Microcopy

HeyGoal talks like a knowledgeable friend: plain words, short sentences, warm but not cute. The "Hey" is the tone; the "Goal" is done, completed.

Voice rules

• Say what happened, then offer the way back. "Backup restored" with Undo; "Timer hidden — it keeps running. Find it on Time."
• Name the state from the real setup, never a generic line. "Saved in this browser only, until you sign in" vs "Synced to your account's private cloud copy… Last synced 3:42 PM"
• One term per concept, the same everywhere. Earned, Invoiced, Not invoiced yet, Invoiced, unpaid, Overdue, Received, Still owed. "Outstanding" is retired
• Label what is not built. "Planned — not in this release" on the Premium perks; nothing pretends
• Sentence case everywhere; kickers are the only uppercase. Buttons: "Add a client", "Mark paid", "Clear demo content"
• Numbers carry their unit and their definition. "3 of 5 done", "day 4 of 12", a ? bubble on every money figure
• English only; no slang, no references to a country, a language or a sport. Standing brand rule
• The product name is HeyGoal in every string a person reads. Identifiers that saved data depends on keep their Workdeck-era names; that is code, not copy

House style

• Second person; the app never says "I" or "we". "your own records are untouched"
• No emoji; typographic characters do the work. · separates, — comes before a consequence, → marks a range, … truncates, × closes
• Page names keep their capital inside a sentence. "Customize on Home brings it back", "Find it on Time"
• Contractions, one form each. couldn't, isn't, don't; not "could not" in one toast and "couldn't" in the next
• No serial comma, as the brief writes. "tasks, projects, time and billing"; "PNG, JPG or WebP"
• A button that ends a form stays short; a call to action outside a form takes the article. "Add client" at the end of the add form; "Add a client" in Getting started and empty states
• Mark as …, with the "as", and its toast says the same. "Mark as paid", "Mark as sent", "Mark as unpaid"; "INV-0102 marked as unpaid"

Button labels

A verb first, in sentence case. "Add" puts an item in a list; "Create" makes a document. Three labels are not verbs on purpose: Done ends a mode, Today moves the calendar, Not now declines an offer. A page head's "New …" opens a blank record.

• "Add task"
• "Add project"
• "Add client"
• "Add expense"
• "Add payment"
• "Start timer"
• "Stop and log"
• "Mark as sent"
• "Mark as paid"
• "Download PDF"
• "Export backup"
• "Restore from backup"
• "Clear demo content"
• "Load demo content"
• "Turn on sync"
• "Erase cloud copy"
• "Continue with Google"
• "Email me a link"
• "Refill from project"
• "New note"
• "Done"
• "New invoice" — The same button says New invoice once one exists. One label at any count; the dialog's own button stays Create invoice.
• "Set up sync" — The storage line's button names a place, not an action.
• "Reorder the menu" — The phone-only button in arrange mode; a verb first.
• "Print or save a PDF" — A verb first, and the same words as the printing toast.
• "See Premium" — Settings and the upsell open the same dialog; one label for one action.
• "Customize Home" — Home is a page name.

Empty states

One line, text only: what is missing and the one thing to do about it.

• "All clear. Add a task above to get started."
• "No projects yet. Add your first one above."
• "No clients yet. Add one above — projects link to them by name."
• "Start a new note to capture your first idea."
• "No cards on Home yet. Click Customize to add some."
• "Nothing done yet. When you set a project to Done, it moves here."
• Overdue: "Nothing overdue." · Done: "No tasks done yet. Tick one and it moves here." · All: "No tasks yet. Add one above." — One string served three filters and said what to do in none.
• "No time logged yet. Start the timer or add an entry above." — Add the one action.
• "No expenses yet. Add one above." — Add the one action.
• "Nothing matches these filters. Change one to see more." — Three wordings for one state; one sentence, with its action.
• "Log time, set a price on a project or add an expense and it shows up here." — No serial comma.
• "Add your first link above, paste an image or create a folder to get organized." — No serial comma.
• "Add a project first; invoices are built from a project's price, hours and expenses." — No serial comma.
• "No invoices yet. Click New invoice — the lines fill in from the project's price and hours." — Down to one line.

Error toasts

What happened, then what to do. Two short sentences, no blame, no "Oops".

