Basics
The following sections contain advice we follow at Siemens to create our own products and includes common writing errors to avoid when creating industrial products and experiences.
Style
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Use as few words as possible
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Use simple, specific, clear, and informative wording
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Use the same words and grammatical forms, lengths, and styles repeatedly
Tone and voice
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Use natural, conversational language and not robotic, funny, cool or clever
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Address users in second-person (you) and use first-person plural for the application (we)
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Use gender-neutral language
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Use polite language
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Use 'please' and 'sorry' only when necessary, for something inconvenient or unplanned
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Use positive instead of negative framing
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Use positive contractions to avoid sounding too formal
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Avoid using negative contractions as they can appear too informal
Length
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Use sentences only when necessary
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Use short words (3, 4, or 5 letters) instead of long words (8 or longer)
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Use short, scannable segments, not paragraphs
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Keep sentences under 25 words (average = 15 words)
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Keep titles under 65 characters (including spaces)
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Use info icons only when necessary: Icons cannot contain the same content as the UI
Use of big and small letters (capitalization/casing)
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Capitalize the first letter of the first word in a title / sentence / tooltip / menu item / list item / button
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Capitalize proper nouns, i.e. places, organizations, tools, languages, products and things: Siemens, SIMATIC PCS myexpert, iOS, JavaScript, MindSphere
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Capitalize named app functions and UI elements: Go to Settings, Allocate users in User management, Press Ok