Voice & Tone
Understanding Voice & Tone
To use voice and tone to create the best experience for our users, it’s helpful to understand the difference between the two.
Voice
Voice is our brand personality, our identity. It stays the same and doesn’t change.
Tone
Tone is an aspect of our voice. It changes depending on our users’ tasks and circumstances. Different situations require different tones. Onboarding a new user should have a different tone from an error message.
To properly use Tone, it will be helpful to empathize with our user. Ask what the user is doing, where they came from, what they know (or don’t know), and what they would be feeling right now. We want to guide the way, inspire confidence, and help them finish their task and get back to their daily lives.
Making software useful involves saying the right thing, at the right time, and in the right way: what do we say, when do we say it, and how do we say it. Consistency and clarity builds trust and creates a seamless transition between our products and platforms.
Saying the right thing and in the right way is determined by our voice and tone.
The SAP Concur Voice
SAP Concur’s voice is Clear (conversational, open, straightforward), Optimistic (enthusiastic, realistic, forward-looking), and Knowledgeable (relevant, empowering, confident).
As an SAP company, our style also overlaps and compliments the SAP brand voice CIAO: Clear, Insightful, Approachable, and Optimistic.
There are subtle, but important differences between the marketing voice and how we speak to our users in the User Interface.
SAP Concur solves real problems for real people. Our products can be very complex, and our users are human – our solutions need be clear, simple, conversational, and guiding.
Our UI Voice is:
- Clear – meaning straightforward and concise.
- Simple – but not ambiguous. We’re understandable by all, regardless of our users’ industry or product expertise.
- Human – we aim to talk to users naturally and conversationally. We’re conversational, but not too casual or unprofessional. We’re also not robotic or overly formal.
- Guiding – we aim to use useful terminology to get users to understand and complete their tasks as quickly as possible. We’re not long-winded or overly descriptive.
Voice Choices
Be Positive
Use positive language. When able, try to turn negative UI text into a positive statement. Focus on what users can do instead of what they can’t.
Do this: Please enter an amount. Not this: You can’t save an expense report unless you enter an amount.