Projects/Usability/HIG/Wording: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:56, 26 May 2014

Purpose

Every word displayed in an application is part of a conversation with users. This conversation is an opportunity to provide clarity and to help people feel comfortable in the system.

Guidelines

Use a terminology that is familiar and easy to understand for the target audience (i.e. Persona) of your application.
Put the most important thing first.
Short words, active verbs and common nouns.
Avoid contractions such as Don't and Won't etc.
Avoid abbreviations (including ampersand instead of 'and'), acronyms, and tech-babble.
Use a tone that’s informal and friendly, but not too informal; avoid popular, but transient, words and phrases.
Keep information short and consistent; avoid redundancy or unnecessary words. e.g. Do not repeat the dialog title in the dialog text.
Don't abuse capitalization because it draws people’s attention.
For date and time information, consider that your app may potentially be used for several years; do not use immutable date references like this year unless it is algorithmically determined.
Follow system-wide wording conventions for basic functions to keep wording consistent.

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 == Guidelines ==
 * Use a terminology that is familiar and easy to understand for the target audience (i.e. Persona) of your application.
-* Avoid abbreviations, acronyms, and tech-babble.
+* Put the most important thing first.
-* Use a tone that’s informal and friendly, but not too informal.
+* Short words, active verbs and common nouns.
-* Keep information short and consistent; avoid redundancy or unnecessary words.
+* Avoid [[Projects/Usability/HIG/Contractions|contractions]] such as ''Don't'' and ''Won't'' etc.
+* Avoid abbreviations (including ampersand instead of 'and'), acronyms, and tech-babble.
+* Use a tone that’s informal and friendly, but not too informal; avoid popular, but transient, words and phrases.
+* Keep information short and consistent; avoid redundancy or unnecessary words. e.g. Do not repeat the dialog title in the dialog text.
 * Don't abuse [[Projects/Usability/HIG/Capitalization|capitalization]] because it draws people’s attention.
-* In respect to chronological information consider that your app is potentially used for decades; don't use fix dates like ''this year''.
+* For date and time information, consider that your app may potentially be used for several years; do not use immutable date references like ''this year'' unless it is algorithmically determined.
-* Follow system-wide conventions for basic functions to keep wording consistent.
+* Follow system-wide wording conventions for basic functions to keep wording consistent.
-== Examples ==
+[[Category:Usability]][[Category: Presentation]]
-* Delete, Move to Trash, Remove and Uninstall
-** When a file or object is completely removed from the system, use ''Delete''.
-** When a file or object can be recovered, use ''Move to Trash'' for files and ''Remove'' for list objects etc.
-** When a file or object can be removed and was originally installed, use ''Uninstall''.
-* Settings, Options and Properties
-** Use ''Settings'' for a configuration dialog which allows you to set specific properties or functionality. This usually applies to application configuration tools. For example, Konqueror Settings.
-** Use ''Options'' for a configuration dialog which provide. This usually applies to object configuration tools.
-** Use ''Properties'' for a list of metadata or details that are associated with a particular object which cannot be edited or interacted with in any way. For example, file "properties" dialog in Dolphin.
-[[Category:Usability]][[Category: Presentation]][[Category:Text]]