Voice and tone

Terse and exact. Say what happened and what to do, in as few words as possible.

Principles

• Lead with the object, then the state: "Alert 2041 contained."
• Use numbers, not words for numbers.
• One verb per button. No "please", no exclamation marks.

Words

• Use: Investigate, Filter, Assign, Escalated, Resolved
• Avoid: Oops, Awesome, Please, Simply

Tone for each moment

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.”