• "That image is over 10 MB. Choose a smaller one."
• "That file isn't a calendar. Choose an .ics file."
• "Couldn't open Google. Try again in a moment."
• "That PDF couldn't be built. Try again in a moment."
• "Storage is full. Remove some images, or export a backup and clear old data."
• "Printing isn't available here. Open HeyGoal in your browser to print or save a PDF."
• "Couldn't copy here. Select the text and copy it instead."
• "That file isn't a HeyGoal backup. Choose a .json file made with Export backup."
• "Couldn't send the link. Check the address and try again."
• "Your data is 300 kB; a cloud copy can hold 256 kB. Shorten or split some notes, then sync again."
• "That image couldn't be read. Try a PNG or JPG." — One form of the contraction.
• "The start date is after the end date. Change one of them." — Add what to do; the form keeps what was typed.
• "That isn't an image. Choose a PNG, JPG or WebP file." — Say what happened first; no serial comma.
• "That file couldn't be saved here. Open HeyGoal in your browser to download it." — Add what to do, as the printing toast does.
• "Sign-in isn't available right now. Your work stays saved in this browser." — Name the state, so nobody fears for their data.
• "This image lives on the device where it was added. Open HeyGoal there to see it." — Add what to do.
• "You already have a folder with that name. Pick another name." — Add what to do.
• "That calendar file is over 8 MB. Export a shorter date range and try again." — Add what to do.

Destructive actions

Act at once. The toast names what happened and carries Undo; a consequence follows a dash. Only Erase cloud copy and Erase all data ask twice, on the button itself: "Click again to erase".

• "Task deleted"
• "Payment deleted"
• "Invoice deleted"
• "Note deleted"
• "Clock removed"
• "Software deleted — its expenses moved"
• "Demo content cleared — your own records are untouched"
• "Getting started hidden — Customize on Home brings it back"
• "Menu hidden — the button in the top-left corner brings it back"
• "Layout reset"
• "Menu order reset"
• "Backup restored"
• "Demo content loaded"
• "Removed from Quick access" — Quick access is a page name.
• "Folder deleted — its items kept" — A dash comes before a consequence.
• "INV-0102 marked as unpaid — its payment removed" — A dash comes before a consequence, and the toast says what the button says.

Help bubbles

"Term = definition." The same words in the UI, the ? bubbles and the PDFs. Never uppercase or tracked, even inside a kicker.

• "Earned = hours × the project's rate (or your account rate). A fixed-price project counts its whole price."
• "Invoiced = the total of the project's invoices, paid or not."
• "Not invoiced yet = earned minus invoiced — work you could still put on an invoice."
• "Invoiced, unpaid = invoices sent (or drafted) that nobody has paid yet. Overdue = sent and past its due date."
• "Received = payments recorded on the project. Marking an invoice paid records one for you."
• "Still owed = earned minus received — everything the project is still owed, whether or not it is on an invoice yet."
• "Multi-task turns every line of the text into its own task. Paste a list, a meeting recap or a to-do from an email; bullets, dashes and numbers at the start of a line are removed. Project, priority and dates apply to all of them." — No serial comma.

Storage lines

Read from the real setup and name the one action that changes it. Wherever a cloud exists, say that images stay on their device. "Saved" and "synced", never "stored" or "mirrored".

• "Saved in this browser only — nothing is uploaded. Export a backup now and then to keep a copy, or to move to another computer."
• "Saved in this browser only — nothing is uploaded until you turn on sync in Settings."
• "Saved in this browser only, until you sign in. Signing in keeps a private cloud copy, so your phone or another computer opens the same tasks, projects, time and billing."
• "Saved in this browser and synced to your account's private cloud copy — sign in on another device and the same work is there. Last synced 3:42 PM."
• "Images in notes and Quick access stay on the device you added them on; everything else travels with sync and with a backup."
• "Signed out. Your data stays on this device."
• "Everything is saved in this browser and synced to your private cloud copy. Export a backup now and then anyway — images only live on this device." — One term per concept: Settings said stored and mirrored.

Front door

Say what signing in gives, that it is free, and that you can go without it.

• "Welcome to HeyGoal"
• "Continue with Google"
• "Email me a link"
• "Continue without an account"
• "Your data stays in this browser until you sign in."
• "Check your inbox"
• "Use a different email"
• "Sign in to keep your tasks, projects, time and billing in sync on every device. No account yet? Signing in creates one — free." — No serial comma, as on the storage line.
• "A sign-in link is on its way to {email}. Open it on this device to come straight back here." — The app never says "we".

Values in braces are filled in by the app.