Tone in Documentation

An look at when to keep to your brand's tone in documentation and other uses of tone in docs.

Transcript

1. Tone in Documentation Jessica Rose @jesslynnrose closetoclever.com majesticseo.com
2. Tone?!?
3. Art or Science?
4. Reinforcing Your Brand's Voice
5. Reinforcing Your Brand's Voice
6. Tone to show users who you are: How accessible? How snuggly? How advanced? How you want users to **feel** about you
7. Tone can also... • Communicate who your intended audience is • Communicate your expectations for how they will (or might) interact with your product • Indicate the level of interactivity you're willing to maintain with your clients or users
9. Communicating Audience Expectations • Skill level • Level of investment • Individuals or Organizations • Commercial or Non-commercial
10. Common Problems with User Expectations and Tone • Misjudging your audience • Limiting your audience through tone of the wrong level • Writing for yourselves, rather than your users • Using culturally limited references can exclude potential users
12. Setting Expectations What tone do you want users to carry into their work with your product?
13. Level of Creativity • What kind of limits, if any do you want to set for your users? • Do you expect use to confirm to a level of professionalism or a specific niche. • Are you inviting them to try and break something?
14. Aspirations for Users
15. Challenges in Setting Expectations for Use Through Tone • Setting too narrow a scope for expectations is going to limit your more creative potential users • Setting too wide a range of expectations for your users is going to panic lower level users • Trying to set multiple levels of user expectations can get messy and distracting
17. Setting the tone for interaction • What kind of resources are you making available for user support? • Are you building a community? • How accessible do you want to be to your users? • What level of transparency are you aiming for? • Public or private communications?
18. Examples
26. Divorcing from Branded Tone
27. Divorce from Branded Tone... • When your audience for documentation and main products diverge. • When the branded tone is inappropriate • When the branded tone suggests a level of support or interactivity you're unable to support
30. Divorce or Dilute?
33. Who are my users? What do I expect them to be doing? How much interaction do I want to promise? This!!!
34. Jessica Rose @jesslynnrose closetoclever.com majesticseo.com