Voice
AcceptedDraft — unverified translation. Highest voice-sensitivity. Machine-assisted English translation of the Swedish canonical page
foundation/voice.md. This page defines the brand voice, so the translation choices below are themselves brand decisions Torfinn must make — not least the rendering of "den nära experten" (here: "the Present Expert") and the quick-reference phrasing examples, which were Swedish-language patterns and do not map one-to-one to English. See the translation notes file for the flagged passages. Do not treat as canonical or stakeholder-facing.
The Present Expert
Aleris is the Present Expert: a specialist who has time for you. A knowledgeable colleague who meets you where you are and explains clearly, directly, and with genuine interest in you specifically. Not an authority that informs, or an inventive salesperson.
The voice holds even when the content is difficult: payment terms, complication risks, cancellation rules. The Present Expert uses plain language and leads you to the next step in the direction that you need to go in order to reach your goal.
The test
Every text, every interface, every message can be tested against a single question:
Does it feel like the sender has time for me without a hidden agenda?
If the answer isn't an unambiguous yes, the text and the message are not worked through enough.
Five principles
1. The patient is a subject, not a recipient
The patient has needs and is looking to complete a job — preparing for something, making plans and decisions, asking questions. Our communication should reflect that. Passive phrasing ("you will be summoned to") makes the patient an object. Active phrasing ("you will receive a summons") makes the patient a person.
This isn't just about grammar. It's about perspective. A text that begins with "the clinic offers" sees the world from inside the organisation. A text that begins with "you can" sees the world from the person reading.
Test: Is the patient the one acting in the sentence — or the one something happens to?
2. Structure follows the patient's journey, not the clinic's needs
The information the patient needs first should come first. Most care texts are organised by the clinic's logic: first the department, then the routine, then what the patient should do. The patient's question is the reverse: what happens to me, in what order, and what do I need to do?
The same principle applies in every format. A website, a sign, an app, a letter — the structure should follow the person reading, not the one sending.
Test: If I read only the first three sentences — do I then know what applies to me?
3. Directness without distance
the Present Expert is direct without being cold. "You need to fast" is direct. "Please note that the patient is expected to fast" is bureaucratic. The difference isn't politeness — it's distance.
Directness doesn't mean harshness. It means we respect the recipient's time and attention enough to say what applies without detours.
Test: Can I remove words without losing meaning? Then I should.
4. Clinical information is explained, not dumped
A list of preparations before surgery isn't communication — it's a checklist. Communication explains why: why you should fast, why you shouldn't take Trombyl, why you need to bring your referral. The explanation lets the patient follow the instruction even when the situation doesn't match exactly.
Explaining doesn't necessarily take more room. "Avoid Trombyl for a week beforehand — it thins the blood and increases the bleeding risk during surgery" is one sentence. It gives the patient a reason, not just an order.
Test: Would the patient understand why — not just what?
5. The organisation's need for protection and the patient's need for information are not mixed
Payment terms, cancellation rules, legal caveats — they exist for good reasons. But they don't belong in the middle of a text meant to help the patient understand their care. When the organisation's need to protect itself is mixed with the patient's need to understand, the text becomes neither clear nor reassuring.
The solution isn't to remove what the organisation needs. It's to separate it. Patient information is about the patient. Terms are about the agreement. Both can be clear — but not in the same paragraph.
Test: Are there sentences here that protect us rather than help the reader? Move them.
What the Present Expert is not
Not superficially warm. The warmth sits in the structure — that we have thought through what the recipient needs — not in exclamation marks or affected phrases. "How lovely to hear from you!" isn't warmth. It's filler.
Not an affirming chatbot. Empty pleasantries ("Thank you for your question!", "Absolutely!") signal that no one is listening. the Present Expert goes straight to the answer.
Not an authority that reports. We never write about the patient in the third person ("the patient should avoid..."). We write to the patient: "avoid."
Not vague about the clinical. Simplifying isn't omitting. If the patient needs to know it may hurt, we say so — and explain what we do about it.
Not inside-out. We don't begin with the clinic, the department, the process. We begin with the person reading and what they need.
The guide's reach
This voice owns the form of the communication — not the substance of the content. Audit reports, medical records, legal agreements, ISO documents, and clinical protocols have their own requirements and their own technical language.
The rule of thumb: if a specialist needs their professional expertise to judge whether the phrasing is correct — it isn't the voice guide's domain. The voice guide governs how we communicate with patients, employees, and partners. It does not govern how a surgeon documents a procedure.
Contextual: how the voice adapts
The character is constant. The register is contextual.
the Present Expert sounds fundamentally the same — whether it's a website, an SMS, a sign, or a presentation. But how we apply the principles depends on the situation. A patient before a cardiac assessment needs predictability and structure. A patient booking a health check-up out of curiosity needs affirmation and a focus on outcome. The voice is the same. The information architecture adapts.
See Emotional Mode as a Design Entry Point and Constant and Contextual for the framework. Baseline, Communication, and Physical document how the voice is applied in their respective contexts.
Quick reference
Translation note: these examples were Swedish-language phrasing patterns. The English renderings below are illustrative equivalents, not validated brand phrasing — the originals carry nuances (e.g. "Vänligen notera att…", Swedish passive constructions) that don't map cleanly into English.
| Pattern | Problem | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "The patient is expected to..." | Passive, bureaucratic | "You need to..." |
| "We offer the possibility to..." | Roundabout, inside-out | "You can..." |
| "Please note that..." | Distancing politeness | Cut it. Say what applies, directly |
| "In the event of any questions, contact..." | Needlessly conditional | "Have questions? Call us on..." |
| "Thank you for choosing Aleris!" | Superficial, marketing | Cut it. Give value instead |
| "It is important that..." | Abstract authority | Explain why it is important |
| Error message with no next step | Abandoned user | What happened + why (if relevant) + what you can do |
For AI systems
AI tools that communicate as Aleris — chats, automated messages, summaries — should follow the same character. Here are the principles in compressed form:
- Lead with the answer. Not with pleasantries, not with a restatement of the question.
- Write actively. The patient is the subject.
- Acknowledge uncertainty directly. "I can't answer that — contact your clinic on [phone number]" is better than hedging vaguely.
- No empty intensifiers. "Absolutely!", "Of course!", "Great question!" — cut all of it.
- No English idioms in Swedish text. "Vi är här för dig" ("We're here for you") and "tveka inte att höra av dig" ("don't hesitate to get in touch") are translation artefacts, not Swedish. (Translation note: this rule is about Swedish source text and will need rethinking for an English-language voice.)
- Explain, don't refer. "You should fast for six hours" — not "see the preparation instructions."
The test applies to AI too: Does this feel like someone who knows what they're doing really has time for me — or does it feel like a machine filling in a template?
The voice is the most recognisable property of Aleris. The logotype is seen, the colours are seen — but the voice is felt. A patient reading a summons, an employee opening an email, a partner receiving a presentation — all of them meet the Present Expert through how we phrase things. Breaking character doesn't make the communication more effective. It makes it impersonal.