Principles
  • 01
    Direct

    Short declarative sentences. No throat-clearing. The reader is busy — get to the point.

  • 02
    Confident

    We've shipped, we know the math, we say it. Specifics over hedges. Real numbers over vague claims.

  • 03
    Warm without being chummy

    Contractions are fine. Names are not. Address the reader as "you," the company as "we." Never the royal "our customers."

  • 04
    No theater

    No exclamation marks. No emoji. No marketing spaghetti. The product earns trust by speaking like a person who ships.

Tone matrix

Tone shifts by context. The principles never change — only the dial.

ContextTone dialExample
Routine actionCalmPreciseFunctional"Card unlocked. Try a transaction to confirm."
Money movedCalmConfidentReceipt-like"$1,240.00 sent to Acme Co. Reference 4401-902F-X."
Approval blockedDirectHelpfulNo blame"Decline — daily limit reached. Limit resets at midnight UTC."
Marketing — celebratoryConfidentA little swaggeringSpecific"Brands are switching from Capital One, Chase, and Amex every day."
Examples by context

Before / after. Every brand book has these — most stop at one. We use product surfaces.

Empty state — Dashboard
Before

Oops! 😬 We don't have any spending data yet. Check back soon or contact support if you think this is a mistake!

After

No spending data available. Start using your card to see spending analytics here.

Error state
Before

Whoops! Something went wrong. Please retry or reach out to our friendly support team!!

After

Unable to load spending data. Please try refreshing or check back later.

Login subhead
Before

Welcome to Dash.fi! New users — please complete the onboarding wizard below.

After

New here? We'll get you set up automatically.

Toast — success
Before

🎉 Hooray! Your spending data was refreshed!

After

Spending data refreshed successfully.

Marketing — hero
Before

The very best corporate card for the modern, growing, ambitious advertiser of today and tomorrow.

After

Built for growth.

Do · Don't
Do

Sentence case across the UI. Title case is for proper nouns only.

Do

Use contractions. They're warmer and read faster ("we'll", "you're", "let's").

Do

Numerals, not spelled-out numbers. "3 cards", not "three cards". Currency prefixed: "$300M+".

Don't

Don't use emoji anywhere. Not in copy, not in cards, not in empty states.

Don't

Don't use exclamation marks in product UI. They feel performative — the brand doesn't perform.

Don't

Don't address users by name in body copy. Reserve names for greetings only.