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Writing

Texts need to fulfill the function of helping people achieve their goals within RD Station products. For this, it is important that all the necessary information is presented in a simple and clear way so that people can safely follow the experiment.

Titles​

Objective: to give immediate clarity of context and actions that can be taken.

Titles demarcate the top of the information hierarchy, so we can use them to contextualize people quickly.

  • The title cannot be ambiguous, it must be direct and clear
  • Use a noun or short phrase that helps the person know they are in the right place
  • You can also use a phrase that indicates the main action that can be performed on a screen with many possibilities, such as a dashboard, for example
  • In titles, avoid the use of graphic elements, such as period, semicolon, question mark, exclamation point and ellipses

Descriptions​

Objective: to quickly help the person advance through the experience.

A description should only be used if it is really necessary, as it is an element that is often ignored by people.

  • Be as brief as possible
  • Talk about benefits and important points at the beginning of the text
  • The success of the page cannot depend on reading the description
  • Descriptions are scored

Objective: to allow the person to proceed with an action.

While most of the other components are the experience talking to the person, the buttons indicate how the person would talk to the experience.

  • They must be easily recognizable
  • Buttons must have at least two terms for clarity
  • Avoid generic words. Use words that people would actually use in conversation
  • Prefer action verbs. This avoids surprises and quickly indicates what the person expects when clicking on it

Empty states​

Objective: to create expectations and indicate that empty space is on purpose.

On people's first contact with our products, not every screen has start-up information or data. So, never forget that empty states are important when engaging beginners.

  • Create curiosity in the person to see how that space can be with populated data
  • Give instructions on how to populate the screen with data. For example, how to import a Leads base, or how to create a first email campaign
  • Instructions plus an action button help people move forward with confidence

Labels​

Objective: To clarify the understanding of the experience.

Labels are very useful on screens with a lot of detail, as they inform and organize the content in a short way.

  • Use specific nouns and adjectives to name or describe things. Avoid vague terms or jargon

Texts for Input, Select, Textarea​

Objective: To help people know what to type.

Through pre-typed texts, tips and labels, we make it easier for people to understand what they should write in certain fields of the product, preventing them from making mistakes, having to do it again and getting frustrated.

  • Give examples of information and tips of what could be typed
  • Use verbs to guide. For example, in a password field you can enter "Use at least 8 letters and numbers"
  • Be consistent in the ways these tooltips are used for text fields

Notifications​

Objective: To inform or remind a person.

Notifications are great for increasing the engagement of those who use the product, but don't overuse them. Plan well how many and when they will be sent.

  • A notification must have relevant information and have a sense of urgency
  • If an action needs to be taken, make it clear
  • It can be composed of a title that refers to the action that needs to be taken, and a brief description
  • Remember that a notification is an interruption in the experience, so think carefully about the relevance of the content and when the person receives it

Confirmation messages​

Objective: Confirm the success of an action.

Confirmation messages make the success of an action, or the progress of a task, visible.

  • Confirmations are great resources to be used when an action performed by the person may take a while to be completed, such as creating a segmentation, for example
  • A confirmation message may appear during the usage flow, pausing the experience or not
  • Use the past tense verb to write the message

Error messages​

Objective: Inform that there is a problem in the experience.

An error message should serve as a roadmap that shows you what to do to get where you want to go.

  • Use direct verbs and short descriptions
  • Here your empathy has to shine! Do not point out the blame for the error that may have arisen
  • If the error can be corrected by the person, create a brief message that instructs the correct way to proceed
  • An error message must first guide the person and then explain, that is, first tell how to correct or work around the error, and then the reason for the error
  • When in doubt, follow the sequence: How to fix - Why you need to fix - Button with action for correction (if applicable)

Text blocks​

The composition of text blocks requires a certain care in terms of size so that the readability is not impaired.

Blocks of text that are too wide or too short make the eyes tired, making it difficult to find and continue reading. Ideally, they should be between 50 and 60 characters per line wide, including spacing.

Numerals​

In our products we always write numbers in digits, avoiding the use of words.

Coins​

Use space between symbol and value. Do not use zero to the decimal place.

We always follow ISO 4217, which defines a three-letter code for currency.

Dot and comma​

To indicate the thousands class we use a period, and to indicate the decimals we use a comma.

Remember: we use a maximum of 2 digits after the comma.

Numbers from a thousand​

Round or round numbers are written in a mixed way, with numbers and words.

Phones​

To indicate telephone numbers, always put the city code in parentheses and use a hyphen to separate the numbers. If you need to add the country code, write it with the + sign in front.

Date and time​

Date​

Use the figures corresponding to the day, month and year. If you need to indicate the day of the week, always start with it, this makes the person better located in time.

Running time​

When you need to indicate a period of time in a sentence, always use a number followed by the unit (hours, minutes, seconds). Depending on the context, it is possible to abbreviate following the grammatical norm of abbreviations.

Hours​

For simple time indication use the format XX:XX (24 hours).

When writing to items in the global navigation or account menus, use capital letters at the beginning of each term.

Prepositions and conjunctions do not fit into this rule, for example: and, more, from...

Account menu​

Everything in the navigation belongs to the user, so always use My Accounts, My Profile, etc.

Feedback​