Programmed Messages, Tone, And Respect For The Customer

This essay deals with systems intended as tools for experienced professionals. None of the ideas or opinions presented apply to systems designed for entertainment, household, hobbyist, or student use. --sls

Programmed messages are shown on the computer's display or presented by its sound system. They are supposed to inform the computer operator or user about the state of the hardware, firmware, and software. Such messages usually give information about events like "ready for use", "exception", or "task completion"; and sometimes include suggestions for related action. Programmed messages may also appear in the output, to inform about an exception that could affect normal use. For example, a message might be put in a report to let the user know that some data normally included in the report had to be omitted.

Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd Ed. (Simon & Shuster, 1983) defines tone with respect to communication as: "a manner of speaking or writing that shows a certain attitude on the part of the speaker or writer, consisting in choice of words, phrasing, etc." In addition, tone is shaped by punctuation, spelling, and grammar.

The attitude you project through printed material and programmed messages is important. A respectful attitude toward customers helps gain reciprocal respect for you, your product, and your company. If your writing accidentally conveys condescension, hostility, or indifference, those who buy your product may be less likely to recommend your company or its products to others.

Unfortunately, there are many ways to show lack of respect. Even when unintentional, they have a negative effect on the customer. In all writing, the effect is lasting. But in messages that appear on a computer screen, the customer gets the bad impression again and again, each time a message appears.

The key to avoiding unintentional disrespect for your customer is good writing. This requires correct language usage, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, combined with a tone that treats your customers as intelligent professionals who have experience with computers. But every experienced professional was once a beginner with every tool he or she uses. How, then, do you write for experienced professionals who may be just starting to use your product?

Most of this essay concentrates on answering the above question in the context of programmed messages, a unique kind of writing. But first, you may want to consider three broader suggestions applicable to manuals, advertising, and technical papers, as well as programmed messages:

• Don't "talk down" as if writing for a child. Doing so will either give your writing a condescending tone, or make it look like it was written by a child. Easy-to-read writing is achieved by careful attention to minute details of grammar, spelling, language usage, punctuation, and arrangement-- not by cartoons and elementary-school style.

• Beware of popular usage. Big words like "oxymoron" and "leverage" become popular quickly, perhaps because they are associated with people who are assumed to be educated. Unfortunately, many such people simply mimic the latest fashion in language, without questioning whether it makes any sense. As a result, mis-use of popular big words becomes the rule rather than the exception. All living languages grow naturally by discovery and innovation. But when mis-use of a language, however fashionable, is confused with its natural evolution, the language degenerates.

  When a mistake in language usage is recognized, it can make the writer or speaker seem foolish, ignorant, or incompetent. Good writers clarify their understanding of a word by using a dictionary, instead of relying on popular examples. Popular usage is quite likely to be inappropriate, because incorrect language spreads much more easily than knowledge of (or concern for) correct usage. As one example, "oxymoron" is popularly used to refer to an unintentional contradiction, as in a publicly-advertised "sneak preview" of a movie. The word actually means an intentional binding of incongruous concepts for poetic or dramatic effect, as in the "terrible beauty" of a storm. Examples of this kind of mis-use abound in broadcast and print media, and even in academic and other professional writing. It seems that the tendency to follow the crowd is too great, even for those who ought to lead. Avoiding popular mistakes in the writing associated with your product can show that it is a leader in quality.

• Invest in good writing. Bad writing is noticed, even by those who say it isn't important. Even if readers can decipher the message correctly, the incompetence is still apparent. Worse, the impressions created by bad writing can generalize: If written material produced by an organization shows low standards, it's reasonable to suspect the same low standards in other products of that organization. Good writing is often time-consuming and difficult, but it's always wise to invest whatever resources are needed to preserve your reputation for quality.

Programmed messages are different from printed material in two important respects: lack of free choice, and anonymity.

The most important difference is in the level of free choice afforded to the reader. With printed material, a reader is normally free to choose what he or she will look at, when to look at it, and how often to do it. But programmed messages are thrust into the reader's line of sight unsolicited, and often unexpected. He or she has little control over what will appear, when it will be displayed, or how often it will be shown.

