Voice and tone · nuanced · v4.6.1

VT-03

Be conversational but not casual. Write like a knowledgeable colleague, not a robot or a buddy.

Pass example

Looks like something went wrong. Let's try that again.

Fail example

Oopsie! Something broke lol. Let's give it another go!!

Relevant content types

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
    Robotic tone undermines the earned emotional beat.
  • error_recovery — emphasize
    Robotic error copy alienates users when they need empathy most.

Example pairs

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

  • celebration · confirmationCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

    Not this. Task completed. Operation successful.

    But this. Campaign sent 🎉

    Mailchimp: robotic tone undermines earned celebratory moments. Specific + warm beats procedural. — Mailchimp · Voice and tone — Celebration

  • confirmation · confirmationall-rights-reserved

    Not this. Operation completed successfully.

    But this. Issue created.

    Atlassian: drop the procedural 'operation completed' — name what happened in product terms. — Atlassian Design System · Voice and tone — Human

Sources

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

  • Atlassian Design System
  • Mailchimp

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-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.
  • 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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