Tone of voice

How we sound

SimplePark sounds like a friendly neighbor who knows how parking works: someone who tells you straight what to do and what it costs, and then lets you get on with your day. We are sober and warm at the same time. Sober, because parking is a chore and nobody wants to be entertained by it. Warm, because we are on your side, also when something goes wrong. We write short, we say it once, and we never make you feel stupid for asking.

In one line: SimplePark sounds like a friendly neighbor who knows the way: simple, fair and calm.

Where we sit

Casual, not sloppy. We address people informally. We write the way you would explain it to someone at the kitchen table, but without slang or abbreviations. Add your license plate and you can park right away.

Calm, not flat. Parking is often done in a hurry. Our copy slows nobody down and raises nobody's pulse: no exclamation marks, no countdowns, no pressure. Your parking action stops at 17:30. We'll let you know a quarter of an hour before.

Serious about money, light elsewhere. A dry wink is welcome on social, on the website and in empty states. Never when it is about costs, payments, fines, errors or reminders. No parking actions yet. Your car is probably fine where it is.

Accessible, not dumbed down. We know the rules of parking in the Netherlands so you don't have to. We explain the one thing you need now, not everything we know. You can park for up to 2 hours in this zone.

Close, not intimate. We are friendly, not your friend. No hugs, no "we missed you", no pretending to know how your day is going. You have € 4.12 outstanding. Pay it and you can park again.

How our values and traits sound

This page doesn't have a list of its own. Our values say what we stand for and our personality says how we behave; this is what each sounds like in a sentence.

Simple (value)

We say one thing per sentence and leave out what you don't need right now.

• Do: "Choose your end time."
• Don't: "To make sure your parking action ends at the right moment, you can select a preferred end time below."

Fair (value)

We name costs, limits and mistakes plainly, we show why (where an amount comes from, why something is blocked, what happens next), and we say what we will do and when.

• Do: "Topping up costs € 0.29, however you pay."
• Don't: "No hidden costs" (when there is a top-up fee).
• Do: "Your direct debit of € 23.40 didn't go through. Your bank gave the reason: insufficient funds."
• Don't: "Something went wrong with your payment."
• Do: "We stop your parking action at 17:30, even when your phone is off."
• Don't: "We do our best to stop your parking action on time."

Down to earth (trait)

We state facts, not feelings.

• Do: "Your parking action stops at 17:30."
• Don't: "Your parking action will be ending at the end of your selected parking window, which is great news!"

Warm (trait)

We are on your side. When something goes wrong, we help first and explain second.

• Do: "That went wrong on our side. Your parking action stopped at 14:02 and you pay nothing extra."
• Don't: "An unexpected error occurred. Please try again later."

Calm is in the examples under where we sit.

Tone per situation

The voice stays the same everywhere. The tone moves with the moment.

Before and after