Writing
Communication forms a huge part of how a brand is perceived by others. Humans are in general emotional creatures—and words have a powerful impact on how a user thinks about a brand or a company.
Be human
Write as if you are talking to the intended audience in person. Put what you would say to them into words in a friendly, conversational manner—there is no need for formal, obtuse language. Simplicity in communication also makes us seems warm and inviting. Get to the point quickly, and avoid beating around the bush. Talk to the user, instead of making static statements.
It’s definitely okay to throw in a pun or a whimsical joke here and there—that is a big part of what makes us human. Make the user feel at home while they use our products.
Tell stories
Setu is a platform, and still at a very nascent stage. We believe in our cause, but that’s hardly enough. We have convinced some investors too, to share in our vision—but even that is not enough. The success of any platform is measured by adoption, and its impact on the segment it serves. How do we fast-track adoption? Sure, product features and market fit matter—but how many developers can we convert from mere users into believers?
It’s simple—by telling stories. One of the defining traits of civilization is the ability to tell stories. It’s a powerful way to rally entire communities to your cause. Any content we pen, any article we publish—see if you can tell a story. It is better to have a small rabid cult, than droves of users who don’t truly care.
A simple style guide
Here are some simple guidelines to ensure consistency in our communication. These are mostly aimed at interface design and collateral creation.
Use the British spelling
India still largely follows the British norms for spelling, use it consistently.
Colour, neighbour, optimise, finalise etc
Color, neighbor, optimize, finalize etc
Oxford comma, please
We will go to war over this. This is the hill we die on.
Our products include Collect, DeepLinks, and Fixed Deposits
Our products include Collect, DeepLinks and Fixed Deposits
Use present tense
Biller created successfully!
Biller has been created successfully!
Write simply
Be careful about overwhelming the user with too much jargon or redundant data. Find a balance between being short, and disclosing information.
We have shared your details with NPCI for review. This can take upto two weeks.
Your biller MDM file has been prepared and sent to NPCI for a detailed review and we will let you know once they communicate back with us in about two weeks.
Objective first, action next
This shortens sentences, and provides better context for what the user is trying to achieve. Here, the latter approach drowns out the objective.
Create an API key by going to Org settings.
Go to the Org settings page and then click on the API key page to create a key.
Avoid abbreviations
This could potentially be confusing for people using our platform for the first time. Avoid short forms and acronyms unless they are an industry standard.
Enter Biller Processing Charge(BPC) value
Enter BPC value
Use sentence case everywhere
Many of products names are simple English words, and could cause confusion for first-timers. Sentence case helps draw focus to specific nouns, and is also easier to skim and read.
Use Setu’s Collect product to collect bill payments.
Use Setu’s Collect Product To Collect Bill Payments.
UPI DeepLinks provides UPI deep links
UPI DeepLinks Provides UPI Deep Links
Embed fixed deposits in your app using our Deposits API
Embed Fixed Deposits In Your App Using Our Deposits API
Avoid brackets where possible
Try not to use punctuations that you wouldn’t use in a conversation or speech.
Configure billers and merchants from our Bridge console.
Configure billers (and merchants) from our Bridge console.
Refrain from using exclamations often
Configure and go live in three weeks.
Configure and go live in just three weeks! It’s that easy!