User Experience Writing: Title Case or Sentence Case - Which Works Best?

Sharing my UX research on this theme - to help any UXer who asks a question like this.

Basically, this research conclusion is as follows:

Choosing a system's best writing style, such as Title Case or Sentence Case, is more than defining rules for UX writers. It's about selecting the right approach for your target audience.

Select Title case if it is academic and preservative approach.

Select Sentence case if it is young, modern, and conversational approach.

Let's dive in

Research question:

How should you use Title Case and Sentence Case, and when should you use each?

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Content:

• 5 articles and a conclusion from each
• Detailed research conclusion
• List to content guidelines
• Articles links list for more reading

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5 articles and a conclusion from each

1. This article defines what is Title Case vs Sentence Case

I take from this article thisWhen using Apple products, you'll notice that many user interface elements, such as alert titles, menu items, and buttons, are written in title case. This is because Apple's design guidelines suggest using title case for these elements.In contrast, if you're using Google products, you'll observe that they predominantly use sentence case for almost all text. This is in line with Google's design guidelines, which recommend sentence case for a wide range of elements.?

2. Quoting this article Quoting this article

i show a point of view about Why use Title Case and Why use Sentence case? ...1. Why use Title Case?·? Let’s Make It Official. Looks serious, right? Exactly!·? Grabs reader attention. Capitalized phrases stand out from the crowd, as Pieter Heyman nicely put it.·? Keeps a nice visual rhythm. Of course, as long as the sentences are short.·? Stands out. Title Case differentiates title from the body text.·? Maintains symmetry. Yet, works only for short texts (ex. Buttons, Labels)2. Why use Sentence case?·? Consistency. Easier to maintain across different platforms.·? Clarity. Easy to navigate and skim, thank you, John Saito. (ex. Home > About us)·? People love it. Yes, we love having human-ish conversations with apps.·? Casual. Gives an impression that anyone can use the product.·? Easier to localize. Much much easier and less stressful.But those who did know that children in American schools learn how to write in Title Case from a very young age. No wonder that the majority of US citizens are big fans of the Title Case.On the contrary, Europe and the rest of the world find Title Case too cluttery.Pretty casual, right? It has a vibe that most modern companies would like to promote. Sentence case is all about innovations, new tech decisions, automation, and entertainment. And if you’re having an e-commerce business or an online store, Title Case can cause you a drop in traffic and fewer purchases of your goods...

3. Quoting this article

i show a point of view about Why is using ‘Sentence Case’ easier to develop? ...According to Google’s first UX writer, Sue Factor, one of the main reasons why Google decided to go with sentence case was because it was just easier to explain to designers and engineers. In a product interface, it’s not always clear what’s considered a “title.” Is a tab name a title? How about a settings checkbox? Or a confirmation message?On top of that, there are multiple ways to do title case. Do you capitalise prepositions like “from” or “through”? How about articles like “the” or “an”? Depending on which style guide you follow, the exact rules for title case can be different. Below are the title case rules according to Apple...

4. This quote from unknown source talks about Why is using ‘Sentence Case’ better for great usability?... as the title case looks more formal and serious, the sentence case looks more casual and friendly.When selecting the title case approach, the company will have to define more rules on when to use title case and when not, for example:A lot of companies nowadays give their features and products descriptive names like “Inbox” or “Calendar,” as opposed to whimsical names like “Spark” or “Fantastical.” If you use title case in all your buttons, it becomes unclear whether certain things are proper nouns or not—and that can affect usability

5. This article talks about What does my audience prefer??

I liked best this sentence...Is the title a complete sentence or just a phrase? What “vibe” do I want the article to give off? What other factors do I need to consider?...because it point in the right direction of how we should resolve the research question.

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Detailed research conclusion

When you need to decide Title Case vs Sentence Case ask these questions:

• What do the target audiences/users accustomed to??
• What do we want him to become accustomed to?
• Is he more academic and conservative?
• Or more conversational, young spirited and modern?
• Older or younger?

P.S

I had to choose between Title Case and Sentence Case for users in the medical SaaS asset management platform. Guess who won?!?

Hint: Physicians and medical technicians tend to be conservative ??

List to content guidelines

https://www.patternfly.org/v4/ux-writing/capitalization?

Articles links list for more reading