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Tone of Voice

Tone of voice deals with the mood of UI text as it's read by our users. It mostly involves phrasing and stylistic choices on top of UI text best practices — essentially, how we add the "SAP Engagement Cloud brand" to our UI texts.

Unlike UI text best practices, which deal with length, clarity, and consistency, tone of voice is more about the style than the quality of the UI text.

1. Converse Naturally​

Try writing natural-sounding, conversational text instead of only displaying technical terms.

The text can still contain technical terms, such as error codes, as supplementary information for troubleshooting.

Avoid:

  • "Error 403"
  • "Access restricted"

Good:

  • "You don't have permission to view this page. Please request access from the account owner. (Error code: 403)"

2. Stay Positive​

Give text a positive attitude by pointing towards the next things to do, and never blaming anyone — neither the user nor us.

This is especially important for error messages: be briefly apologetic, don't blame anyone, and point to the solution if you can.

Avoid:

  • "You uploaded a damaged file."
  • "We failed to process your file."

Good:

  • "We've encountered an unknown error. Please try again."
  • "The file is too large. Please upload a file under 50 megabytes."

3. Speak Like a Peer​

Don't be too friendly and funny, but at the same time, don't be too formal and overly polite either. Imagine SAP Engagement Cloud speaking to the user as their co-worker — not friends, not strangers, but peers.

Avoid:

  • Button labels like "Let's Go!" or "Nope" — a bit too light-hearted.
  • Using "Oops!" in error messages — a tad tone-deaf.
  • "Please upload your contact list." — overly polite. Only use "please" sparingly, in error messages.

Good:

  • "We've encountered an unknown error. Please try again. If the problem persists, contact SAP Engagement Cloud Support."

4. Adjust to the Situation​

Imagine yourself as the user in the situation where the UI text is displayed. What sort of tone would fit? Tweak the tone of voice to make sure it fits the situation at hand.

  • Error state: focus on being empathetic, helpful, and straight to the point.
  • Success state: you can be a bit more celebratory and energetic.

Examples:

  • When the user launches their first campaign: "Hurray! You've just launched your first email campaign!"
  • When there was an error launching the campaign: "There are some missing settings. Please check the form and try again."