User Interface Text Guidelines
4/19/2010
The topics in this section provide guidelines for the design of user interface text. Because of the limited amount of screen space available on most Windows Mobile devices, it's extremely important minimize the amount of textual information displayed on the device. In addition, mobile professionals don't have a lot of time or desire to read large amounts of text to accomplish specific tasks. When writing user interface (UI) text for Windows Mobile devices, consider the following questions:
- Is the user interface text clear, concise, and contextually relevant for the audience?
- Does the text consistently follow the style, terminology, and tone and voice specified for the product?
- Does the text follow localization and geopolitical guidelines?
User Interface Text Checklist
When writing UI text for Windows Mobile devices, use the guidelines in the following checklist:
- Use clear terminology.
- Avoid technical jargon and colloquialisms.
- Use as few words as possible without losing the meaning.
- Use one term consistently for all concepts that have the same meaning.
- Avoid negative and politically sensitive terms.
- Write active sentences.
- When writing instructional text, present the result before the required action. For example, "To begin importing contacts, click Next."
- Allow for at least 30 percent text expansion for localization.
- Follow the Mobile Devices Product Group capitalization and punctuation guidelines.
- Make sure UI command labels match labels for the UI they open.
- Write informative error messages.
- Ask an editor to review all UI text.
In This Section
- Acronyms and Terminology Guidelines
Explains the proper use of acronyms and terminology to help users learn the user interface quickly.
- Capitalization and Punctuation Guidelines
Contains instruction in the proper use of capitalization and punctuation for use in text in the user interface.
- Error and Informational Message Guidelines
Contains guidelines for writing error messages and informational text.
- Geopolitical-Ready and Localized Text Guidelines
Contains geopolitical guidelines for writing user interface text.