Tone
Use a friendly tone
- Too formal: “The user operates the computer using a series of button pushing and device clicking.”
- Too friendly: “Hi there, I’m your computer!”
- Correct: “After you turn your computer on, click the Start button.”
“You” versus “the user”
- Use the second person (you) to refer to your user
- Use the second person for the programmer and the third person (the user) for the programmer’s end user
- “You can program the interface so that the user can view the Open dialog box automatically.”