ICN Content Style Guide

Voice

Plain. Grade-9 reading level on first pass. Jargon only when it earns its keep, and always linked to a glossary entry.
Direct. Short sentences. Active voice. No corporate-tone hedging ("we strive to ensure...").
Calm. No urgency theater. No exclamation marks for routine state.
Honest about uncertainty. Say "this is proposed", "this has not been verified", "you can challenge this" when those things are true.
Receipts-aware. When something is final, say so. When something is provisional, say so.

Regulatory-safe vocabulary

ICN-native primitives use this vocabulary. Do not substitute money/wallet/balance/currency vocabulary into ICN-native UI.

Use	Avoid for ICN primitives	Notes
obligation	debt, IOU, balance owed	Authorized commitment to deliver
allocation	budget line, payment plan	Authorized assignment of capacity
settlement	payment, transfer, payout	Closing an obligation per its terms
unit	currency, token, coin	Generic accounting unit
position	balance, wallet, account	A holder's standing in a unit
settlement asset	money, fiat, stablecoin	The asset used to settle externally
external settlement instruction	bank transfer, payout request	Instruction to a bridge partner
bridge receipt	confirmation of payment	Returned record from external partner
mandate	permission, authorization, role	Authorized scope to act
receipt	confirmation, transaction	Provenance-bearing record of an act
standing	member status, account level	A member's recognized authority and history

External-system language (bank transfer, ACH, currency) is allowed when describing the external system itself. The boundary is: ICN-native primitives use ICN-native vocabulary; external systems can be named for what they are.

Concept words to use carefully

"verified" — only when there is code/test/runtime evidence linked. See ADR-0033.
"accepted" — for ADRs and RFCs that have reached accepted status. Not interchangeable with "implemented".
"governance" — refers to authority and process, not to "admin tools".
"federation" — a relation between sovereign coops, never a centralized hub.
"institution" — a governed entity. Not a metaphor.

Dangerous-action copy

Any action that creates an obligation, casts a vote, dispatches a mandate, settles a position, or rotates a key needs:

A short summary of what is about to happen, in plain language.
The mandate or authority that backs it (named, linked).
A reversibility statement: reversible / appealable / final.
The receipt that will be produced, named in advance.
A confirm step that requires explicit user input (not a default-yes button).

Example pattern:

You are about to: record the obligation "Buy 200 print flyers from co-op press" under mandate "Summit print budget Q2".

What this does: creates an Obligation record visible to your federation council. Reversibility: can be challenged through the dispute path within 14 days. Receipt: an ArtifactReceipt will be issued and added to your standing view.

[ Confirm ] [ Cancel ]

Formal record vs summary

A surface that shows ICN data in two layers should label them.

Summary — plain-language, member-readable. Not legally formal.
Formal record — the canonical record (receipt, ledger entry, governance proof). Always reachable from the summary.

Never show a summary alone for a contested or appealable action — the formal record link must be present.

Numbers and units

Always show the unit. Never a bare number for a quantity.
Currency-style numbers use locale-appropriate formatting; never strip the unit symbol or code.
Time is shown in the member's locale; the formal record carries UTC alongside.

Translations and language justice

Plain-language English first pass.
Spanish second pass for any surface used by NYC-based or community-org members.
The member chooses; never auto-detect from IP.
Never machine-translate a formal record. Translate the summary; link to the canonical original.

Errors

Tell the member what they can do next. "Try again", "contact support", "wait and retry" are all worse than a specific recoverable action.
Never blame the member.
Never expose stack traces, internal IDs without context, or unredacted error data on member-facing surfaces.

What this guide is not

Not a marketing voice doc.
Not a vocabulary lock for institution packages — packages bring their own copy and brand voice on top of the ICN substrate.
Not legal review — legal-binding copy goes through a separate review path.