BMJ living style guide BETA

The online visual language and front end framework for BMJ

Online writing and tone

Clear, accurate, and concise text makes interfaces more usable and builds trust. Strive to write text that is understandable by anyone, anywhere, regardless of their culture or language.

In addition to these guidelines, be sure to consult guidelines for specific UI elements, such as Errors, Alerts and Buttons

Language

Speak to the user as “you”

Speak directly to users as “you,” not “me.” Don’t put words in the users’ mouths, with phrases that use “I” or “my.”

Exceptions include:

  • Some legal opt-ins: “I agree to follow the UX Writing Guidelines.”
  • When referring to some BMJ products, such as "My account"

Your records

Do.

My records

Don't.

Don’t refer to “we”

Focus on the user and what they can do with your app, rather than what you or your app is doing for the user.

Get started with these free modules on BMJ Learning.

Do.

To get you started, we’re showing you free modules from BMJ Learning.

Don't.

One exception is when a human actually does take action for a user, such as reviewing an appeal or responding to a suggestion. Here, the use of “we” is appropriate and more personable.

We’ll review your request and respond within a few days.

Do.

Your request will be reviewed, and you will receive a response within a few days.

Don't.

Be concise

The best UI text is written in small, scannable segments to assist in navigation and discovery.

Send money to anyone in the US who has an email address. It’s fast, easy, and free.

Do.

Send (and receive) money with friends and family in the US with an email address. It’s a two-step process with little-to-no latency and there aren’t any charges for the recipients of the money.

Don't.

Keep your sentences and phrases short, with as few concepts as possible.

Read the instructions that came with your phone.

Do.

Consult the documentation that came with your phone for further instructions.

Don't.

Write in the present

Use the present tense to describe product behavior. Avoid using future tense to describe the way a product always acts.

When you need to write in the past or future, use simple verb forms.

Message sent

Do.

Message has been sent

Don't.

Write simply and directly

Use simple, direct language that is easy for users to understand.

Save changes?

Do.

Would you like to save your changes?

Don't.

Use simple words that everyone knows

When choosing among synonyms, pick the simplest word.

Turn on Location History

Do.

Enable Location History

Don't.

Avoid terms that only industry insiders know, and don't rely on the names invented for UI features.

Preparing video…

Do.

Buffering…

Don't.

BMJ Learning isn’t supported in ie8

Do.

BMJ Learning is only supported on browsers ie9 and above

Don't.

Generic terms like "slider" and "menu" are fine, but direct users to the labels on UI elements, not the kind of element (such as menu or button).

Click continue

Do.

Click the continue button

Don't.

Omit unnecessary phrases

You can skip many common introductory phrases and get right to the point.

Delete this record?

Do.

Are you sure you want to delete this record?

Don't.

Register to vote

Do.

You must register before you can vote

Don't.

Want to…

Do.

Do you want to…

Don't.

Use consistent verbs across the arc of an action

The framing concept of an action is typically a verb. Pick one and use it consistently throughout the whole process of an action.

Remove photo

Do.

Delete photo

Don't.

Remove photo?

Do.

Remove photo from page?

Don't.

Remove this photo from this page?

Do.

Cancel | Remove

Do.

Cancel | OK

Don't.

Lead with the goal, not the method

If a sentence includes an action for the user to take and instructions for achieving it, start the sentence with that action.

To remove a photo from this album, drag it to the trash

Do.

Drag a photo to the trash to remove it from this album

Don't.

Reveal detail only as needed

Don’t burden the user with every detail and caution in the first interaction. Reveal increasing detail about features as the user explores them and needs the information.

Exit module now?

Do.

Are you sure you want to exit this module now? Your progress will not be saved unless you click 'save'.

Don't.

Never say “never”

Avoid “never” and other absolutes.

Your profession details aren’t shared

Do.

We’ll never share your profession details

Don't.

Text for buttons and related elements

Buttons appear in dialogs and as blue or underlined text.

Button

Usage

[ Action ]

See above guideline about using consistent verbs.

