writing-for-interfaces — independently scanned and version-tracked by SaferSkills.
SaferSkills independently audited writing-for-interfaces (Agent Skill) and scored it 100/100 (green). The audit ran 55 deterministic rules across Security, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Transparency, and Community; it found 0 high-severity and 0 lower-severity findings. The full rule-by-rule trace and per-finding evidence are below. Free, methodology-open.
Findings & checks · 0 flagged
Every scanned point with the score it earned and what moved between them.
First recorded scan — no prior version to compare against.
The primary manifest — the file an agent reads to learn what this artifact does.
Good interface writing is invisible. When words work seamlessly with design, people don't notice them.
Writing should be part of the design process from the start, not something filled in at the end. When words are considered alongside layout, interaction, and visual design, the result feels seamless. When they're an afterthought, product experiences feel stitched together.
Every piece of text in an interface is a small act of communication: it should respect the person's time, meet them where they are, and help them move forward.
Voice is the foundation. All copy decisions — what to say, how to say it, what to leave out — flow from a clear understanding of who this product is, who it's for, and how it should sound. Without a defined voice, copy becomes inconsistent and the product loses coherency.
Search for an existing voice definition. Check for:
CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, or similar project config that defines voice and/or toneIf a voice definition exists, use it as the lens for all copy work. If the copy you're working on drifts from it, flag the inconsistency.
If no voice definition exists, infer the current voice from existing copy. Look for patterns: formal or casual? Technical or plain? Warm or matter-of-fact? If the copy is inconsistent or insufficient to infer from, help the user establish a voice before writing.
#### Establishing voice through conversation
Walk the user through these questions:
savings app for kids serve similar purposes but should sound completely different. The audience determines vocabulary, complexity, and register.
calm clarity. Someone browsing a game at home can handle playfulness. The context of use — physical environment, emotional state, competing attention — shapes how much text people can absorb and what tone is appropriate.
Brainstorm freely, group similar words into themes, discard table-stakes traits ("not confusing"), and keep the ones that genuinely differentiate the product's personality.
against each other. "Friendly" and "concise" create a useful tension — these become the dials you turn when adjusting tone for different situations.
(AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md or style guide document) so it persists across sessions. A word list pairs well with this and should be stored in the same file.
Identify what kind of copy work is needed:
Then identify which interface patterns are involved and consult references/patterns.md for the relevant sections.
For every piece of copy, work in this order:
aloud, would you recognise it as coming from this product?
quality as a dial. A celebratory moment turns up warmth; an error turns up clarity and dials back friendliness.
The ordering is deliberate and encodes a precedence chain: clarity > voice > craft rules. Clarity always wins — if voice gets in the way of someone understanding what to do, strip it back. Voice comes next — it shapes how things sound, and a craft rule should never cut a word or restructure a phrase in a way that undermines the established voice. Craft rules are voice-filtered heuristics, not absolutes. Always cross-check craft edits against the voice before committing them.
Work through the copy element by element — title, body, buttons, labels — showing the original, then the rewrite, with a brief rationale tied to voice and principles. Prioritise changes that confuse or block users before polish. When reviewing across a flow, flag terminology inconsistencies and suggest word list entries at the end.
Voice is the consistent personality of the product — the 3–4 qualities that define how it always sounds. These don't change.
Tone is how the voice adapts to the situation. Think of each voice quality as a dial you can turn up or down depending on the moment:
For each situation, decide which voice qualities need emphasis and which should recede.
Example: For an error where someone can't connect to the network, clarity and helpfulness go way up. Simplicity stays moderate because they need the most important details. Friendliness dials back because getting them unstuck matters more than sounding warm.
Personality shines in moments where there's room for it — welcome screens, milestones, empty states. In error messages, destructive actions, and critical flows, dial voice back and let clarity lead. The precedence chain from Step 3 applies: clarity first, always.
Purpose, Anticipation, Context, Empathy — a framework for what to write, how to write it, and when. Apply through the lens of your voice.
Before writing, answer: what is the single most important thing the person needs to know right now?
text fills in detail. If someone reads only headers and buttons, they should understand the situation.
tries to do too much, return to its purpose and strip away everything else.
it matters to them.
Think of the interface as a conversation. In any good conversation there's a natural back and forth — listening, responding, anticipating what the other person needs to hear next.
Wi-Fi" → "Can't connect to Wi-Fi. Check your connection and try again."
identity" → "Verify your identity" with a clear button or link to start the process.
→ "Password changed. You can now sign in with your new password."
[instruction]." Front-loading motivation makes the instruction feel like a reasonable ask instead of a demand.
People use products in wildly different circumstances. The usage context shapes the writing.
can afford more.
where the person is looking.
demand brevity; shared screens (TVs) need large, scannable text.
Write for everyone who might use this product — different abilities, languages, cultures, technical fluency, and emotional states.
afterthoughts — they're the entire experience for some people. See patterns reference for detailed guidance.
ability.
expansion and RTL languages.
Practical editing moves that tighten copy. Apply after confirming voice and tone are right.
Interface text has no minimum word count. Every word must earn its place. But before cutting a word, check whether it's doing voice work. A word that's "filler" by general craft rules may be load-bearing for the voice — "yet" in "Nothing here yet" carries warmth and calm, and removing it makes the empty state blunter. The test: remove the word; if neither meaning nor intentional tone changes, cut it.
Words like "simply," "quickly," "easily," "just," "successfully" often promise something you can't guarantee. Keep words that genuinely clarify ("Feed your pets automatically").
when they genuinely add warmth.
separate lines or sentences instead.
Combine overlapping ideas into one clear statement. Each element on screen should add new information. When headline and body say the same thing in different words, collapse them.
"We're running late. Your delivery driver won't make it on time. They'll be there in 10 minutes." → "Delivery delayed 10 minutes. Check the app for your driver's location."
error."
Decide what you call things and stick to it. If it's "alias" on one screen, don't use "username" on another. A word list is a simple table: Use / Don't use / Definition. Button labels are especially good entries — if "Next" advances through a flow, use "Next" everywhere.
"Favorites" conveys the same message as "Your Favorites." Avoid "we" — it obscures what actually happened ("We're having trouble..." → "Unable to load content").
Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation build trust. Adopt capitalisation rules aligned with the voice (title case = formal, sentence case = casual) and apply consistently. Write for the space available — if copy needs to be short, write a short sentence, don't compress a long one.
Templated strings ("${count} items selected") are interface copy too. Write them so every possible output reads naturally:
template that produces "0 results found."
"Welcome back, Christopher-Montgomery!" might break layout; "3 seconds ago" and "2 days ago" should both read naturally.
may be asking too much of a single element.
Define patterns for common moments — how flows begin ("Get Started"), advance ("Next" or "Continue" — pick one), and end ("Done"). Use them consistently.
Read your writing out loud. If it sounds like how you'd explain something to a friend — clear, natural, no filler — it's probably good. If it sounds like a robot, a legal document, or an essay, keep refining.
For detailed guidance on alerts, errors, empty states, onboarding, notifications, accessibility labels, destructive actions, buttons, and instructional copy — see references/patterns.md.
~30 seconds. Free. No account. Every finding cites a rule and a line of evidence.