NICOLE BONNEVILLE

Voice and Tone

Voice

As a white-labeled partner, company's voice reflects the utility company’s tone and reputation, prioritizing customer trust and community values.

• Consistency: Maintain a knowledgeable, supportive, and solution-oriented tone to align with the utility’s customer service priorities.

• Audience: Primarily, utility end-customers seeking easy-to-use, reliable, energy management and billing solutions, with a secondary audience of users interested in energy innovation and sustainability.

Tone

Overall, tone should be professional, approachable, and straightforward, with adjustments for specific content types:

• Customer Communications (e.g., app notifications, emails, in-app advisors):
  • Tone Keywords: Friendly, Educational, Customer-centric, Simple, Positive, Engaging
  • Style: Focus on clarity and support, using direct language to ensure messages are easy to understand and promote positive engagement.

• Data Accuracy and Confidence (e.g., usage information, disaggregation, rates, billing):
  • Tone Keywords: Informative, Supportive, Conversational, Accessible
  • Style: Aim for transparency and accuracy, presenting data in an understandable way to build customer confidence in billing and usage information.

• AI/Machine Learning (e.g., recommendations, forecasts, projections):
  • Tone Keywords: Empowering, Actionable, Benefit-focused
  • Style: Emphasize how data insights can help customers make informed energy choices. Focus on the usefulness and personal impact of recommendations, avoiding overly technical language.

• General Disclaimers or “Learn More” Sections (e.g., program explanations):
  • Tone Keywords: Direct, Informative, User-friendly, Conversational
  • Style: Use plain language to ensure clarity, especially for legal disclaimers or program details. Aim for a friendly and informative approach that supports customer understanding without overwhelming detail.

App and Web Elements

Headings and Subheadings

• Purpose: Guide the user through content by providing structure, clarity, and a quick understanding of each section.
• Best Practices:
  • Use clear, informative language that highlights key benefits or actions. Avoid vague or overly technical terms.
  • Headings should align with the utility’s brand tone, offering a helpful and approachable impression.
  • Examples:
    • H1: “Take Control of Your Energy”
    • H2: “Personalized Insights and Savings Recommendations”
    • H3: “How to Read Your Energy Report”

Links and Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

• Links:
  • Embed links naturally within the context to maintain flow and reduce visual clutter. Avoid “click here”; instead, use descriptive phrases like “Learn more about your savings.”
  • Clearly indicate the destination of the link or the next step for users to enhance accessibility.
• CTAs:
  • Purpose: Encourage users to take actionable steps in their energy management journey, whether it’s viewing detailed insights, making adjustments, or exploring additional services.
  • Style:
    • CTAs should be actionable, specific, and user-centered. Begin with verbs that convey the intended action (e.g., "Get," "Manage," "Explore").
    • Align with utility branding and focus on the direct benefit to the customer.
  • Examples:
    • “Get Started with [Utility’s] Energy Insights”
    • “Manage Your Usage Today”
    • “Explore Your Personalized Savings Tips”

Navigation and Button Labels

• Purpose: Ensure intuitive navigation and ease of use, reflecting the clarity and reliability of the utility’s services.
• Best Practices:
  • Keep button labels concise, ideally two to three words.
  • Labels should be descriptive, providing clear instructions on what users can expect (e.g., “View Usage” vs. “Usage”).
  • Examples:
    • “Check My Bill”
    • “See My Savings”
    • “Update Preferences”

Messaging for Alerts and Notifications

• Purpose: Use a friendly, supportive tone to convey information and actions required by the user.
• Best Practices:
  • Keep alerts concise and focused on the essential action or information.
  • Avoid overly technical language; instead, use simple language that immediately communicates urgency or relevance.
  • Ensure mobile-friendly phrasing; keep in-app notifications under 140 characters.
  • Examples:
    • “Your energy use is above average today. Here’s how you can save.”
    • “New savings tips available! Check them out to lower your bill.”

