Sharjah Design System نظام الشارقة للتصميم
Sharjah Design System نظام الشارقة للتصميم
عربي Government of Sharjah
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Content design

Content is one of the most powerful elements of any digital experience. Words have the ability to guide, inform, reassure, and build trust. In the Sharjah Design System, content isn’t just what users read — it’s how they understand your service, accomplish a task, and feel supported throughout their journey.

Introduction

Good content is clear, concise, purposeful, and consistent. It speaks the language of users while reflecting the values, identity, and professionalism of Sharjah Government services.

Why Content Matters

Words are not just labels on a screen — they:

  • Communicate purpose and meaning
  • Guide users toward action
  • Reduce confusion and frustration
  • Reflect the credibility and identity of the entity
  • Support accessibility for users of all abilities

Well-crafted content improves usability, trust, and satisfaction across digital services.

Voice & Tone

Your writing style shapes how users perceive your service. In the Sharjah Design System:

  • Communicate purpose and meaning
  • Guide users toward action
  • Reduce confusion and frustration
  • Reflect the credibility and identity of the entity
  • Support accessibility for users of all abilities

Well-crafted content improves usability, trust, and satisfaction across digital services.

Communicate

Entities benefit from a formal tone to convey credibility and authority

Guide

Your writing style shapes how users perceive your content.

Empathize

Understanding the preferences and expectations.

The tone and voice of a website play significant roles in shaping the user experience and can influence a visitor’s perception of a brand, product, or service. The choice between a formal or informal tone depends on various factors.

  • Target audience: Understanding the preferences and expectations of the primary audience is crucial. You must study your primary audience and shape your content to match the expectations of that audience.
  • Purpose: Websites of entities and authorities might benefit from a formal tone to convey credibility and authority. Initiatives and websites of projects may speak to a very specific target audience and, hence, adapt the tone and voice to that target audience.
  • Type of content: A single website might employ a mix of tones depending on the content type. The section about news, press releases and other information pages would typically be more formal, while the blog, insights or content that is more conversational may be informal at times.
  • User expectation: Users have certain expectations based on what section of the website they are interacting with. after a user has authenticated themselves, may need content that is specific to the attributes of the user.

The difference between voice and tone

The voice stays consistent

The tone adapts to the need or situation.

Voice

Voice expresses the core of the entity’s personality, whether spoken or written. It is one of the most fundamental ways a user will associate with an entity; therefore, it needs to be consistent in all forms of communication.

Our voice is corporate yet approachable

The number-one goal for our voice is the user and their needs. In this sense, it can be described as follows:

  • Professional: focuses on and elevates facts and outcomes
  • Accessible: available to all users from all cultures, ages, and backgrounds
  • User-centric: engages the user by speaking their language
  • Clear: has a clear point of view, it is simple and logical
  • Confident: trustworthy and straightforward

Tone

The tone describes how the entity’s voice is expressed in a particular context. For example, an error message is typically short and to the point, communicating the main point and providing a solution, while the content for the FAQ or terms and conditions is typically longer, with complete sentences and explanations.

Be clear

Be clear about the error, so users can understand and potentially rectify their mistakes.

Unable to log you in. Your username/password combination does not match.

Authentication failed. Error 401: Invalid credentials. Login request rejected.

Be meaningful

Write short and meaningful messages.

Please enter your email in the format: example@domain.com.

The email address does not match the required format and is not valid and therefore you are unable to login. Please enter an email address in the required format before you can login to your account.

Be human

Avoid technical jargon. Use simple, human-readable contextual information.

Network error!

We are unable to detect a network connection. You may have been disconnected from the internet.

Try again

Network error!

The operation could not be completed (WDGeneralNetworkInterface: Error code 506).

Be humble

Use respectful and use positive reinforcement, instead of blaming the user.

Please enter your first name.

You did not enter your first name here.

Provide direction

Provide clear directions to the user to help action the next step.

A file with the same name already exists. Please provide another name.

Provide another name.

Provide help

Provide options to the users to help them avoid errors or provide additional help options.

We are unable to save you file.

A file with the same name already exists.

Replace Rename

Provide another name.

To avoid overloading users with unnecessary information, choices, or complex ideas and phrases, keep sentences, paragraphs, and procedural steps concise and to the point. This is especially important with new users and users who are frustrated, trying to find relevant details to their situation. Hire a UX writer as part of the team when creating content for your website, mobile app, or otherwise.

Formating

The method of how you display content also communicates information. Presenting content in a certain format may have a derived meaning. Hence, it is essential to pay attention to the format of how content is presented.

Boldface

  • Use bold text to draw the reader’s eye to key phrases and statements in your email and web content. Hence, use bold on headlines, menu items, buttons, screen headings, and anything else you want to call attention to.
  • Do not use bold text often within a paragraph. If there is a part of your paragraph that requires highlighting, make sure to visually distinguish it or use bold—preferably once or twice at most—within the paragraph.

Italics

  • Use italics for emphasis, citations, or defining a term. You can also use it for UI elements that might change, like a field name or user input.
  • You can also use italics in places where you would normally use bold, but only if the UI supports it, such as in a dialogue header or UI message. Do not use italics if the item is also a hyperlink.

Provide help

Inclusivity

Ensuring content is accessible means it can be consumed by everyone, regardless of their physical, cognitive, or technological capabilities.

Wider audience

Accessible content reaches a broader audience, including the elderly, people with physical challenges, or those using various devices.

Usability

Accessibility often aligns with good usability practices, leading to a better user experience for everyone.

Ethical responsibility

Beyond legal and practical reasons, ensuring content is accessible is the right thing to do, promoting equality and inclusivity.

Better reach

Search engines tend to favor accessible websites, meaning better visibility and reach.

Create transcripts and captions

For audio-only content, such as a podcast, provide a transcript. For audio and visual content, such as training videos, provide closed captions and transcripts.

Include spoken information and sounds in the audiovisual (AV) in the transcript such ‘door closing’ or ‘end credits’ so the content is understood. Include people’s names and indicate their actions, e.g. ‘Salah leaves the room’.

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