Interface editorial policy

Hey there! These guide explains how to write for your app and website: buttons, notifications, errors, tooltips—all the microcopy pieces that help us use the product.

The editorial policy will be getting updates over time, just as any product grows and changes. If you have questions or suggestions, get in touch with Ilona Slepchyk

Principles of the interface text. How to write?

Meaning

Clear to everyone

The interface should be understandable both for beginners in gaming and for those who are online for the first time. Terms, new features and scenarios should be explained.

❌ Don’t

It is not clear what these percentages are and why a person needs to know about them.

✅ Do

We explain that the choice of the slot determines how quickly a person wagers their bonus.

Unambiguous

The text can’t be understood in two ways.

❌ Don’t

Is it possible to top up a personal number? What is the number specified in the user’s profile?

✅ Do

It is clear that we are talking about other people's phone numbers.

Specific, not abstract

Instead of vague wording and generalizations, we should write specifically and add examples.

❌ Don’t

It is not clear what to do to get the withdrawal approved. The title is disturbing.

✅ Do

We tell right away how much money the user needs to wager so that their withdrawal is definitely approved.

Successively

We describe the actions in the order in which they will occur.

❌ Don’t

It is not clear how to get the SMS code and where to enter it.

✅ Do

The user needs to enter the Aadhaar number, and the SMS will be sent to their phone automatically.

No excess words

If something can be cut out from the text without losing its sense, cut it out.

Empty words

❌ Don’t

In order to makes the sentence unnecessarily wordy.

✅ Do

Now the text is concise and clear.

Parentheses

❌ Don’t

Parentheses make it hard to read.

✅ Do

The contents of the parentheses are now part of main sentence.

Repetition

❌ Don’t

The word bonus shows up too often within the same block.

✅ Do

After we removed unnecessary bonuses, the block began to look lighter.

Truth only

We shouldn’t deceive expectations. What is written is what should happen.

❌ Don’t

It seems that the account verification will happen instantly, although that’s not true.

✅ Do

We help the user form expectations by letting them know that the process takes 15 minutes.

Straight to the point

The key thought should by expressed right in the title.

❌ Don’t

It's not clear what to pay attention to. The user is forced to read the message thoroughly.

✅ Do

The title highlights the most important thing the user needs to know.

Focus on the person, not the product

We solve user problems, not just say that we are cool.

❌ Don’t

We talk about ourselves as we released an update.

✅ Do

We talk about the user as they have new opportunities.

Emotions

Naturally

We speak the same way as in life: without machine terms and bureaucracy.

❌ Don’t

The user may freak out as they were looking for the game; instead, they see some gibberish.

✅ Do

Now the user understands the problem: there is no such page, so they should go back to the main page.

No evaluation of feelings

We don't know how the user feels when interacting with the product. So we shouldn’t try to guess.

❌ Don’t

Maybe the user isn’t worrying. Maybe they are freaking out because they don't want to miss their favourite team’s goal.

✅ Do

The user is neutrally informed about the issue.

For different people

We focus not on the statistic majority of the audience, but on each and every user. The product should be clear and enjoyable for everyone.

For people with different life backgrounds

❌ Don’t

What if the user doesn't have a wife, but a husband? What if they have no children?

✅ Do

Here we don’t specify which loved ones we are talking about.

For men, women, and non-binary

Adjust your UX copy so that it applies to people of any gender. This is especially important if the language you're writing in has gendered word endings.

❌ Don’t

The text implies that all the support managers are male, although that’s not true.

✅ Do

If you want to refer to a person but you don’t know their pronouns for sure, you can use they/them.

✅ Do

The best solution is to formulate the sentence in such a way as to avoid pronouns at all.

No excessive courtesy

If we want something from the user

Instead of just please, better explain the benefits.

❌ Don’t

The message seems polite, but doesn’t cause a desire to upgrade.

✅ Do

If the user is interested in watching live broadcasts, they may update right away.

