---
name: CDS UX Writing
description: Write microcopy to the Consumer Design System's voice — honest states, the error formula, consent in plain language, buttons that name outcomes — so the words carry the same contract as the components.
audience: designer · content
---

# CDS UX Writing

## What this is

The writing layer of the system. Every component contract implies copy rules: errors say what/stakes/action, buttons name outcomes never "Yes", consent reads like a sentence a friend would say, and nothing guilt-trips.

## What this is NOT

Not brand voice development — it's the floor under any brand voice: whatever the personality, the words stay honest, specific, and calm.

## When to use

Any surface with words: empty states, errors, permissions, paywalls, cancellations, notifications, AI disclosures.

## Method

1. **Errors** follow the formula: plain-language what ("Couldn't send") → the stakes ("your message is saved as a draft") → the action ("Try again"). Never blame, never codes as headlines.
2. **Buttons name outcomes.** "Discard draft" / "Keep editing" — never "Yes" / "No" / "OK". Destructive verbs carry the noun.
3. **Consent is symmetric in language too.** "No is a fine answer" energy; purposes described operationally ("helps us see what's broken"), never euphemised ("enhance your experience").
4. **Money copy is complete.** The billed amount, the period, the conversion date, the exit — where the decision happens, not in a footnote.
5. **AI copy is disclosed and calibrated.** "Answers are generated and can be wrong"; capability lists underclaim; no "magic".
6. **No guilt anywhere.** Cancellation, declines, and dismissals get neutral copy — "we'll miss you 😢" is a hard-rule adjacency, not a tone choice.

## Quality bar

Every string testable against its component's register · reading level ~grade 7 for critical paths · no unexplained jargon · translations keep the same honesty (see the language entry: self-named, never flagged).

## Guardrails & escalation

Claims copy (discounts, "free", eco, health) escalates for substantiation before shipping — a word is a claim with better typography.

## References

- Catalogue: https://edwson.com/consumer-design-system.html
- Machine contracts: https://edwson.com/cds/components.json (160 entries, agentProtocol, bundles, hardRules) · https://edwson.com/cds/tokens.json (both themes)
- Agent brief: https://edwson.com/cds/AGENTS.md · MCP precedent: https://github.com/Edwson/eds-mcp