Data Presentation and Visuals

• Purpose: Present data (usage, savings, projections) in a way that is accurate, understandable, and actionable.
• Best Practices:
  • Use infographics, icons, or charts to enhance clarity and visual appeal, especially for complex data.
  • Label visuals clearly, avoiding jargon, and prioritize colors and styles that align with the utility’s brand.
  • Support charts and graphs with brief explanations, so customers immediately understand the insights or actions available.
  • Examples of Descriptive Labels:
    • “This Month’s Energy Use”
    • “Your Usage Compared to Last Month”
    • “Projected Savings Next Month”

Accessibility and Mobile-Friendliness

• Purpose: Ensure all app and web content is fully accessible and functions smoothly on mobile devices.
• Best Practices:
  • Use headings and text that adapt well on mobile screens, prioritizing readability and avoiding lengthy paragraphs.
  • Write image alt text that describes the content and purpose of visuals.
  • For any interactive elements (like buttons, links), ensure they are touch-friendly with enough space for mobile users.

Grammar and Mechanics

Basics

• Write for all readers: Some users will read every word, while others may only skim. Improve readability by grouping related ideas and using descriptive headers and subheaders.
• Focus your message: Create a hierarchy of information. Start with the main point or key content, both in sentences and in larger sections.
• Be concise: Use short words and sentences and avoid unnecessary modifiers.
• Be specific: Avoid vague language and cut any excess.
• Be consistent: Adhere to the copy patterns and style guidelines outlined here.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

• Spell out an abbreviation or acronym the first time you mention it if it may be unfamiliar to the reader, then use the shortened version for subsequent mentions. If the abbreviation doesn’t clearly relate to the full version, clarify in parentheses.
  • First use: Customer Information System (CIS)
  • Second use: CIS
• Use well-known abbreviations, like API or HTML, without spelling them out.

Active Voice

• Use active voice rather than passive voice.
  • Yes: Sarah updated the account.
  • No: The account was updated by Sarah.
• Exceptions apply when it’s necessary to emphasize the action over the subject.

Capitalization

• Use Title Case for headers and Sentence Case for most text.
• For URLs or email addresses, use lowercase:
  • contact@powerley.com
  • powerley.com
• Avoid capitalizing words in the middle of sentences unless part of a proper noun.

Contractions

• Contractions create a friendly tone, so feel free to use them.

Emoji

• Use emoji sparingly to add a touch of personality or humor.

Numbers

• Spell out numbers at the start of sentences; otherwise, use numerals. Include ordinals as appropriate.
  • Fifteen new users signed up this month.
  • Our team added 3 new features to the platform.
• Use commas for numbers over 999.
  • 1,500; 100,000
• Abbreviate large numbers if space is limited (e.g., 1k for 1,000).

Dates

• Write out days and months unless space is limited:
  • Friday, March 10
  • Fri., Mar. 10

Decimals and Fractions

• Spell out simple fractions (two-thirds). Use decimals for precise measurements.

Percentages

• Use the % symbol.

Ranges and Spans

Use a hyphen to indicate a range:

• 20-30 users

Currency

• Use a currency symbol with numerals ($20.00). For other currencies, follow the same pattern: €1, ¥1.

Telephone Numbers

• Format phone numbers with dashes. Include a country code if applicable.
  • 555-123-4567
  • +1-555-123-4567

Temperature

• Use the degree symbol and abbreviation (72°F).

Time

• Use numerals and lowercase "am" or "pm" with a space:
  • 9 am or 10:30 pm
• Specify time zones for events or appointments (e.g., ET, PT).

Punctuation

Apostrophes

• Use apostrophes for possession and contractions.
  • Powerley’s dashboard
  • Chris’s report

Colons and Commas

• Use colons to introduce lists or to join related phrases. Use the Oxford comma in lists:
  • We offer energy-saving tools, predictive maintenance features, and user insights.

Dashes and Hyphens

• Use hyphens to link words in phrases or indicate ranges. Use em dashes for asides.

Periods and Question Marks

• Place periods inside quotation marks; question marks follow logic.

Exclamation Points

• Use sparingly; one at a time is sufficient.

Quotation Marks

• Use quotation marks for titles and direct quotes. Place periods and commas inside quotes, following logical placement for other punctuation.

Pronouns

• Use “they/them” if the subject’s gender is unknown or irrelevant.

States, Cities, and Countries

• Spell out state and city names. For US states, omit if in a list of major cities (AP exceptions: Detroit, New York, Los Angeles).

URLs and Websites

• Capitalize website names but avoid unnecessary use of "www" in URLs.Top of Form