Cami design copy

Cami — Copy

Required reading

Before proceeding, load ../cami-design/references/review-protocol.md for the shared Context Gathering Protocol, Design System Protocol, severity scale, and Review Output Format. For copy work you also need:

• Voice / tone: how does the product speak? (formal, friendly, sharp, playful, neutral)
• Audience literacy: technical users? consumers? mixed?
• User's mental state in context: stressed during errors? confident during success? anxious during payment? Copy should match the emotional register of the moment.

If the audited surface includes form controls, also load ../cami-design/references/forms.md — labels, placeholders, error placement, confirmations, and unsaved-changes warnings are all canonicalised there.

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Improve the words users read. Clearer labels, kinder errors, useful empty states, a tone that matches the brand.

When to Use This Mode

• Labels are ambiguous or jargon-heavy
• Error messages blame the user or say nothing actionable
• Empty states are blank or unhelpful
• CTAs don't tell the user what happens next
• Tone drifts across the product
• User says "this text is confusing"

Review Dimensions

Clarity

• Every label tells the user what will happen, in their words
• No jargon unless the audience uses it naturally
• One idea per sentence
• Prefer active voice: "We uploaded your file" not "Your file has been uploaded"

Actionability (especially errors)

• Error messages say: what happened, why, what to do next
• Avoid blame ("you entered an invalid...") — state the fact ("email format not recognized")
• Offer a next step when one exists

Empty States

• Explain what this space is for
• Show a primary action to fill it
• Never leave a blank region

CTAs

• Verb-first, concrete ("Save changes", not "OK")
• Match the outcome ("Delete permanently" not "Delete" for irreversible actions)
• Primary action is distinct from secondary in weight and wording

Tone Consistency

• The product speaks with one voice across surfaces
• Adjust intensity by context: transactional moments stay neutral, celebratory moments can be warmer

Forms & Confirmations

Form-related copy patterns — instructions before the field, placeholders as examples not labels, confirmation dialog wording, destructive button labels, unsaved-changes warnings — live in ../cami-design/references/forms.md (Labels, Placeholders, Unsaved Changes sections). Load that reference when reviewing form copy. The patterns there are the canonical source; this sub-skill applies them.

Loading & Success States

• Loading copy should set expectations: what's happening + how long ("Analyzing your data… usually 30–60 seconds")
• Never leave "Loading..." for long operations — give context
• Success messages confirm what happened + what comes next ("Settings saved. Changes take effect immediately.")
• Match emotional register: celebrate big wins, stay neutral for routine saves
• Trailing "successfully" and routine-status exclamations are anti-patterns — see ../cami-design/references/anti-patterns.md → Copy AI Tells.

⚠️ AI Slop in Copy

The copy-side "AI tells" sweep — generic loading messages ("Herding pixels…", "Teaching robots to dance…"), trailing "successfully", sparkle emoji on every CTA, sycophantic confirmations ("Great choice!") — is canonicalised in ../cami-design/references/anti-patterns.md → Copy AI tells. Run it last, same as the visual anti-pattern sweep.

Microcopy Hygiene

• Sentence case in UI (not Title Case) unless the brand specifies otherwise
• Oxford comma: follow house style; be consistent
• No trailing punctuation on buttons or labels
• Numerals for UI (use 1, 2, 3 not one, two, three for quantities)
• For trailing "successfully", routine-status exclamation marks, sparkle CTAs, and other AI tells in copy: see ../cami-design/references/anti-patterns.md → Copy AI Tells.

Patterns, Principles, and NEVER

Concrete before/after tables (error messages, empty states, CTAs), the 6 Principles checklist, and the NEVER list all live in ../cami-design/references/copy-patterns.md. Load that reference when applying patterns during a review — it's the canonical source.

Output

Findings as tables with columns # | Severity | Before | After | Why, grouped by dimension. Severity is 🔴 (Important) or 🟡 (Nit); see ../cami-design/references/review-protocol.md → Severity scale for calibration. Cite the specific file and component when possible.

Close with the walkthrough offer and (after fixes) the Verify pass. See ../cami-design/references/review-protocol.md → Closing / Walkthrough mode / Verify pass.

References

• ../cami-design/references/copy-patterns.md — canonical before/after patterns, the 6 Principles, NEVER list
• ../cami-design/references/forms.md — form labels, placeholders, errors, confirmations, unsaved-changes (canonical for form copy)
• ../cami-design/references/anti-patterns.md — canonical home for Copy AI Tells; sweep last
• ../cami-design/references/craft.md — tone, intent, perceived performance
• ../cami-design/references/typography.md — typographic characters: ellipsis, curly quotes, non-breaking spaces

Human-facing writing note

When producing copy meant for users, run the output through the humanizer skill if available — it strips AI-tell patterns that read as synthetic. humanizer is an external skill (not bundled with cami-design); see NOTICE.md for sourcing. Skip silently if it's not installed.