Written ID

SEB's Written ID is our guiding light, and it forms the basis for all our communication, including UX writing.

This is the essence of Written ID:

• We are people speaking to people. That’s why we prefer using an informal, personal voice rather than an official one.
• Our texts are clear, easy to grasp and we start with what’s most important.
• We have the engagement and energy; we share our drive with our customers. Linguistically that means our language is snappy and modern.

The voice the customers encounters when they use a service on the internet banking services or the mobile apps must be the same in guides, sales, error messages, etc.

But UX writing should, to a greater degree than other non-fiction texts, be consistent. Therefore, we have special principles for different components. You will find specific recommendations for them here in Design Library.

This is how UX writing help our customers

Good UX writing is like a personal guide that acts in the background and helps customers understand how to act and navigate. It ensures that customers do not end up in situations where they feel stupid or underestimated. Really good UX writing will rather make them feel satisfied because they succeed to finish a task without unnecessary thresholds.

UX writing in SEB

UX writing in SEB is:

• consistent – we strive to use the same word for the same item, action or object.
• educational – we make an effort to be brief and pedagogic.
• distinct – we avoid bank jargon or tech jargon.
• helpful – we prevent mistakes and setbacks.

Contact the UX writing team

When you need help with tone-of-voice, instructions, vocabulary or a writer to work with, please don’t hesitate to contact the UX writing team. Reach out in the Teams channel "UX writing" in Green Design System, send an e-mail to cx-skribenter@seb.se, or if you already have a connection or dedicated writer for your team or product, simply contact that person.

Translate texts from Swedish to English

If you need to translate Swedish texts into English, the bank has agreements with, among others, Språkkonsulterna and Lionbridge. Contact them directly to order a translation.

When you contact them to ask if they are available to take on the assignment, they want to know approximately how many words are to be translated. They also need to know the name of who will pay the invoice before you send the translation document. 

• Språkkonsulterna: info@sprakkonsulterna.se
• Lionbridge: jakob.nordby@lionbridge.com

Resources

Use our common ux writing resources at SEB. Click on the links below for:

• Written ID is the section in SEB’s brand manual about language and tonality
• Språket i SEB is a gathering place for language issues in SEB. We discuss how we write to our customers, but also about the Swedish language and language accuracy
• Språklådan is a wiki that helps you with spelling, language accuracy and grammar