Platform UI casing

Standardizing casing rules across Zoom's product surfaces for clarity and consistency at scale.

Background

Role
Content designer, program manager

Goal
Standardize casing rules across Zoom's product surfaces for clarity and consistency at scale.

Stakeholders
Content design, Design leadership, Engineering, Marketing, Prism design system team

Overview

While rebuilding Zoom's broader content guidelines, casing emerged as one of the most persistent systemic issues. This project established clear casing standards and then implemented them across the platform in partnership with engineering.

Impact snapshot
  • Over 25,000 strings reviewed and updated across the platform.
  • Clear, modern casing standard established—title case for product names, uppercase for badges, sentence case everywhere else.
  • Reduced editing time and repeated questions from cross-functional partners.
  • Documentation co-created with Prism design system for writers, designers, and engineers.

The challenge

Zoom's existing casing rules had become overly complex and difficult to apply consistently at scale. Title case was used across product surfaces with nuanced exceptions tied to heading length, UI context, and vague definitions of what qualified as a "heading."

Rules like "use title case only when headings are fewer than five to six words" introduced more ambiguity than clarity. As a result:

  • Writers interpreted casing rules differently
  • Designers and engineers questioned when and where title case applied
  • Product surfaces showed visible casing inconsistency
  • Teams spent unnecessary time editing, debating, and correcting copy

As we began rebuilding broader content guidelines, it became clear that casing was one of the most persistent systemic issues and needed to be addressed first.

The approach

This project unfolded in two distinct but connected phases: standardization and execution.

Part 1: Standardizing the rules

The first phase focused on defining a casing system that could realistically scale across product teams.

Assessing the existing landscape
  • Audit scope — High-traffic workflows (Meetings first), then navigation, modal headers, headings, body copy
  • Finding — Title case appeared frequently and inconsistently; casing differed by surface
  • Conclusion — Casing was both a content and operational problem
Research and proposal
  • Benchmark — Casing standards from comparable modern SaaS products
  • Partner — Design leadership to evaluate what felt current, readable, scalable
  • Proposal — Title case product names; Uppercase badges; Sentence case everywhere else
Team Chat product name in title case NEW badge in uppercase Save changes button in sentence case

Title case: product names

Uppercase: badges

Sentence case: everywhere else

Leadership alignment
  • Stakeholders — Head of design, chief of product
  • Value framing — Improved readability, reduced cognitive load, faster workflows
  • Proof — Before/after comparison; alignment came quickly

Outcome: Teams wanted a modern, consistent system that removed unnecessary decision-making.

Part 2: Updating the product

Once the new casing rules were approved, the work shifted to execution—by far the most labor-intensive phase.

Manual string audits
  • Challenges — Strings scattered across products; coded differently per OS; risky to change (deep links, hidden references)
  • Method — Backward audits of known capitalized terms; visual edits to avoid breaking backend
Implementation workflow
  • Spreadsheets — Current string → proposed update, product surface, platform
  • Engineering — Batched updates, tracked progress
  • QA — Visual re-audit after implementation to catch regressions

Prioritization: Legacy and high-visibility products first; Whiteboard and Documents already aligned.

Outcome: Over 25,000 strings reviewed and updated across the platform—casing is now consistent wherever users encounter product UI.

Strings audit 2
Strings audit 1
Cross-functional alignment
  • Marketing — Aligned casing on pricing and high-traffic pages
  • Timing — Batched changes across product and web for consistency
  • Enablement — Single source of truth for updated rules

Documentation and enablement

The final phase focused on making the work stick. I co-created casing and capitalization documentation with the Prism design system using plain language, clear examples, and explicit exceptions—designed for writers, designers, and engineers. An all-hands presentation helped spread the guidelines. Key learning: clarity, restraint, and usability matter more than completeness.

Casing documentation 1
Casing documentation 2
Casing documentation 3
Casing documentation 4

Key learnings

Casing is one of those invisible details that, when inconsistent, creates subtle but persistent friction. Simplifying the rules—and executing at scale—required both content design rigor and program management discipline.

Simplicity beats nuance

Rules like "title case for headings under five words" created more ambiguity than clarity. A simpler system—sentence case everywhere except product names and badges—removed decision fatigue.

Documentation is a product

Prioritizing clarity, restraint, and usability over completeness made the guidelines actually usable by writers, designers, and engineers.

Execution requires partnership

String audits, engineering coordination, and cross-functional alignment were as critical as the rules themselves.

Why this work matters

While the execution was manual and time-intensive, the long-term payoff was substantial. This project removed a layer of invisible friction, helping the product feel more cohesive, modern, and intentional.

25,000+ strings updated

Comprehensive review and update across the platform.

Clear casing standard

Title case for product names, uppercase for badges, sentence case everywhere else.

Reduced editing time

Fewer questions and debates from cross-functional partners.

Documented for scale

Co-created with Prism design system for writers, designers, and engineers.

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