Luxoft

Style Guide

Version 1.1 February 2022

Table of contents

Luxoft’s seven brand qualities 4 Grammar and language 9 Copyright 17

Language Phrases Using copyrighted material from external sources
Introducing Luxoft Punctuation Using material from Gartner and other analyst firms
Expressing the seven brand qualities 5
Abbreviations • Dashes Using material from websites
Optimistic, friendly and conversational
Acronyms • Hyphens Using other company logos
Crisp and clear
Bulleted lists • Hyphens and unit
Well structured
modifiers
Capitalization
Personal
Quotation marks Appendix 1 18
We’re Collective nouns
Rhythm and fluency Luxoft vocabulary
We’re not Department names
Semicolons
Exclamation marks
Signs and symbols
Fiscal year
Good writing tips 7 Terminology Appendix 2 19
Independent versus
dependent clauses Time U.S. English versus UK English
Job titles The Luxoft URLs
Tone of voice 8 Numbers
What we mean by voice and tone • Mixed numbers Appendix 3 21
Maintaining a consistent tone of voice • Fractions Words with different meanings

Luxoft Style Guide 2

Style Guide — Luxoft’s seven brand qualities

Luxoft’s seven brand qualities

Commitment Honest Proactive Agile

We’re committed to our We’re honest and trustworthy — We have a can-do attitude — We’re flexible and agile — we
partnerships — we take on our we don’t sugarcoat things and we we’re problem solvers find the best approach and
clients’ challenges as our own play an open hand engagement model for each
client

Passionate Insightful Expert

We’re passionate about We understand our client’s We’re thought leaders — we
technology and the people who business and challenges, and have 20 years’ experience
make it happen develop custom solutions in using industry-leading
technologies

Luxoft Style Guide 3

Style Guide — Expressing the seven brand qualities

Expressing the seven

brand qualities
1. Optimistic, friendly and conversational:
• Sound professional (but not formal — like a regular
client conversation)​
• Use short, everyday words unless it oversimplifies the
thought
• Translate use cases and case studies into insightful
anecdotes
2. Crisp and clear:
• Get to the point fast — simple is good. Write for easy
scanning
• Make every word count
• Show, don’t tell — be clear and engaging
• Make sure everything you say is accurate, meaningful
and evidenced (wherever possible)
• Explain technical terminology (except when the terms
are in everyday use)
3. Well structured:
• Use bullets and subheads, “chunking” the text so it
can be scanned easily
• Keep sentences short — ideally, 18 words or fewer
(only one thought per sentence)
• Avoid filler-phrases like Please note and At this point
in time
• Use contractions (can’t) unless you need to add
emphasis (cannot)
4. Client-centric:
• Understand each client’s business needs and offer relevant
information at the right time
• Show clients that we’re on their side
• Aim to write in first and second person over third; first
person when speaking about Luxoft, second when referring
to the reader:
The mini-view appears when the record in the
detail view has associated records
The mini-view doesn’t appear if the record in the
detail view doesn’t have any records associated
with it

Luxoft Style Guide 4

Style Guide — Expressing the seven brand qualities

5. We’re: 6. We’re not:

• Direct, but always respectful • Pushy or needlessly technical
• Empathetic, transparent and honest • Cute or sarcastic
• Occasionally witty • Users of buzzwords, jargon or slang (well, rarely)
• Positive:

The mini-view appears when the record in the

detail view has associated records

The mini-view doesn’t appear if the record in the

detail view doesn’t have any records associated
with it

• Polite (but not overly so):

To read the document, click VIEW

To read the document, please click View

Luxoft Style Guide 5

Style Guide — Good writing tips

Good writing tips

“Just tell stories.”​

• Always tell a story, no matter how dry the topic.
Create a narrative on which you can hang the rest of
your facts, stats and refined information. This story
could be based around new information or a new
angle on the subject
• Be mindful that English isn’t the first language of
a large proportion of your audience. Aim to write
sentences that a 10-year-old would understand. You
can check the readability of your copy with free tools
such as readable.com/text/
• Use active language where possible:
We met the client’s expectations (active)
The client‘s expectations were met (passive)

• Focus on the benefits of the product or service to the
customer. Sell them on what they’ll get, not on what
we’re offering. In other words, sell the sizzle, not the
sausage
• Be consistent and make sure your writing reflects our
style guide. There are many writers at Luxoft and this
will ensure we’re all speaking in the same voice
• If the deadline allows, leave your copy overnight and
look at it with fresh eyes the next morning
• When preparing copy, leave sufficient line spacing to
allow the reader’s eye to move easily from one line to
the next. Copy set-solid with a long line measure is
difficult for the eye to track and mind to comprehend
(particularly if read on screen)

