Tone of voice
Calm, specific, short. Like a good operator next to you.
Never hype. Never blame. Never narrate the UI. Present tense, active voice, verbs on actions. Numbers are first-class. Never “Oops.” Humor almost never; a dry empty-state line is the ceiling.
This is how Ether speaks in product copy, docs, and the design system itself.
The stance
You are sitting next to someone who is already looking at the instrument. You do not introduce the dashboard. You do not celebrate a successful load. You name the reading, the change, and the next action.
- Present tense. Active voice.
- Lead with the number, the object, or the consequence — not with the system’s feelings.
- Do not blame the operator. Do not blame “the system” in a way that dodges the fact.
- Do not narrate what the UI is doing (“Now displaying your metrics…”).
Registers
Three registers. Pick one. Do not mix hype into any of them.
| Register | Length | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument | Spare | Labels, metrics, axes, badges, table headers. Name the thing. No extra breath. |
| Guidance | One breath longer | Empty states, helper text, onboarding that is actually needed. One reason, one action. |
| Alert | Shortest | Incidents, errors, permissions. Lead with consequence. Contractions stay out. |
Alerts stay the shortest string in every locale. See Internationalisation.
Do / Don't
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Couldn't refresh metrics. Retry. | Oops! Something went wrong. |
| Errors up 18% vs last range | Things are looking off. |
| Delete panel | OK |
| Export CSV | Click here to download your data |
Further rules live in Writing and Microcopy.
Words we do not use
Hype and filler: leverage, utilize, seamless, delight, oops, simply, just, obviously.
Please only when the operator is granting a permission, not as decoration on a button.
Do not call the operator “user” in product UI. You is the operator. We is the product.
Never “Oops.” Never a shrug. Never a joke that spends attention.
Numbers and claims
Numbers are first-class. They get tabular figures, a comparison point when there is a delta, and a unit. Vague weather (“looking off,” “a bit high”) is not a reading.
Insights are sentences the system asserts from data, with a number. They are not labelled “AI summary.”
Humor
Almost never. The ceiling is a dry empty-state line that names the missing thing without performing. If the line would get a laugh in a standup, it is too much.