23. Microsoft Voice principles
Warm and
relaxed
For all products & services
We’re natural. Less formal,
more grounded in real,
everyday conversations.
Occasionally, we’re fun.
Crisp and
clear
We’re to the point. We write
for scanning first, reading
second. We make it simple
above all.
Ready to lend
a hand
We show customers we’re
on their side. We
anticipate their real needs
and offer great
information at just the
right time.
24. The blue screen of death
“The end-user manually generated the crashdump.”
29. I think the core responsibility we have is
to start making the design choices…such
that we don’t let things loose that can
cause harm.
Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft
We know that people anthropomorphize, if not with a Teddy Bear, then with our dogs and cats and cars and home appliances.
That’s largely about wanting to relate to the world around us.
That’s largely about liking and even loving the things around us. We like liking things.
As a design affordance that we associate with “fun”, is it always so safe?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a definitive answer, but I can say with confidence that our team think long and hard about it.
As a design affordance that we associate with “fun”, is it always so safe?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a definitive answer, but I can say with confidence that our team think long and hard about it.
I work at Microsoft. My background is in designing personality for agents, chatbots and non-persona driven interactions. That has been everything from the personality Cortana to ensuring that the voice and tone of our products epitomize the brand personality of Microsoft.
I work at Microsoft. My background is in designing personality for agents, chatbots and non-persona driven interactions. That has been everything from the personality Cortana to ensuring that the voice and tone of our products epitomize the brand personality of Microsoft.
Are you smart?
Who’s the coolest person in the world?
Who’s the coolest person in the world?
It’s a design affordance, not unlike beautiful industrial design.
I work at Microsoft. My background is in designing personality for agents, chatbots and non-persona driven interactions. That has been everything from the personality Cortana to ensuring that the voice and tone of our products epitomize the brand personality of Microsoft.
It’s honoring the emotional reality of the human experience.
To begin an understanding of that, you need to go back to the pioneer on the subject.
And here is the person recognized as the pioneer. Cliff Nass was at Stanford studying sociological behavior in humans when he chose to use computers as a control element in his research. He presumed that computers were neutral control element, and people would not have any perceivable reaction, connection, etc. to them. His presumption was wrong, so he turned his focus on human-to-computer interaction.
I work at Microsoft. My background is in designing personality for agents, chatbots and non-persona driven interactions. That has been everything from the personality Cortana to ensuring that the voice and tone of our products epitomize the brand personality of Microsoft.
I work at Microsoft. My background is in designing personality for agents, chatbots and non-persona driven interactions. That has been everything from the personality Cortana to ensuring that the voice and tone of our products epitomize the brand personality of Microsoft.
Our voice principles are the same as Microsoft's Brand voice principles, and folks in the CX discipline worked closely with Brand to define these principles and ensure they work across all audiences and content types.
These principles came out of user research done in Office, Windows, and Xbox, where content written with these principles in mind had the most resonance with customers.
They can make you feel bad…
“Poor Windows 8. You totally crashed out, but you’re so adorable. I just can’t be mad at you.” – cnet.com
Our voice principles are the same as Microsoft's Brand voice principles, and folks in the CX discipline worked closely with Brand to define these principles and ensure they work across all audiences and content types.
These principles came out of user research done in Office, Windows, and Xbox, where content written with these principles in mind had the most resonance with customers.
Tell me more about yourself.
Satya has said it for a long time.
There is something much larger than Microsoft to answer to.
As a design affordance that we associate with “fun”, is it always so safe?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a definitive answer, but I can say with confidence that our team think long and hard about it.
We began with these to provide structure.
It’s become an integral part of the process. The experience informs how we think about the principles.
We revisit them and make sure they evolve. Things that were once essential and now as the industry evolves they become inessential, and other things become important.
We need a different kind of a Creative.
On my team, I’ve found that Screenwriters and playwrights are really good and conversational interaction and writing words that feel warm and relaxed.
Novelists are really good a imaginative approaches to character and tone of voice.
We need be prepared to ask ourselves what it means to be human..
We need to differentiate that idea from the digital experience.
