The Style & Human Interface Guidelines (SHIG) are designed to help our developers and designers maintain a consistent and pleasant experience for end users across our web and desktop products.
When presenting a dialog or action, include Primary and Secondary text as well as Actions.
Basic information and a suggestion.
Further details, including any non-obvious consequences of actions.
Aligned right-to-left at the bottom of the UI. Affirmative/suggested action, cancel (if applicable), and any secondary actions.
If you are unable to know the explicit type, use the generic term “product” when referring to a customer’s product. Avoid semi-generic terms like “computer”. If you can determine whether it’s a laptop, desktop, accessory, etc., use that more specific term. If you know the specific product, use its product name when it makes sense.
Use the term payment methods, not transaction methods, payment cards, or
anything else when being generic. If you know the type of a specific payment
method in context (i.e. a card or financing), feel free to be more specific.
However, avoid credit card or debit card, since we can’t distinguish between
the two; instead, just say, card.
Use a space between numbers and text units, eg. 72 TB and 4.0 GHz instead of
72TB and 4.0GHz. For feet and inches, use the prime (′, ′) and
double-prime (″, ″) entities. For pounds and kilograms, always
abbreviate, but do not use a period after the abbreviation, eg. use 2.5 lbs,
not 2.5 lbs..
When describing resolutions, always use a times symbol (×, ×) between
the pixel width and height with no spaces, eg. 3200×1800. Default to using the
actual resolution (1920×1080, 3200×1800, 3840×2160, etc.) and not more
ambiguous terms.
To describe a high-density pixel-doubled screen, always use the term HiDPI;
the fact that they are HiDPI is what matters, not the exact physical resolution.
Relegate exact pixel resolutions to tech specs or supplementary text.
When a shorthand for the resolution exists, use it when space is limited, but only when it exactly matches what is in the table below. Never use it as a replacement for the actual resolution in tech specs, as customers are looking for the specific pixel resolutions there.
| Resolution | Shorthand |
|---|---|
| 1280×720 | 720p |
| 1920×1080 | 1080p |
| 2560×1440 | 1440p |
| 3200×1800 | None; use 3200×1800 |
| 3840×2160 | 4K |
| 5120×2880 | 5K |
Use whole dollar amounts for customer-facing pricing and copy. Only use cents once taxes and/or shipping get involved (where we can’t round them to the dollar).
NVIDIA should always be written as NVIDIA in both component names and general
copy. Intel should include the registered symbol (®, ®) i.e. Intel® in
tech specs and catalog product option descriptions, but not in component
names or general copy.
The System76 HIG is heavily influenced by elementary. For anything not covered in this document, refer to the elementary HIG.