Product copy principles

In the same way that the design decisions rest upon a set of principles, copy decisions follow a similar pattern. The following principles are meant to give very high-level explanations for some of the decisions that we have made with regards to how copy should be, and what it should do. All of the other sections within these copy guidelines are informed by these principles.

Copy should above all else be informative and drive the experience forward

Tradeshift is a complicated product for a complicated industry. There is already a lot about the industry we work in that is very confusing, so the copy should be as clear as possible. This principle might seem obvious, but it really is at the core of copy strategy. This principle informs all the other ones in this list, and every single line of copy on Tradeshift should aim to satisfy this principle.

Copy should be as concise as possible, but clarity should not be sacrificed in favor of brevity

Brevity is a good thing, but not to the exclusion of everything else. Following principle number one above, brevity is only good insofar as it leads to informative copy. Thus, brevity is one extreme of an axis, but not the goal. An extremely short piece of copy can also be extremely uninformative ("an error occurred"). In such cases, increased length is the preferred option in order to achieve maximum information transfer ("an unidentified error occurred during the uploading process. Please try again. If this problem persists, please contact Tradeshift support")

In terms of tone, copy should be friendly and casual, but serious.

We’re new, young and exciting, but we’re still dealing with people’s businesses, money, and other serious things. This is a fine line to tread – Tradeshift should not be boring and soulless, but it still needs to be taken seriously. A casual, friendly tone is good ("You haven’t added a picture to your profile yet. What are you waiting for?"). Pop culture references ("These are not the droids you’re looking for"), or even worse, internet-culture references are not. Product copy should still feel natural when spoken out loud. If a piece of copy doesn’t feel natural in a context of one person explaining something to another, then it’s not good enough.

Consistency is critical for a positive customer experience.

Product copy should be consistent across different parts of the product. Marketing messages appearing within the product and emails generated by product activity should also be consistent with product copy to ensure understanding. This consistency applies mostly to product names, terminology key words and error messages but also applies to tone, style, punctuation, format, etc. The page Terminology & Cheat Sheet is the main resource to ensure consistency.

Product copy should assume as little previously existing knowledge as possible from the user.

In keeping with design principles, Tradeshift users are very rarely expert users, and in many cases, the tasks they do at Tradeshift are not the principal tasks of their position. As such, product copy should not assume that the user possesses any deep technical, industry, or other specific knowledge. If it sounds like an engineer talking to another engineer, it’s not good enough. If it sounds like an accountant talking to another, it’s not good enough. If it sounds like a lawyer talking to another lawyer (or a lawyer talking to anyone) it’s not good enough.

Copywriting is part of good design

This means that copy is not something that gets added once a design has been finalized. Rather copy is integral to the design process. This means that placeholder copy is not good enough. This does not mean that copy needs to be perfect from the very first wireframe. What it does mean, however, is that copy cannot be Lorem Ipsum until an hour before deployment. It is very much acceptable to write preliminary copy, and to iterate on it as the whole design is iterated, but copy is as important as layout in terms of providing a good user experience.