Ready

Tone

This page outlines the tone guidelines for the Basis design system, emphasizing being dedicated to others, honest, positive, smart, professional, and clear and direct in communication.

Ready

Tone

This page outlines the tone guidelines for the Basis design system, emphasizing being dedicated to others, honest, positive, smart, professional, and clear and direct in communication.

Dedicated to others

Show that we are dedicated to helping people accomplish their tasks. Consider their goals, motivations, context, and flow.

Do

Do

  • Proposal received from ChicagoTribune.com (notification to
    agency user who sent the RFP)

  • Needs ad server export

  • Add to plan without a contact

Don't

Don't

  • Proposal received from ChicagoTribune.com (notification to all members of account team)

Honest

Be honest about how the application behaves and when things go wrong.

Do

Do

  • Campaigns are not receiving delivery data from Google
    Campaign Manager. Reconnect or select a different account

  • There was an error loading the page. Please try again. If the
    problem persists, contact support.

Don't

Don't

  • Something went wrong. You need to reconnect your Google
    Campaign Manager account.

Positive

Present information using positive language instead of negative language--say β€œcan” and β€œdo” instead of β€œcan’t” and β€œdon’t”. It gives users confidence. Avoid being too cheerful as it can come off as insincere.

Do

Do

  • Upload a CSV with column headers representing Unique ID,
    Name, Date, and at least one delivery metric.

  • Try again

  • To apply add ons, create a revision.

  • Spring 2016 exported to Google Campaign Manager

Don't

Don't

  • File (.csv) must include column headers representing Unique
    ID, Name, Date, and at least one delivery metric.

  • An error occurred

  • You can’t apply add-ons to an approved plan

  • Great job! You successfully exported Spring 2016 to Google
    Campaign Manager!

Smart

Demonstrate that we understand the complexity and pain points of the domain. Emphasize the benefits of our technology, but be humble.

Do

Do

  • Export your media plan to Google Campaign Manager or
    Sizmek

  • Send your media plan to leading ad servers with one
    click!Send and receive messages, RFPs, Proposals, and IOs

Don't

Don't

  • Send your media plan to leading ad servers with one click!

  • All of your communication in one place

Professional

Our users are professionals – treat them as such. Remember that professional doesn’t mean curt or overly formal. Be inviting and human.

Do

Do

  • Upload a file 150 KB or less

  • Edit selected

  • Enter a brand name

  • Data Segment reports no longer include metrics calculated
    from spend

Don't

Don't

  • Oops! File is too big!

  • Edit checked

  • Please ensure your brand has a name

  • Please be aware that selected columns have been removed
    from Data Segment reports

Clear and Direct

Respect the fast paced nature of our users’ work. Only provide essential details so they can focus on their own task.

Do

Do

  • Your tactic did not save and is turned off to prevent overspend. Try saving again.

  • Vendor ID is already used

Don't

Don't

  • An API error occurred and some of your changes could not be saved. Your tactic was turned off to prevent overspend. Verify your changes, turn the tactic back on, and try saving again.

  • This ID is already used by another vendor. Vendor IDs should be unique within your ERP system. Contact your billing specialist for help.

Need more guidance?

Suggest an addition or an edit.

Need more guidance?

Suggest an addition or an edit.

Β© 2025 Basis Technologies
Β© 2025 Basis Technologies
Β© 2025 Basis Technologies