In-Situ's UX Writing Guidelines

Overview

In-Situ was a growing company with three subsidiaries. They needed a way to ensure consistent, recognizable copy across documentation and software for all of them. So I created and evangelized UX writing guidelines aligned with the organization's five UX principles. They're a key part of why customers have called In-Situ's documentation the best they've seen.

Process

1. The content of In-Situ's documentation and software needed to match the company's brand and values. I decided to create and map guidelines about vocabulary, grammar, and style to the company's UX principles with a voice chart. The result was a short list of guidelines that got instant buy-in from cross-functional stakeholders.

2. Writers across the parent company and subsidiaries needed to know about the new guidelines and how to access them. I used one of our sprint demo sessions to introduce them and get feedback. Designers, engineers, managers, and writers were thrilled. 

3. As the company launched new hardware and software, the user manuals and interface copy was supposed to incorporate the ideas in the writing guidelines. I made sure everything I wrote did just that. Then I talked about what I had done at nearly every sprint demo so the whole company knew. In-Situ still uses and maintains those guidelines.

Artifacts