Because programmed messages are forced upon the reader in this way, they are always intrusions; they interrupt the current flow of work or train of thought, and impede normal progress. This unique characteristic imposes an obligation on software developers to use programmed messages only when necessary to inform about the state of the system or its output, and to make such messages as brief and unambiguous as possible.

The other important way in which programmed messages differ from printed material is their anonymity. Programmed messages usually show up on the display or in the output, unsigned and unwanted. The reader may know that some programmer is the author, but the message is still anonymous: the programmer is directly addressing the reader without taking any responsibility for the message. This anonymity makes it inappropriate to use personal writing -- as if talking face-to-face with a friend -- in programmed messages.

Personal writing adds unnecessary length while reducing clarity. Even worse, the tone of personal writing in programmed messages frequently reveals a low opinion of the computer operator and the user of the output. Everyone who uses a computer regularly has seen examples of this. It seems to be as prevalent in commercial software as it is in programs written for in-house use.

In games, anything goes but professional tools seem childish and silly when they affect a personal tone. When personal writing is used in programmed messages, it sometimes gives the effect of a tool trying to speak personally to its operator. Though often intended as "user-friendly", such tactics can be a continuing source of embarrassment or irritation to your customer. This might be expressed by the customer in phrases like, "...that stupid thing...", or "Give me a break!"

Common mistakes in programmed messages

It's not difficult to find examples of personal tone and bad writing in programmed messages. Examples seen in commercial products include some combination of personal pronouns, exclamations, ugly style, poor language, and condescending tone. Even more prevalent are programmed messages that contain social forms. A brief look at each of these kinds of mistakes follows.

Personal pronouns

A tool designed for beginners can be irksome to experienced professionals. Personal pronouns (especially "I") in programmed messages imply that you think your customers might need to be comforted by pretending that a computer is a person. This can be annoying and/or embarrassing to your customers, because it gives the impression that your product is designed for beginners, not for experienced professionals who know what to expect from their tools.

Exclamations

Exclamations (usually denoted by exclamation points) are equivalent to shouting at a person who is in normal hearing range. Like shouting, exclamations indicate someone's opinion, attitude, and/or emotional state. Shouting is often impolite, and it can be offensive. When programmed messages are shouted in this way, they are especially harmful. They represent a programmer hiding behind the computer while forcing his or her opinions and attitudes (urgency, surprise, derision, approval, blame, impatience, delight, etc.) on your customer.

For example, suppose one of your programs contains a message like ERROR!! You have entered a NON-NUMERIC character! This unmistakably expresses a personal opinion of the software user (your customer). Other causes of the bad impression made by this example are:

• The message suggests that its writer may not understand computers well enough to realize that the problem could have been caused by events beyond the customer's control, like hardware failures, software errors, and electromagnetic anomalies. The writer instead accuses the user of (stupidly) failing to supply expected input. Whether true or not, it's inappropriate to imply that the customer is at fault.

• The exclamation points and capitals create the effect of shouting, making the insulting message even more obnoxious. It's not good business to imply that a customer might have caused a problem, and even worse to shout at him or her.

When affronted by such a message, your customer easily may conclude that it represents a prevailing attitude in your organization. After all, how many people must have seen it before the product was shipped? Yet no one changed it to a more appropriate message like Numeric character expected. As a result, the customer will probably revise his or her opinion of your product, and everyone associated with it.

Ugly style, poor language, and condescending tone

A message like * * C O N G R A D U L A T I O N S ! ! YOU HAVE SUCESSFULLY INSTALLED **Moxpox 8.3** AND IT IS READY FOR IMMEDIATE UTILIZATION! shows a nearly-complete lack of basic writing skill. Although the example is contrived, it's not difficult to find real products showing more than one of the mistakes it illustrates. Specific mistakes are discussed below:

• Ugly style: General style and appearance reflects skill and experience. The asterisks, the spaces between letters in a word, the inappropriate use of capital letters, and the exclamation points produce a look similar to that of a child's first school composition. Also, the customer is likely to wonder: "Why are they shouting at me?"

• Poor language: As noted earlier, common usage is a bad guide for language. The word "utilization", which is a five-syllable corruption of the simple word "use", suggests a tendency to hide inferior skill behind big words. There are many other words that can indicate this tendency, including "endeavor" (try), "on a ____ly basis" (____ly), and "in a timely manner" (on time; soon; quickly; in time; when required). Even otherwise well-educated people adopt words and phrases like those, perhaps because they think extra syllables give a more intelligent effect. But good writers don't worry about sounding intelligent -- they choose simple and precise words, which reflect their care and skill in writing.

