Handshake is a fictional payments app for freelancers and business owners.
Here’s how I would describe it to a friend:
You should check this app called Handshake. It makes freelancing super easy and convenient, especially the financial bit. You know how much I hate invoices… You just invite the client you want to work for and create a project. After they accept, you suggest a budget. If the client says OK, you start working and tracking the hours on the app. The client has access to this info and tracks progress. When you finish the project, you send an invoice and wait for the money to reach your account. Just a heads-up: Handshake charges a 1% fee in every payment. What do you think?
When we write for the Handshake app, we want to use a consistent voice. Here’s how to sound like Handshake.
[Adjective: Enthusiastic, but not over the top]
[Example: “Success! You just sent a payment to the freelancer.”]
[Adjective: Respectful, but not stiff or robotic]
[Example: “Payment failed. Check your CVV number and try again.”]
[Adjective: Friendly, but not overly informal or childish]
[Example: “Congratulations! Your first project is all set.”]
Provide at least 8 examples that describe the preferred terms to use in the Handshake app.
| USE THIS WORD | DON'T USE THESE WORDS | SAY WHY (RATIONALE) |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | 1099 workers | 1099 workers is a term most users won’t understand since it refers to the form 1099 that independent contractors receive at the end of the year. Jargon should be avoided in order to reduce cognitive load. Most users will be familiar with the word ‘freelancer’ instead. |
| Handshake | HS, H.S., Shakehand | Always use ‘Handshake’ to refer to the app. We shouldn’t change the app name or abbreviate it as it can confuse our users and we don’t achieve anything by doing so. In order to be approachable to our users, we should use the app name correctly. We should definitely not swap arbitrarily between Handshake and HS to refer to the app. |
| Oh no! | Oopsie daisy! Diddums! Bollocks! Shit! | The first two terms are very childish, overly informal and therefore not suitable for the users of the app. It also makes the app look unprofessional and untrustworthy, which is not appropriate for the business environment in which it operates. It can also sound overly patronizing if the app was to use these terms when displaying an error message. Instead, you can use expressions like ‘Oh no!’ which are playful but not patronizing. For the same reason, never use swear words or offensive language. |
| They | He, She | Use gender-neutral pronouns (they) when referring to the users to make sure all of them feel included and avoid any unwanted feelings of discrimination. |
| Pay | Disburse | Avoid using financial jargon terms such as ‘disburse’ to avoid confusing the users. |
| Fee | Emolument | ‘Emolument’ is an overly formal word that doesn’t reflect Handshake’s tone of voice. Use ‘fee’ instead, as it’s a simple and straightforward term that users will understand. |
| Send | Dispatch | Users send messages to other users and send payments. They do not ‘dispatch’ them. Even if technically they are synonyms, dispatch is often associated with shipping parcels and not electronic communications. Using ‘dispatch’ will only confuse the users. |
| Going to, have to | Gonna, gotta | Use a conversational tone of voice but do not take it too far. Do not use overly informal (and spoken) expressions such as ‘gonna’ or ‘gotta’. |
| Money | Bread, bucks, dough | Do not use slang words as it would not be in line with Handshake’s tone of voice. Use ‘money’. |
[Provide at least 2 examples of when and how the tone should shift in the app. For example, how should error messages sound?]
• If the issue is serious, be straightforward, firm and do not use humor. For example: “Several users have reported you for inappropriate behavior in the message center. After 3 warnings, your account is now deactivated.”
• When writing guidance text like tooltips, use plain and neutral language to make sure the user understands the message. We want the message to be crystal clear. For example: “Strong passwords have 8 digits, 1 capital letter and symbols.”
Follow these style rules throughout the app interface.
• Capitalization: Sentence case. Capitalize only the first word in a sentence to achieve a conversational tone. Always capitalize ‘Handshake’ and other proper nouns.
• Punctuation: don’t add periods to page titles. Add an exclamation mark when showing enthusiasm, but don’t overuse it. Use contractions unless doing so would decrease the readability of the text. For example, use ‘We won’t” instead of “We will not” but do not use “Should’ve”. Don’t use Oxford commas, as this adds unnecessary cognitive load.
• Styles: begin with a verb on onboarding screens, as we guide the user through the set-up process. For ongoing use, use nouns. E.g.:
• Capitalization: sentence case (capitalize only the first word in a sentence to achieve a conversational tone). Always capitalize ‘Handshake’ and other proper nouns.
• Punctuation: don’t add periods. Add an exclamation mark when showing enthusiasm, but don’t overuse it. Use contractions unless doing so would decrease the readability of the text. For example, use ‘We won’t” instead of “We will not” but do not use “Should’ve”. Don’t use Oxford commas, as this adds unnecessary cognitive load.
• Styles: generally, use short sentences that begin with a noun. For set-up screens, you can use commands. For confirmation dialogues, use questions too. For success messages, feel free to add an exclamation mark at the end to show enthusiasm.
• Capitalization: sentence case (capitalize only the first word in a sentence to achieve a conversational tone). Always capitalize ‘Handshake’ and other proper nouns.
• Punctuation don’t add periods to page titles. Add an exclamation mark when showing enthusiasm, but don’t overuse it. Use contractions unless doing so would decrease the readability of the text. For example, use ‘We won’t” instead of “We will not” but do not use “Should’ve”. Don’t use Oxford commas, as this adds unnecessary cognitive load.
• Styles: always begin the sentence with a verb (second-person imperative). E.g.: “Select your preferred payment method.”
• Capitalization: sentence case (capitalize only the first word in a sentence to achieve a conversational tone). Always capitalize ‘Handshake’ and other proper nouns.
• Punctuation: don’t add periods to page titles. Add an exclamation mark when showing enthusiasm, but don’t overuse it. Use contractions unless doing so would decrease the readability of the text. For example, use ‘We won’t” instead of “We will not” but do not use “Should’ve”. Don’t use Oxford commas, as this adds unnecessary cognitive load.
• Styles: short and straightforward. Usually, a sentence that begins with a noun (omit the article when possible). E.g.: “Strong passwords have 8 digits, 1 capital letter and symbols.”
• Capitalization: in most cases, use sentence case (capitalize only the first word in a sentence to achieve a conversational tone). Exception: write OK in all caps. When we want to emphasize a word, write it in all caps too (Pay ALL). Here we want to remind the user of the consequences of their action. However, use it very sparingly as it can become patronizing if it’s used repeatedly.
• Punctuation: don’t add periods to page titles. Add an exclamation mark when showing enthusiasm, but don’t overuse it. Use contractions unless doing so would decrease the readability of the text. For example, use ‘We won’t” instead of “We will not” but do not use “Should’ve”. Don’t use Oxford commas, as this adds unnecessary cognitive load.
• Styles: When writing navigation buttons, use single nouns (back, next). When writing CTAs, use a verb in the infinitive form (save, send)
Initially, the Handshake app will only be available within the United States. However, since we do have plans for the app to be available in other countries at some point, I believe the best approach to date formats would be to use the International Date Format (ISO): YYYY/MM/DD. One of the main advantages of using ISO is its universality. It will also be beneficial for Handshake as a company, since we have very limited localization resources and choosing to display dates using an international format will speed up the localization process.
We will use the US format: symbol ($) placed on the left of the amount without a space. The decimal point will be used as a fractional separator and the comma as a thousand separator. For example: $1,238.03. If we are able to bring the app to other countries, we will have to consider adding new currencies and slightly tweaking the formatting to reflect country differences in the use of commas and decimal points, while also being aware that some currencies are placed on the right of the amount, such as euros.