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Yours vs. Mine

dcurt.is

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Re: Yours vs. Mine

#21

Post by waterlesscloud »

cantlin wrote: post #19

Interfaces and marketing that use "my" always irk me by, for lack of a better phrase, coming on too strong . I'm all too aware of the human hands that typed out that button label - it seems damned impudent of them to be assuming my voice. It implies a certain intimacy. My cart sounds like an appropriate label for something I've filled, but so long as it's empty trying to foist it off as mine just comes across as a de…

I agree. "My" always comes across as forced and a bit too cute to me.

Having said that, there are situations where those traits may be appropriate. If some kind of intimate or emotional connection is the point of the app, it makes a certain sort of sense.

I also realize my bias against that sort of presumed intimacy may be greater than the average person's.

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#22

Post by scottjackson »

From the section of the iOS HIG about writing alert copy:

> Avoid using “you,” “your,” “me,” and “my” as much as possible. Sometimes, text that identifies people directly can be ambiguous and can even be interpreted as an insult.

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#23

Post by acavailhez »

In foreign languages with a polite form of "You" (such as French or German), there is an additional question: should a website use the polite of familiar form.

And it's widely accepted that a website should use the polite form.

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#24

Post by dylangs1030 »

Excellent thought process on the differences in possessive pronouns.

But what if you go for a more minimalist approach? What if your app doesn't use possessive pronouns at all?

You could just display "Settings", "Settings have been saved!", "Profile picture has been changed." etc and I've seen apps that do this natively.

Although, to a certain extent I suppose that proves his point, as apps will be forced to act as though they aren't using possessive pronouns if they use "My" - it would be a little strange to display messages like "My profile picture has been changed", etc. Using the possessive pronoun "Your" is the only one with special modifiers throughout the app's structure that don't sound redundant.

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#25

Post by mminer »

davisr wrote: post #12
[deleted] wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Why should an app have a personality? Apps should 'do', not 'be'. In my opinion, the user shouldn't ever notice the interface, because its only purpose is to facilitate the service; anything that disrupts the purpose (like a 'personality') is distracting from what it's supposed to do.

What do you make of a service like Siri that imposes a personality on the UI without disrupting its usability? Anecdotally, many people like communicating with such an interface that simulates human conversation, even if the results themselves aren't improved by it.

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#26

Post by tadfisher »

scottjackson wrote: post #22

From the section of the iOS HIG about writing alert copy: > Avoid using “you,” “your,” “me,” and “my” as much as possible. Sometimes, text that identifies people directly can be ambiguous and can even be interpreted as an insult.

I agree with this. Using the example from the article, "Profile" is just as expressive as "My Profile", more concise, and groups better with other similar actions. Taken to its logical extreme, you'll have to put "My" everywhere; imagine GMail with "My Inbox", "My Starred", "My Important Messages", "My Circles", etc.

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#27

Post by mouly »

Both usages have a valid context.

In system generated messages "yours" seems more appropriate. It implies that someone else is talking to the user. If I got a message "My email was received", I would feel like talking to myself.

The UI is an extension of human brain. So labeling things with "mine" will make the UI feel natural. My contacts feels closer than your contacts.

I wrote about the same subject: http://mouly.me/2011/07/my-contacts-or-your-contacts/

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#28

Post by abstractbill »

tadfisher wrote: post #26
scottjackson wrote: post #22

From the section of the iOS HIG about writing alert copy: > Avoid using “you,” “your,” “me,” and “my” as much as possible. Sometimes, text that identifies people directly can be ambiguous and can even be interpreted as an insult.

I agree with this. Using the example from the article, "Profile" is just as expressive as "My Profile", more concise, and groups better with other similar actions. Taken to its logical extreme, you'll have to put "My" everywhere; imagine GMail with "My Inbox", "My Starred", "My Important Messages", "My Circles", etc.

Mostly. The downside is with words ("profile" even, though rarely enough that it probably doesn't matter) that can be both nouns and verbs. Leaving off the my/your then makes the button ambiguous.

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#29

Post by homosaur »

tadfisher wrote: post #26
scottjackson wrote: post #22

From the section of the iOS HIG about writing alert copy: > Avoid using “you,” “your,” “me,” and “my” as much as possible. Sometimes, text that identifies people directly can be ambiguous and can even be interpreted as an insult.

I agree with this. Using the example from the article, "Profile" is just as expressive as "My Profile", more concise, and groups better with other similar actions. Taken to its logical extreme, you'll have to put "My" everywhere; imagine GMail with "My Inbox", "My Starred", "My Important Messages", "My Circles", etc.

Oh gravy, tell me about it. I fought at work for two days about taking the "our offices", "our whatever" off all the nav links.

Re: Yours vs. Mine

#30

Post by kyro »

tadfisher wrote: post #26
scottjackson wrote: post #22

From the section of the iOS HIG about writing alert copy: > Avoid using “you,” “your,” “me,” and “my” as much as possible. Sometimes, text that identifies people directly can be ambiguous and can even be interpreted as an insult.

I agree with this. Using the example from the article, "Profile" is just as expressive as "My Profile", more concise, and groups better with other similar actions. Taken to its logical extreme, you'll have to put "My" everywhere; imagine GMail with "My Inbox", "My Starred", "My Important Messages", "My Circles", etc.

I think pronouns should be reserved more for interactions, where a UI's personality really shines through. So when refreshing your inbox, you may see "Fetching your email", for example.
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