Back

Allows multi-step processes

Cancel

Cancels an action

Dismiss

Causes a message or dialog to disappear without any consequences

Done

Confirms the completion of a multi-step process

Got it

Causes a message or dialog to disappear without any consequences (similar to OK)

Learn more

Takes the user to additional content

Next

Takes the user to the next step of a multi-step process

No thanks

Allows a user to decline

Not now

Don’t use this abused phrase except in rare cases where the call to action in the dialog is essential to the functionality of the product, for legal reasons, or for another urgent reason.
Do not use “Not now” as a mechanism to avoid providing a “No thanks” option.

OK

Allows the user to confirm an action that’s relevant to the task at hand

Skip

Gives the user a way to avoid an interruption and proceed with a task

Tone

Our tone of voice is the way we speak to the outside world. It’s not only the way we write things, it’s also the way we say things. It’s another way of expressing our personality. We must take as much time getting our tone of voice right as we do getting our visual identity right.

For our communications to be truly effective, our thinking needs to start outside the company not inside. We need to think first of our audience, whatever their role and wherever they are, and then we must take time to get our tone of voice just right.

If we are to have a clear voice we need to make sure that we:

  • Avoid writing in our own style
  • Know how to tell a story effectively
  • Be open to feedback from others on our communications
  • Keep to the six elements of our voice:
    • Helpful
    • Knowledgeable
    • Engaging
    • Succinct
    • Accurate
    • Challenging (when appropriate)

Helpful

We want to help our customers and users, wherever they are, respond to their challenges. We try to support them with information and tools that bring them relevant value that helps them achieve their objectives.

Knowledgeable

We understand that delivering high quality healthcare is complex so we never dumb it down. We write in a smart and knowledgeable way – because our users and customers are smart and knowledgeable too.

Engaging

We are passionate about improving the quality of healthcare – and sharing new discoveries, new innovation and new thinking. We are always open to new ideas and the potential they bring, so we speak with passion and energy.

Succinct

We don’t believe in making things more complex than they need to be. We know that people don’t have time to read reams of information. Nor do they want information to be clouded by superlatives or jargon. We keep our communications as clear and straightforward as possible.

Accurate

We strive to be one hundred percent accurate. People depend on us for it. That means we make sure our facts are correct in every detail and with no ambiguity. We use data wherever we can to back up what we say. We also make sure our grammar and spelling is accurate.

Challenging (when appropriate)

We like to make people think, to challenge their views and understanding. We like to convey messages that intrigue. When appropriate we challenge conventional thinking or attitudes – if we believe it can make healthcare better. Like a real person’s voice, we adjust according to the situation we are in. Our customers wouldn’t expect a revision aid to be challenging, so we turn down challenging and turn up engaging and knowledgeable. For a new insight or innovation, we may want to turn up both engaging and challenging.

Online tone

Be friendly, respectful, and focus on the user

Text in your UI should complement your visual UI: intuitive, efficient, casual, and trustworthy. Charm peeks through, but never upstages the user.

MyApp isn’t responding

Do you want to close it?

Do.

Sorry!

Activity in MyAppActivity (in the  MyApp app) is not responding

Don't.

Be humble

Don’t brag or over-promise. Reveal what a feature does, don’t say how great it is.

All your CPD in one place

Do.

Record all your CPD in a quick, easy to use app you'll love!

Don't.

More useful modules

Do.

All useful modules

Don't.

Be inviting

Focus on the benefits of each feature. Omit implementation details, caveats, and restrictions at the entry points to features (buttons, menu items, links, and promotions).

To save power, switch Location mode to Battery saving mode.

Do.

Manually control GPS to prevent other apps from using it.

Don't.

Be positive

Present information in a positive light: it’s reassuring.

Use 24 characters or fewer for file names.

Do.

Your file name must be less than 25 characters.

Don't.

Be essential

For every message, ask yourself: does the user really need to know this? Err on the side of letting users stay focused on their own tasks. Sometimes the most effective UI is no text at all.

Avoid messages that suggest that it’s surprising or unusual that a user’s simple action was successful.

Processing payment...

Your payment is being processed. This can take up to 1 minute.

Do.

Processing payment...

BMJ Best Practice needs to communicate with BMJ servers to process your payment. This can take up to 1 minute.

Don't.

Capitalisation & punctuation

Use sentence-style caps

Use sentence-style caps for all titles, headings, labels, menu items – any place where you might be tempted to use “Title-Style Caps.”

Avoid ALL-CAPS except where the material spec requires them, for example, the Button style.

Search settings

Do.

