Guidelines
Content
How Ascern talks. The consultant is the subject; Ascern does the legwork and says what it did. Every label, message and Flo reply follows these rules.
Guidelines
Content
How Ascern talks. The consultant is the subject; Ascern does the legwork and says what it did. Every label, message and Flo reply follows these rules.
Voice
Plain
Say what happened and what to do next, in the words a recruiter uses.
Do · CV sent to Halcyon Bank
Don't · Presentation successfully submitted
Accountable
Show the source. Say what's checked and what isn't. Never claim more than the data shows.
Do · Matches the Go requirement (CV, page 2)
Don't · Perfect fit for this role!
The consultant decides
Ascern prepares and proposes. Anything that reaches a client or candidate waits for approval.
Do · Draft ready for your review
Don't · Flo emailed Sara for you
Tone by moment
Moment
How
Example
Everyday work
Short and fast. Nouns on rows, verbs on buttons, no explanation.
Add candidate · Move to Short list
First run
Guide one step at a time. Say what the step gives them.
Connect your inbox so replies land on the right candidate.
Something failed
Calm. What happened, what's kept, how to fix it. No blame, no "oops".
Couldn't save the salary. Your edit is kept; try again.
Done
Past tense, one line, with Undo when it can be undone. Celebrate only placements.
Company added · Undo
Flo proposing
Say what Flo prepared, why, and what it needs from the consultant.
3 candidates match the brief. Review before anything is sent.
Words we use
One name per thing, the name a recruiter already uses. The full glossary is CONTEXT.md in hire-crm.
Say
Means
Not
Agency
The recruitment business using Ascern
workspace, organisation, tenant
Consultant
A person working the desk
user, recruiter (in UI copy), agent
Job
A role the agency is working on for a client
vacancy, req, position, opening
Candidate
A person the agency could place
applicant, lead, talent, prospect
Application
One candidate on one job, with its stage
submission, pipeline entry
Stage
Long list, Short list, Outreach, Interview, CV sent, Offer, Placed
status (that's a job's), step, Longlist
Company · Client
An organisation; Client is a company the agency works for
account, customer
Contact
A person at a company the agency talks to
stakeholder, buyer, POC
Placement
A candidate who started at a client, with its fee
hire, deal
Chat · Rule · Task
A Flo conversation · a standing instruction · a to-do for a person
thread (in UI), automation, action item
Mechanics
Case. Sentence case everywhere, titles and buttons included. Capitals only for names.
Buttons. A verb and the thing: Send CV, Add contact, Delete company. Never OK, Submit or Yes.
Rows and menus. Nouns for things, verbs for actions. Menu items are verbs: Rename, Duplicate, Delete.
Toasts. Past tense, object first: Company added. CV sent to Halcyon Bank.
Dates. 3 Nov 2026; drop the year inside the current year (3 Nov). Under 7 days, relative: 2h ago, Yesterday, Mon. Exact time in the tooltip.
Numbers. Numerals always: 3 candidates. Thousands separators: £148,500. Ranges: £60–80k. Percent with no space: 18%.
Punctuation. No full stop on labels, buttons or one-line toasts. Full stops on sentences. No exclamation marks. No em dashes.
Placeholders. An example, never the label or an instruction: sara@halcyonbank.com.
Writing messages
Pick the level first: banner (whole app), section message (one area), inline message (one field), toast (just happened), dialog (needs a decision).
Error
Couldn't sync your inbox
Google asked you to sign in again. Reconnect to pick up new mail.
What happened, in a few words. Why, if known. What to do, with the action as a button.
Empty state
No candidates on this job yet
Add someone you know, or ask Flo to find people who match the brief.
Say what will appear here, then one way to start. A filter with no results says "No matches" and offers Clear filters.
Confirmation
Delete Halden Labs?
Its 4 contacts stay. The 2 jobs move to No company. This can't be undone.
Cancel
Delete company
Ask only for what can't be undone. Name the thing, say what happens to related records, repeat the verb on the button.
Inclusive language
Recruitment touches people's livelihoods. Write about candidates with the respect you'd want.
· Use they/them when a person's pronouns aren't known. Never guess from a name.
· Write names exactly as the person gives them, accents included.
· Describe skills and experience, not age, gender, origin or appearance. Flo never ranks on them.
· Blocklist and allowlist, not blacklist and whitelist. Main, not master.
· No idioms that don't translate: "hit the ground running", "rockstar", "ninja".
· Write names exactly as the person gives them, accents included.
· Describe skills and experience, not age, gender, origin or appearance. Flo never ranks on them.
· Blocklist and allowlist, not blacklist and whitelist. Main, not master.
· No idioms that don't translate: "hit the ground running", "rockstar", "ninja".
Accessibility
Every screen meets WCAG 2.2 AA. Recruiters live in Ascern all day, often on the keyboard, so these are working rules, not a final audit. Each section names what to check before a PR merges.
AI
How Flo, Ascern's assistant, shows up on screen. Flo prepares and proposes; the consultant decides. The components are on Pattern · Flo.