Voice and tone - Content strategy

What is voice and tone?

Our voice represents our personality. It’s who we are, and how we show up to our users. Our tone adapts to different contexts.

Our voice

Personality traits

With every interaction we have with our users, we demonstrate that we’re:

Helpful, but not condescending
Engaging, but not desperate
Trustworthy, but not authoritative
Intelligent, but not arrogant
Relatable, but not unprofessional
Insightful, but not intrusive
Empathetic, but not overly emotional
Adaptable, but not a pushover
Playful, but not flighty

We position ourselves as experts when it comes to the information we provide, but we don’t lord the knowledge we have over our users. We want car shopping to be fun, and so we use language that’s engaging and playful where it makes sense.

Our tone

Our tone represents our attitude. It adapts to what we know about our user’s context, so it can change depending on what someone is doing. The best way to decide what tone to use is to ask yourself what users are likely feeling when they encounter your copy, so you can decide how to respond.

Overall, we use conversational, natural language that mirrors the way we would speak to our user if we were having a live conversation. This mindset enables us to solve for understandability and build trust through accessibility.

We use three core values to make decisions about what words to use, why, when, and for whom.

Natural Language (Right message) Content reflects the words customers use, and is appropriate for what customers may be thinking and feeling in that moment.
Specific Use Case (Right person) Content reflects an understanding of where the user just came from, and what they will want to do next.
Relevant Context (Right time) Content makes it clear how this experience relates to the customer’s world, and how this action will impact them later.

UX writing best practices in action

Here are some actionable ways to design for clarity and bring our voice and tone to life in our interface copy.

Be concise. Concise doesn’t mean limited; it means efficient. Use as few words as possible without losing the meaning.

Don't
“You must sign in before you can save a car”

Do
“Sign in to save a car”
Begin with the objective. When a sentence describes an objective and the action needed to achieve it, start the sentence with the objective.

Don't
“Tap on the heart to save this car”

Do
“To save a car, tap on the heart”
Speak with certainty. Cars.com is an expert source of information, and this should be reflected in an assuredness in how we communicate.

Don't
“This car is probably a good match for you”

Do
“This car is a great match for you based on X, Y, Z”
Avoid combining pronoun usage. Don’t refer to the user in both the second person and the first person within the same phrase.

Don't
“Change your preferences in My Account”

Do
“Change your preferences in Your Account”
Write in present tense. Avoid using the future tense to describe the action.

Don't
“Video has been downloaded”

Do
“Video downloaded”
Write in active voice. The passive voice slows users down, and takes up unnecessary space.

Don't
“The Search button should be clicked when you are ready to search for an item.”

Do
“To search for an article, click the Search button.”
Embrace progressive disclosure. Too much information can quickly overwhelm users. Show more details as needed as someone moves through a flow.

Don't position paragraphs of content mid-flow that isn’t easily scannable.

Do organize content into sections that can be minimized unless immediately relevant. I.e., “Read full safety review” as link to full content, vs. including the full safety review in the body of the article.
Avoid broad, sweeping words and assertions. They can come across as judgmental in certain contexts, and also run the risk of being inaccurate when applied to unforeseen use cases, which erodes trust.

Don't use “anything,” “everything,” “never,” “always,” etc.

Do use softer language to make your point.
When communicating instructions, be helpful but not prescriptive. Avoid language that can come across as bossy; we don’t want to come across as telling our users what to do.

Don't
“To do X, you need to Y, Z”

Do
“To do X, go to…”
To make our content accessible, write for a 7th grade reading level. Avoid complex sentences, and use common words that are clearly and easily understandable.

Don't
“Enable location history”

Do
“Turn on location history”
Avoid the word “please”, except in situations in which the user is asked to do something inconvenient (such as waiting) or the software is to blame for the situation.

Don't
“Please enter an email address.”

Do
“Enter an email address.”