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Numbers and percentages

In industrial settings, numbers and percentages are key to tracking performance, spotting trends, and making informed decisions. As there are many ways to write them, these guidelines aim to keep usage consistent across teams.

Numbers and percentages

General rules​

Write "Number" or "number" when there is enough space within the user interface.

  • Number
  • Num.

Use "No." as an abbreviation for number with a period and without a space.

  • No.6
  • Num.6

Avoid using the # symbol with numbers.

  • Number 6
  • #6

Write numbers as digits, such as "9" instead of "nine", in industrial user interfaces.

  • We’ve released 3 new features this month.
  • We’ve released three new features this month.

Write numbers with four digits and more with commas to separate thousands, millions, etc. in American English.

  • 100,000
  • 100.000

Numbers and punctuation​

Use en dashes (–) instead of hyphens (-) for ranges.

  • 10–0
  • The shipment weighs 50–75kg

Write out the unit only once in ranges.

  • The temperature fluctuated between 20–25°C
  • The temperature fluctuated between 20°C–25°C

Use the minus hyphen for negative numbers which is better aligned than a normal hyphen (Unicode U+2212).

  • -12
  • —12

Use either "to" or separate text fields for ranges with minus numbers for readability.

  • -12 to -15°C
  • Min temp (C): -12° / Max temp (C): -15°

Decimals​

Write decimals using a period (.) to separate the whole number from the fractional part in American English.

  • 0.5
  • 5,245.15
  • 2.5 million
  • 0,5
  • 5.245,15
  • 2,5 million

Thousands, millions and billions​

Use "K" as an abbreviation for thousand, "M" for million, and "B" for billion without a period or space. Consider variations in other languages and never use abbreviations when there is doubt.

  • 34K
  • 34M
  • 34B
  • 34 k
  • 34 mil
  • 34 bill

Use the singular "million" when talking about a specific number.

  • 34 million
  • Our system processes one million connections.
  • 34 millions
  • Our system processes one millions connections.

Use the plural "millions" when talking about an unspecific number.

  • Our goal is to deliver software to millions of happy users worldwide.

Write out numbers in the millions and billions ("one million" instead of "1,000,000") in longer texts and paragraphs.

  • We have over one million users worldwide.
  • We have over 1,000,000 users worldwide.

Use numerals for numbers in the millions for dates, addresses, units of measurement, currencies and percentages.

  • The temperature can reach 1,000,000°C in the pod.

  • The cargo ship can carry up to 1,000,000kg.

  • The success rate of our new implementation is 1,000,000%.

  • The project budget is $1,000,000.

Percentages​

Use the % symbol instead of writing out "percentage" within the user interface to save space.

  • 10%
  • 10 percent

Use % after the number and without a space.

  • 10%
  • %10

Phone numbers​

Separate phone numbers into groups for clarity when backend localization or separate fields are not possible.

  • Country code, area code, numbers in groupings of 3 or 4
  • 0044, 208, 899 7032

Use the plus symbol (+) or "00" before the country code and show extension numbers with a hyphen.

  • +49 123 456 7890
  • 0049 123 456 7890
  • 0123 456 7890-12
  • 0123 456 7890 12