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Rewrite app messages so they help instead of blame

Practice: Getting the tone right. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

You're the PM for Pocketpal, a budgeting app, and the app's messages sound robotic. Rewrite the 4 messages as exactly 4 numbered lines, each under 14 words, each saying what to do next. Follow the voice guide in your task: never blame the user (no "you failed", "invalid" or "error"), no "oops" or "uh-oh", and no exclamation points. Plain text, only the list.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Saying "make these friendlier". The AI adds "Oops!" and exclamation points, which the team already rejected. Try: Add: "No oops, no uh-oh, no exclamation points."
  • Keeping the blame words. The AI softens tone but keeps "invalid" and "failed". Try: Add: "Never use error, invalid, failed or rejected."
  • Not saying what to do. The AI explains the problem without the next step. Try: Add: "Each message says what to do next."
  • Getting a table with notes. The AI shows before/after with bold labels and rationale. Try: Add: "Exactly 4 numbered lines, plain text, no notes."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Says how many
  • Asks for the next step
  • Bans blame words
  • Rules out oops and exclamation points
  • Asks for only the list

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