Specious Coda-Bishop · Technical Writing Portfolio
The same content — a short how-to guide for setting up two-factor authentication on a fictional app called Forma — written three times, each version calibrated to a different company's documented voice principles: Apple, Mailchimp, and PostHog.
Writing in a company's voice is a research discipline, not intuition. It requires reading the source guide, identifying the principles that apply to the content type, and making deliberate choices at the sentence level. A hiring manager should be able to read each section, look up the source guide, and verify that the writing genuinely reflects the documented principles.
Two-factor authentication was chosen as the subject because it is universally understood, has clear steps, involves a security-critical moment that tests tone judgment, and is relevant to developer tooling contexts — making it a useful stress test for voice adaptation across different registers.
Spec's natural writing register is Apple-influenced: second person, active voice, imperative steps, precision over warmth. Section 01 represents native range. Sections 02 and 03 show deliberate departure from it.
Precise, user-empathetic, every state accounted for, calm and clear, never condescending. The closest register to native.
Warm, human, dry humour where appropriate, plainspoken, genuine. Clarity over entertainment, always.
Direct, developer-first, opinionated, no filler. Assumes technical competence. Gets to the point fast.
| # | Company | Style Guide |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Apple | support.apple.com/guide/applestyleguide/welcome/web |
| 02 | Mailchimp | styleguide.mailchimp.com/voice-and-tone/ |
| 03 | PostHog | posthog.com/handbook/content-and-docs/writing-for-posthog |
Two-factor authentication adds a second layer of security to your Forma account. After you set it up, signing in requires both your password and a verification code from your phone.
Before you begin
Make sure you have your phone nearby. You'll need it to complete setup and to confirm that everything is working.
To set up two-factor authentication:
Store your recovery codes in a safe place before you click Done. If you lose access to your phone, these codes are the only way to regain access to your account. Each code can be used only once.
Two-factor authentication is now active on your account. The next time you sign in, Forma will ask for your password and a verification code from your phone.
Check that your phone has a signal if you're using text messages, or that your authenticator app is showing the correct time. If the problem persists, click Resend Code, or contact Forma Support.
Apple documentation accounts for failure states without dramatising them. The "If you don't receive a code" note isn't a warning block — it's the next piece of information the reader might need, placed at the natural point where they'd need it. The hardest discipline was naming every UI element precisely ("click your profile picture in the top-right corner") rather than assuming the user will find things. Apple's voice trusts readers to succeed while quietly preparing them for the case where they don't — and it does that without a single sentence that reads as anxious.
Two-factor authentication means that even if someone gets hold of your password, they still can't get into your account without your phone. It takes about two minutes to turn on.
What you'll need: your phone, and a few minutes.
Steps
That's it. Two-factor authentication is now turned on. The next time you sign in, Forma will ask for your password and a code from your phone.
Check your signal, or try the resend option. If neither works, Forma's support team can help.
The trickiest moment was the recovery code warning. Mailchimp's guide is explicit that tone should match the reader's emotional state — and at the "write your codes down" step, the reader is mildly impatient, not anxious. A full caution block would lose them. "Write them down. Somewhere real." carries the seriousness without slowing things down. The other deliberate choice was closing with "That's it" rather than a formal confirmation sentence — Mailchimp's warmth lives in exactly those small concessions to how people actually talk.
Go to Account Settings → Security → Two-Factor Authentication and click Set Up.
Choose your verification method
Authenticator app (recommended) — open Duo, Authy, or Google Authenticator, scan the QR code Forma shows you, then enter the six-digit code. Works offline, more reliable than SMS.
Text message — enter your phone number, receive a code, enter it. Fine if you don't want to install an app.
Save your recovery codes. Forma generates a set of single-use codes after you verify. Store them in your password manager. If you lose your phone without these, account recovery goes through support and takes time.
Click Done. 2FA is now active on the account. You'll see a code prompt on every subsequent login.
PostHog's voice required the sharpest edit — the work is almost entirely subtraction. The first draft included an opening sentence explaining what 2FA is; it was cut because PostHog's audience already knows. The recommendation to prefer authenticator apps over SMS is deliberately opinionated: PostHog's handbook states explicitly that "it's better to be slightly wrong, or controversial, than say nothing." The → path notation replaces numbered navigation steps — a PostHog docs convention that signals developer familiarity without explaining itself.