If we are to blame

We briefly apologize and explain how we will improve.

❌ Don’t

There’s a quite long sorry message, but the problem remains unsolved.

✅ Do

We promised to fix the issue and offered a solution.

If the issue is not our fault

We shouldn’t apologize at all, but explain what the user should do to solve the problem.

❌ Don’t

It seems we apologized, but the user remained frustrated because they didn't find anything.

✅ Do

Instead of an apology, we explained how to find the information after all.

No manipulation

We shouldn’t resent if the user doesn’t behave the way we want them to. Forcing people to make excuses is a bad idea.

❌ Don’t

We blame the user for wanting to close the website.

✅ Do

We kindly remind the user of an unfinished action.

Interface

The title matches the button

The interface is a dialogue. The title is a line of the product, and the button is a line of the user.

The title and the button should look like a coherent dialogue. People read the title first, then the button, and only then the text under the title (if they do at all). Therefore, the screen should be clear without detailed text.

❌ Don’t

There is no dialogue:

—Play games —Games list

✅ Do

There is a dialogue:

—Play games —OK, I want to go to the games

Consistently

When multiple elements appear in a list, they must be identical in meaning and form. Your list is good if all its positions answer the same question.

❌ Don’t

It’s not clear what logic is used to form this list. Are these championships grouped together by sports or by country?

✅ Do

Here the championships are grouped together by sports.

❌ Don’t

The buttons are inconsistent: the first one contains a verb, the second contains a noun.

✅ Do

The buttons are consistent: both contain verbs.

Voice and tone

How we communicate & sound

We are:

Guiding but not bossy — we help and direct users, not command them (please note: CTAs can be perceived as commands, yet they are more of the call. That’s why it’s essential to keep the overall tone of the message anything but rude);

Clear but not unseasoned — we try to keep messages as short as possible and always straight to the point, yet we differentiate cases of communication and use the opportunity to have some fun where possible;

Friendly but not disrespectful — we keep the overall communication in a peer-to-peer manner but never cross boundaries or make it frivolous;

Empathetic but not inferior — we try to express compassion and interest for the user's problems but never fall into blaming it all on us or taking full accountability for something we definitely shouldn’t.

Rules and difficult cases

Currencies

If the country where you’re operating has a currency symbol and it is popular, then use the symbol. In other cases, use the ISO code.

Don’t use unofficial names of currencies, abbreviations, etc.

Consistency is important: if you use a currency symbol, then use it everywhere: in the interface, legal rules, support chat, etc. The exception is registration and currency selection in the settings. In these cases, show both the symbol (if it exists) and the ISO code.

❌ Don’t

Br — in Belarus naira, n, NGN — in Nigeria

✅ Do

BYN — in Belarus, they don‘t use the symbol, although it exists ₦ — there is a currency sign in Nigeria and it is commonly used

ISO code list Unicode currency symbol list

Numbers

Numbers or words?

Write money amounts, percentages, odds, match results in numbers.

In other cases:

in promo texts: write numbers from 0 to 10 in words, the numbers above in numbers.
in the interface or technical documentation: always use numbers.

❌ Don’t

Enter the number 3 4 times Answer 2 questions in 30 minutes Amount from five to one hundred dollar Five percent cashback Liverpool scored four goals

✅ Do

Enter the number 3 four times Answer two questions in 30 minutes Amount from $5 to 100 5% cashback Liverpool scored 4 goals

The amount or percentage always goes before the determiner.

❌ Don’t

Cashback 5% Free bonus $500

✅ Do

5% cashback $500 free bonus

Should numbers be rounded?

Depends on the context. If precision is not important, it’s better to round.

❌ Don’t

We have 145 678 888 players with us

✅ Do

We have 145 million players with us

Money, percentages, odds are not rounded. We try to provide the players with the most accurate information, even if it’s difficult because of internal processes.

