Mobile App Guidelines

A Note on the Alumni App & Notifications

The Advancement Communications and Marketing Team is responsible for all notifications send through the BC Alumni App.

Mobile app notifications have become ubiquitous in 2023, and are, in terms of user experience and expectations, the most informal and transactional of all digital communications channels. Because of the restrictive character counts, the small size of notifications on already small mobile device screens, and the ephemeral nature of notifications that can be hidden with a finger swipe, license can be taken with Boston College’s style to ensure that notifications are seen and engaged with. However, it is essential to keep BC’s overall persona in mind when crafting notifications from the BC Alumni App. 

Tone & Voice 

The tone of notifications from the BC Alumni mobile app is spirited, informative, and fun. Notifications speak almost with a BC Athletics voice, or the voice of a BC Superfan: informal, action-oriented, and invested in BC. Notifications fall into three main categories: informative, invitations to engage with BC, or invitations to connect with fellow Eagles, and should each be imbued with a sense of optimism, community, and school spirit. 

Special Style Considerations

Since mobile apps are a much less formal channel of communication, there are some style guidelines that should be modified. The ACM App Team follows these guidelines, and continues to evolve them over time: 

  • Using “BC” to refer to Boston College is fine in a mobile app notification, even as the first mention in a post. 
  • Proper syntax and punctuation–in particular, full sentences and periods– need not be used, though question marks and exclamation points can help drive more attention 
  • Omit periods for most two-letter abbreviations or acronyms (ie: am, pm, SJ, US)
  • Omit periods in abbreviations, including academic degrees (ie: MBA, MSW) 
  • Capitalize official names of Boston College campuses and buildings, however, short hands like “Mods” or “The Rat” are fine to use on social media. 
  • Use “first-year” as opposed to “freshman”, as this gender-neutral term is inclusive and preferred. 
  • When referring to BC as its traditional nickname, the Heights, be sure not to capitalize “the” unless it appears at the start of a sentence.
  • Do not spell out numbers, even small denominations like “one” or “five”, in app notifications.