Voice and tone

How the product speaks: the words in every component.

The five answers

Question	Answer	Why
Which kinds of copy does it need?	Labels and messages	Labels and messages are all the copy an operations tool needs.
How many tones does it use?	One	One flat tone everywhere; experts want no surprises.
How is the voice defined?	Rules and a word list	A word list keeps labels identical across screens.
How does it sound?	Terse	Experts want short labels and short messages.
Where do the words matter most?	Errors and empty states	Errors and empty tables are where words decide the next action.

Tokens

Each token points to another token. Values live only on primitives, below.

Token	Points to
content.action.commit
content.action.cancel
content.action.destroy
content.action.retry
content.action.empty-action

When to use what

Situation	Use	Not	Why
A button label	One verb from the word list	A sentence or "Please"	Labels repeat on every screen; one verb reads fastest. Example: “Export”
The words of an error	Name the record, then the fix. Flat and specific.	"Oops" or a vague apology	Experts act on the message; the record and the fix are all they need. Example: “Alert ALR-2042 not saved. Threshold must be between 0 and 100.”
A success message	A short confirmation with the count	Celebration	Confirm and get out of the way; the next task is waiting. Example: “12 alerts exported.”
An empty state	Why it is empty and the one action that fills it	A blank table	An empty table with no words looks like an error. Example: “No escalated alerts. Change the date range to see older ones.”
A confirmation question	Name the exact object and the consequence	"Are you sure?"	Acting on the wrong record is the costly mistake. Example: “Dismiss 3 alerts? This cannot be undone.”
A first visit	No tour. Show the data, with a tooltip where needed.	A welcome tour	Daily experts skip tours; tooltips cover the first uses. Example: “Hover any column header to see what it counts.”