Search Settings

Don't.

SEARCH SETTINGS

Don't.

Capitalise product names only when referring to a product as a product

Don’t capitalise the things you create or work with when using that product.

Visit our Facebook page.

Do.

Visit our Facebook Page.

Don't.

Skip periods and other unnecessary punctuation  

For labels, hover text, setting labels, stacks of links, promos, and so on, avoid periods. This gives you the flexibility to mix sentences and sentence fragments, for example, in lists. It also reduces visual clutter and helps readers parse your text at a glance. Skip the colon after UI labels (“Share with” not “Share with:”).

Use a period or force fragments into full sentences where:  

  • You need to use more than one sentence – even if they’re short sentences.
  • You have a set of parallel labels where one of the set must be a sentence. Make them all full sentences and use periods (or question marks, etc.).
  • The sentence is part of a larger, more formal UI element, such as body text in a dialog.

Use contractions  

Don't make a sentence harder to understand just to follow this rule. For example, "do not" can give more emphasis than "don't" when you really mean it.

it’s, can’t, wouldn’t, you’re, you’ve, haven’t, don’t

Do.

it is, cannot, would not, it’ll, should’ve

Don't.

Avoid exclamation marks  

Ask yourself, would someone shout (exclaim) that?

Welcome!

Do.

Learn about the new features of BMJ Best Practice!

Don't.

Good job!

Do.

“1, 2, 3” not “one, two, three”

Use numerals in place of words for numbers.

One exception is when mixing uses of numbers: "Enter two 3s."

You have 3 messages

Do.

You have three messages

Don't.

Punctuation

Omit punctuation after phrases and labels to create a cleaner and more readable interface.

Use punctuation to add clarity or be grammatically correct.

Glyph/character

Description

Periods

.

Omit for fragments and single sentences in affordances like toasts, snackbars, butterbars, and labels. Do punctuate full sentences in body text, for example, in the body of dialogs.  

Place inside quotation marks (unless you’re telling the reader what to enter and it’s ambiguous whether to include the period).

Commas

,

Place inside of quotation marks.

Use the serial comma.

Exclamation points

!

Avoid exclamation points for anything you wouldn’t actually shout out loud (exclaim).

Colons

:

: or \u003A

Omit from labels, for example, in the labels for fields in a form.

Quotation marks

 

“ “ or \u201C

” ” or \u201D

‘ ‘ or \u2018

’ ’ or \u2019

Use real quotation marks, not the inch and foot symbols.

The right single quotation mark symbol is also used for apostrophes.

Never use the generic quotes ", ' or free-standing accents `, ´ (\u0022, \u0027, \u0060, \u00B4). These are never right for quotation marks, apostrophes, or primes.

Primes

′ or \u2032

and

″ or \u2033

Use prime (′) only in abbreviations for feet, arcminutes, and minutes. For example: 3° 15′

Use double-prime (″) only in abbreviations for inches, arcminutes, and minutes. For example: 3° 15′ 35″

Do not use generic quotes ", ' or free-standing accents `, ´ for primes.

Ellipses

 …

Option-;
…

Use to indicate an action in progress ("Downloading…") or incomplete or truncated text. No space before the ellipses.

Omit from menu items or buttons that open a dialog or start some other process.

Midline ellipses (three-bullet glyphs) are also used to represent numeric truncation and the redaction of sensitive data, such as credit cards.

Double angle brackets

 >>, << &laquo; or \u00AB

&raquo; or \u00BB

Omit from links or buttons that open another page or move to the next or previous step in a process.

Em dash

 

—

&mdash; or \u2014

Shift+Option -

Avoid using em dashes.

En dash

–

&ndash; or \u2013

Option+ -

Use an en dash instead of a hyphen to indicate a range, without spaces (in English).

Avoid using dashes to separate text. If you must use dashes for this purpose – like this – use an en dash surrounded by spaces.

Example of use with a range:
8:00 AM–12:30 PM
3–5 kg

Hyphen

-

Use hyphens to avoid ambiguity in compound adjective-noun or noun-participle pairs and in some prefixes.

For example:

anti-inflammatory
5-mile walk

Parentheses

(  )

Use parentheses only to define acronyms or jargon.

For example:
“Secure web connections are based on a technology called SSL (the secure sockets layer).”