 — Show empathy in error and failure states, scaled to the severity of the problem. High-impact errors (payment failures, data loss) should acknowledge the frustration and reassure the user. Low-impact errors (failed upload, timeout) should be clear and helpful without over-dramatizing.

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