Ridecell Copy Style Guide
Challenge:
Great product copy that helps users, is consistent, and stays true to Ridecell’s tone of voice.
Solution:
Design helpful guidelines for everyone who needs to juggle some words, be it writers, designers, engineers or product managers.
Approach:
> Conducted research on copy style guides.
> Drafted the copy style guide on Confluence.
> Revised and improved the style guide together with the Technical Writer.
> Prepared the launch for the company, including a series of writing workshops.
The different sections
Although this style guide was to be a work in progress, we tried to cover all important angles for our first launch. The sections included Tone of Voice, Writing Tips, Grammar & Mechanics, Naming & Vocabulary, Localization, Inclusive Writing and dedicated sections for both Technical and UX Writing.
Here are a few examples:
Writing Tips
A style guide normally isn’t a fast read.
So I wanted to make sure that people didn’t feel overwhelmed already on the first page. That’s why I created the quick guide - 10 short tips on how to write good copy.
People can start with little snack bites on how to write great copy - and already improve their writing substantially.
Grammar & Mechanics
As soon as people are ready for the details, this is where they find them. A deep-dive into all those particular rules, regulations and directives and how to apply them. Based on the AP Style Guide, but with our own customizations.
People can go deep and get answers to everything grammar: abbreviations, capitalization, periods, and of course the Oxford comma.
Writing for UX
The style guide was to serve everyone writing copy for Ridecell. This section is focused on UX Writing for the different products and how to best go at it.
UX Writers can find all they need, such as specific guidelines for web and app writing, and templates for error and confirmation messages.
Voice and Tone
Ridecell offers both B2B and B2C products for new mobility. This meant two different approaches:
A voice that is simple, neutral and easy to customize for the white-label apps.
A more distinctive voice for the platform products. This is what I focus on in the following.
I first collected everything I could find about the mission and vision of Ridecell. I also squeezed my Marketing colleagues for any kind of writing tips or other lists they had shared among each other. The more I could find out about what was already out there, the better.
The next step was a put together a list of questions and interviewed colleagues from different departments - Sales, Marketing, Customer Care, HR, Management, Design, and Product - to . Each interview was about 30mins long and included questions like:
What does Ridecell do, and why?
Describe Ridecell in 3-5 adjectives.
How do you want your customers to think about Ridecell?
Do you know how our customers actually think about Ridecell?
If Ridecell was a person, what would be their relationship to the customer (e.g. a coach, best friend or guardian angel)?
I documented all my findings, looked for common patterns and ideas and boiled them down to around 7 statements about Ridecell. These statements would serve as a basis for the final voice of Ridecell and the different tones we would apply depending on the situation. These are the first three statements:
We are visionary
Our vision is clear: Help run the world better! We know mobility will change and we’ve put together a smart team to invest in this future. We want to be a trailblazer in the mobility space, a technology and thought leader that is also not afraid to experiment to find the right way to go.
We are experts
Thanks to years of experience in the new mobility sector and powering many different services, we know what we’re doing. Our year-long experience and expertise is the foundation to all our work. Our skilled and capable team finds the right solution for every customer and helps them build a stand in the new mobility sector.
We are data-driven and analytical
When questions arise, we don’t rely on our guts, but take well-informed decisions based on the data we collected. We have an analytical mindset and don’t let guesses get in the way of clear data.