We have an editorial style for our digital products to help us keep our copy clear and consistent, and specific guidelines to write and structure content to make it easy for users to understand and act on.
Avoid abbreviations and acronyms when possible.
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DON'T
Try to avoid adjectives and adverbs. Using adjectives and adverbs (for example, “easy” read) shapes perception and sets expectations, and can inadvertently lead to a negative emotional experience for our users.
If someone is a newer reader, then describing a book as “easy” might help them choose to read it. But if it takes them a long time to read it, they may feel bad because the book was supposed to be “easy,” and it still took them a while.
Instead, look for opportunities to capture the same meaning through other forms. What makes an “easy” book easy relative to other books? Can that be used as a scale of relative difficulty?
Use active voice and avoid passive voice. In active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence has the action done to it.
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DON'T
Use passive voice when you don’t want to assign responsibility for an action. This can reduce tension in a message.
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DON'T
Use present tense to describe the result of actions.
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DON'T