• Misspellings: High-quality products show careful attention to every detail. Yet misspelling seems especially prevalent in technical material. Customers who see a misspelled word can hardly avoid thinking it indicates carelessness, ignorance, or both. Worse, a customer may think that the attitude of the organization is: "Go ahead and ship it. Who'll care if it's misspelled?"

  Notwithstanding a possible attitude like that, customers will notice misspellings, and will wonder if you routinely ship shoddy work. Obviously, the more misspelled words, the more severe such doubts will be. But even one or two will cast doubt on the general level of competence demanded within your organization, and may raise questions about the overall quality of your products. Customers and reviewers might reasonably wonder, "How many people saw this before it got out? Did they all say 'Who cares?' ?"

• Condescending tone: Many people are embarrassed or offended by messages that treat them like children. The writer of the example message seems to expect the customer to be so inexperienced as to feel triumphant after completing a mundane task like installing software. Or, the writer may think the installation process was so badly designed that only a person with extraordinary skill, luck, and persistence could succeed.

A more appropriate message with none of the problems noted above would be Installation completed.

Social phrases and messages

Do your customers want to pretend that their tools are like people? Because the "thinking machine" folklore (from popular science fiction) is inescapable, there is a unique danger in using programmed messages that try to express politeness, emotion, mood, disposition, etc. Although such messages are usually intended to put the customer at ease, they can create the impression that you think he or she might want (or need) to believe that your product is like a person. Even if this doesn't bother some customers, the messages can still become annoying. A couple of examples may make this clear:

• Welcome: The most common example is a message apparently intended to make the customer feel that some kind of social relationship is established with him or her each time the software is started. Such messages typically begin with "Welcome to ... ", as if the customer is supposed to feel that he or she is joining another person or group of people, rather than beginning to use a tool. In more extreme cases, the message might read "Welcome to the wonderful world of ... users!", which suggests that the reader ought to feel enthusiasm upon being accepted as a member of such a group. (A message like that might well cause your customers to have opposite feelings.)

  Even if a welcome from a programmed message charms a beginner temporarily, he or she probably will realize how silly it is, sooner or later. From then on, the "Welcome" repeatedly reminds your customer that your product might have been designed for beginners, or worse, designed by beginners who didn't fully understand the difference between toys and tools.

• Thank you: Programmed messages beginning "Thank you for ... " are also common. Like "welcome" messages, they soon lose any meaning they may have had, because the same expression is mechanistically repeated each time the software is used. At best, such messages become tiresome; at worst, they suggest that you might think your customers are naive enough to believe that a tool can be grateful.

  It is certainly appropriate to let your customers know that you and the people of your organization are pleased and grateful that your product was chosen. But such feelings are more politely expressed in printed matter shipped with the software, where customers can read it at their convenience. In programmed messages, they tend to become intrusions, relentlessly repeated each time your product is used. Thus, instead of creating positive feelings toward you and your organization, the cumulative effect of social expressions in programmed messages can be alienating.

The tone of personal writing always reveals the author's attitudes and opinions toward the reader. Personal writing is effective in printed material where the reader has chosen to look at the material, and the responsible author is easily identified. But unlike freely-chosen printed matter, messages programmed into a computer are forced upon the reader. In such programmed messages, personal writing often has the effect of suggesting that the user might believe the computer has attitudes and opinions, whether the effect is intended or not. To suggest that a machine can be like a person might enhance the computer as a toy (when executing a game program), but it may seem condescending when the computer is being used as a tool. In the least harmful cases, personal writing in programmed messages is just an annoying interruption. In the worst cases, programmers take advantage of the intrusive and anonymous nature of programmed messages to express disrespect and contempt for customers. The quality of writing associated with your product affects conclusions about overall quality and attitudes within your organization. This is especially true of programmed messages, which reinforce good or bad impressions each time your customer uses the product. Investing resources to help your organization achieve high-quality writing free of inappropriate tone will prevent erosion of your professional image, and will produce continually-increasing returns.

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