❌ Don’t

Bonus more than 5% Some funds will be returned to the account

✅ Do

5,5% bonus A third of the amount will be returned; we will keep 50%

Percentages

Don’t put a space between the number and the percentage. You can use a thin space if possible.

❌ Don’t

15 %

✅ Do

15%

Dates

Use Arabic numerals and abbreviations for the month.

Use the Mon DD, YYYY format: month abbreviation, day without leading zeros, year (Feb 17, 2014). This format helps avoid misunderstanding. For example, 09/05/2011 will be September 5th for Americans and May 9th for Europeans.

❌ Don’t

17.02.2014 02.17.2014 17.02, 17:42 17 Feb, 2014 02, feb, Feb., February

✅ Do

Feb 17, 2014 Feb 17, 17:42 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Full stops

In titles and buttons

Don’t use full stops.

In subtitles, tooltips, alerts, errors under the text field

In one sentence, don't put a full stop. If there are two or more, put a full stop at the end of each sentence.

In regular text

Put a full stop at the end of each sentence. Don't use full stops after links.

❌ Don’t

The rules are posted on www.yourbrand.com. Deposit. Find out more.

✅ Do

The rules are posted on www.yourbrand.com Deposit. Find out more

Exclamation marks

You can use exclamation marks, but not too much. Don’t go with more than one exclamation point per paragraph.

Exclamations are appropriate in promotional texts and greetings. If you’re talking about money or there’s negative context, avoid exclamation marks.

❌ Don’t

Make a deposit! Your account is not verified!

✅ Do

This is gonna be an easy win! Hello, Mark!

Smileys and emojis

You can use emojis:

as list bullets
to express an emotion — but use only one emoji per message

Never disrupt a phrase with an emoji. Don't replace text with them. Don't use emojis in interface elements suck as buttons.

If you use an emoji at the end of a sentence, put it after an exclamation point or a question mark. Emoji replaces the full stop. Separate emoji from text with a non-breaking space.

Smileys :) are not allowed.

❌ Don’t

Manchester 🏆 derby 🤔 Who is stronger? Manchester United vs Man City: who do you bet on 😈?

✅ Do

Manchester derby! Who is stronger? 🤔 Manchester United vs Man City: who do you bet on?

Slash

Use slash only in interfaces, if otherwise the text doesn’t fit. Don’t separate slash with spaces. Don’t use slash in texts. Better replace it with a preposition or conjunction.

❌ Don’t

Parlays / systems

✅ Do

Parlays or systems Parlays/systems (in interface)

Math symbols

Don’t use symbols where you can use words. The exception is when there’s not enough space and the symbol is the only way out.

❌ Don’t

% of deposit Bonus + freebet

✅ Do

Percentage of deposit Bonus and freebet; bonus plus freebet

Links

The words in the link explain where the user will go after clicking. The link includes the whole phrase, with prepositions.

Don’t put links to pronouns like here, there, or expressions by link, by click.

❌ Don’t

Click here to unsubscribe Log in to the app Terms and conditions by the link

✅ Do

You can unsubscribe on the website Log in to the app Terms and conditions

Don’t put links in the middle of a paragraph. Rewrite it so that the link is at the end, or put the link after the text in a separate paragraph.

❌ Don’t

Make three bets from 150 ₴. We will share 150,000 ₴ among the participants who fulfill the conditions of the promotion.

✅ Do

Make three bets from 150 ₴. We will share 150,000 ₴ among the participants who fulfill the conditions of the promotion. Promo Conditions

Phone numbers, addresses and email

Phone number

Use format: +38 050 000-00-00. The operator code should be separated with spaces without brackets, the rest of the numbers is written with a hyphen.

Address

Write the address from smallest to largest object:

Recipient's name.
Business's name (if applicable)
Street address (with apartment or office number)
City, state and ZIP code (on the same line)
Country

Email

Write the plain address: hello@yourbrand.com. If necessary, you can add a definiton: Email: hello@yourbrand.com.

Don't write e-mail.