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Punctuation

Minimalist punctuation

Always consider whether necessary

Exclamation mark !

  • Exclamation mark for high-level warnings only, and if the severity is not already expressed by other design elements like icons or color

Question mark ?

  • Question mark only if necessary
  • Avoid question marks in modal titles

Colon :

  • Use colons: especially to introduce lists
  • Avoid and remove colons whenever possible, for example User name instead of User name:
  • Avoid and remove colons in headings

Full stops .

  • Full stops at the end of all full sentences
  • Full stops before all lower-case file extensions: .csv .txt .zip
  • Avoid full stops before upper-case file extensions: CSV TXT ZIP
  • Consistent use of full stops throughout the application

Ellipsis …

  • Ellipsis only for transitional text: Uploading…

Single quotation mark '

  • Single quotation mark for possession: Customer’s role (single), customers’ roles (plural)
  • No quotation mark for plurals: PDFs

Ampersand &

  • Avoid ampersands unless in a product or company name: Siemens & Halske AG

Asterisks *

  • Avoid asterisks

Brackets () []

  • Avoid brackets ( ) and [ ]
  • No brackets for plurals, for example {{cnt}} users added instead of {{cnt}} user(s) added
  • Use square brackets [ ] if unit is part of a label, for example Distance [km]

Semi-colons ;

  • Avoid semi-colons

Formats

Formats are in general translated and localized to user's settings. Use internalization libraries to reuse common standards if applicable.

  • 12-hour clock: 11am and 11pm or 11AM and 11PM
  • 24-hour clock: 11:00 and 23:00
  • Date: Monday, January 12, 2021
  • Money: $400,456.50
  • Measurement and quantities: 30 mm
  • Hyphen for ranges: 10-40%
  • Numbers: Use No. as an abbreviation for number, no spacing between abbreviated No. and number: No.8
DosDon'ts
30 mm30 mms
10 oz10 oz.
10-40%10–40%
No.7#7
Number 7Num 7

Spacing

  • No space before %
  • No space before colon, semi-colon, ellipsis
  • Add a space after colon or semi-colon
  • Add a space before and after equation marks
  • No space before and after hyphens and em dashes
  • Add a space before unit of measurement
DosDon'ts
50%50 %
11am11 am
Tuesday: no dataTuesday:no data
Calculating…Calculating …

Lists

  • Consistent use of full stops in lists / bullet points
  • If lists / points are not full sentences, do not use full stops
  • Use fragments or full sentences in lists, not both
  • If a bullet / list item has two sentences, use full stops for this point and all others
  • Make lists parallel, i.e. all items / bullets have the same look, length, feel, punctuation, capitalization

Do

  • Write comments
  • Respond to comments
  • Approve work orders

Don't

  • Write comments
  • Respond to comments
  • Approve work orders by adding your fingerprint to your user management section in your smartphone.

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