Creating a style guide: voice in microcopy

Scenario

I went online to find out if I needed a permit for my daughter’s first birthday party at our neighborhood public park. The Providence Parks website was inviting, even if a little wordy.

But the prompt for getting a permit was legalistic and seemed to be pulled from a regulations handbook.

What I did and how I felt

The formal language made me pause.

“Even if I am expecting slightly more than 25 people,” I thought, “maybe filling out this form will ensnare me in a bureaucratic mess unnecessarily. Maybe they will deny my application for some reason. Maybe I am better off not applying.”

The problem

The voice of the event permit prompt was inconsistent with the inviting paragraphs directly above, which highlighted parks as community spaces.

The prompt was a missed opportunity to convey the mission of the public parks system through voice and tone.

A quick solution

Would you like to host an event in one of our city’s parks?

• More than 25 people? —> Please fill out this form.
  (Include a tooltip explaining why the city needs them to fill out the form, and a summary of what the form asks.)

• Fewer than 25 people? —> Lay out the picnic blankets and enjoy!

Going deeper

The website’s choice of words might reveal a deeper opportunity to align the content team on voice and tone.

Perhaps city employees are inclined not to speak in plain language when communicating about a law or regulation. Perhaps they feel it is necessary to communicate with an authoritative tone when instructing people on how to apply for a permit.

If I were responsible for UX writing on the Providence Parks website, I would begin with a thorough audit of the website’s content. With this deep familiarity, I would gather more information by asking questions.

Asking questions

I would meet with all of the team members and stakeholders to ask about their work communicating with the public.

1. What kinds of information do you need to communicate through the website? Who are your audiences?

2. What other channels do you use to communicate with the public and other audiences? What types of content do you produce through these channels?

3. What are the challenges you face in doing so? Are there times when you are not sure how to communicate something? How do you deal with those challenges?

Analyzing

With these data in hand, I would categorize the types of content the Parks department generates and the channels they use to distribute that content.

I would then define the problem more clearly: what are the decision points and problem zones within the writing process that need fine tuning?

Drafting a content style guide

I would use these insights to structure a style guide. I would then draw on the experience of Parks employees to draft content guidelines. The draft would seek to unify around a set of content habits and practices, bringing clarity and alignment to what had been a patchwork of voices, styles, and solutions.

Iterating

I would seek feedback from all team members and stakeholders, revising where required.

Future revising

Finally, I would also establish a clear channel for communicating concerns and questions about the style guide. As new challenges emerge, employees would know where to bring their questions. Our team would work with them to revise the style guide accordingly.