Voice and tone · nuanced
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.