Overview

Give a brief (50-100 word) overview of the guideline you're creating. Describe the message type (e.g., onboarding copy), how it's surfaced, and what information needs to be conveyed.

Voice and tone

Writing principles


List 3-5 writing principles that content designers should follow when writing this type of message.


<Principle 1>

For each principle, include a good and bad example and explain why each one works or doesn't work. To see this illustrated, take a look at the example below, from Atlassian's internal error writing guidelines:


Whenever possible, offer a solution


While it's important to be direct in error messages, it's equally important to be helpful. Avoid messaging that focuses on the problem without offering a solution or way forward:


Instead, help the people who use your product understand why they're experiencing an error and how they can avoid similar errors in the future:


<Principle 2>

<Principle 3>

Tips and tricks


Use this section to suggest hints to help writers create more effective copy for this message type. For example, offer guidance on how to approach message types that appear in more than one context.


• Add your tip here