• Use a wide but not literary vocabulary so you’re not

repeating stock phrases and hackneyed expressions

Luxoft Style Guide 6

Style Guide — Tone of voice
Tone of voice
Here, we’re going to address the main
copywriting points — from how to capitalize a
headline, to what to do about that chart you
copied and pasted from a research website.
Our aim is to ensure Luxoft content continues
to be perceived as expert,
trustworthy and optimistic by decision-makers
across all industries.
Luxoft Style Guide
What we mean by voice of tone: Maintaining a consistent tone of voice:
A simple way to define voice and tone is thinking of your • Differentiates our content from the crowd
role as a parent. • Builds trust and an engaging connection with our
audience, encouraging dialogue
Your voice — the behavioral values you instill in your
• Maintains a favorable image of our brand
children (respect, honesty, politeness, compromise,
• Streamlines and coordinates content creation
sharing, etc.) — remains constant.
But you change the way you enforce those values by
altering the tone of your voice to suit different parental
situations (disciplinary, cajoling, badgering, correcting,
tempting, encouraging, rewarding, loving or, simply,
being extra-kind occasionally).
So:​
• Voice reflects Luxoft’s brand values​
• Tone is the words we use to convey this
7
Style Guide — Grammar and language
Grammar and language
Language Introducing Luxoft
Our global standard is U.S. English. However, in a targeted Luxoft should be written as Luxoft. The first time you
campaign for UK markets (only) you can use UK English. mention Luxoft in a piece of content, it should be written
as Luxoft, a DXC Technology Company. After that you can
just use Luxoft.
• In general, refer to Luxoft as a collection of people —
use we and our
• In press releases, Luxoft is a single entity — use it, its,
it’s, or the company’s
Luxoft Style Guide
Abbreviations
Abbreviate words in charts and diagrams only (e.g., mgr., comm.)
• Only use “e.g./i.e.” in parentheses (brackets) and add a
comma after (e.g., XXXX)
• Only use symbols like & in charts and avoid using them on
social media and email banners, unless they’re part of a
proper name (e.g., Johnson & Johnson)
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Style Guide — Grammar and language

Acronyms
General rules for acronyms
In the first instance, spell out in full and add the acronym in
brackets:
Topic Action Example
• Account–based marketing (ABM)

Don’t capitalize the spell out unless it features a proper noun Spell out followed by acronym
First instance change request (CR)
(name of something or someone). Avoid using acronyms in brackets
in headings (unless the acronym is better known than the quality assurance (QA)
Don’t capitalize unless acronym
descriptive phrase [e.g., USP] by that particular audience). Spell out phrase
stands for a proper noun European Union (EU)

Possessive Add ‘s to the acronym The SME’s report

Possessive: Acronyms ending in S Add an apostrophe AWS’ cloud services

Plural Add a lowercase s Three program managers (PMs)

An ITIL-aligned process
If acronym starts with a vowel
Articles sound use an. For a consonant An EMA-approved drug
sound use a A SaaS solution

Capitalization exceptions Acronyms all caps except for: SaaS, IaaS, etc.

Luxoft Style Guide 9

Style Guide — Grammar and language

Bulleted lists Capitalization Collective nouns

• Introduce bulleted lists with a colon (:) and capitalize
the first word in each item (no period)
• Avoid using numbered lists unless you’re describing
specific steps in a process
• Begin each bullet with the same type of word (verb,
noun, etc.)
For example:
• With enterprise cloud services, companies can:
- Rapidly provision and deploy IT resources
- Quickly lower capital expenses by reducing
their IT infrastructure
In headings, subheads, graphs, charts and document Use the singular form to address collective nouns:
titles use sentence case (use title case for proposals).
Each word should be lowercase except for: The team was pleased with their
• First word performance
• Proper nouns
The team were pleased with their
• Acronyms
• First word after a colon performance
For example:
Department names
• Getting the analytics right for GDPR — and
Capitalize proper names of departments and
beyond
organizations: Human Resources, Global Information
• Best-of-breed solutions and real-world expertise
• Luxoft and DXC Technology: Thrive on change Management, but not for generic use — facilities
personnel, operations staff.

Luxoft Style Guide 10

Style Guide — Grammar and language
Exclamation marks
Do not use in business or technical content. If you need
to add emphasis, rewrite the sentence.
Fiscal year
The term “fiscal year” can be abbreviated in regular copy:
• In FY20, we will invest in innovation for our clients
Luxoft Style Guide
Independent versus dependent clauses:
• Use a comma to link two independent clauses:
Luxoft is providing help-desk support, and we are
consolidating two contact centers
• No comma if an independent clause is followed by a
dependent clause
Job titles
As a general rule, all names and job titles should be
lowercase and appear in the following form:
• Dmitry Loschinin is Luxoft’s president and chief
executive officer
• Michael Friedland, global chief operating officer,
Luxoft
• Samuel Mantle, executive vice president and head of
digital engineering, Luxoft
However, use uppercase for job titles when they
immediately precede a name:
• President and Chief Executive Officer Dmitry
Loschinin will speak at 2:00 p.m.
• Head of Banking and Capital Markets Nigel Cairns will
start June 1
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Style Guide — Grammar and language

Numbers
Spell out numbers zero to nine Use numerals for 10 and over

49 networks, 2,000 end users,

Eight laptops, one-time offer, nine contractors
4 million lines of code

Ordinal numbers: first, second… up to ninth Ordinal numbers: 10th and above

Exceptions

Use numerals for: Spell out in full:

Time and date: Numbers at the beginning of a sentence or

3:00 p.m., 5:30 a.m., 3 hours, 1 day, 2 weeks
Money:
4 cents, $5.25, €7 million
Age:
4-year-old boy; he is 6 years old; 7-year contract
Percentages: 1% Mixed fractions: 2½ years
bulleted item:
Fifteen companies will join Luxoft on the contract.
Numbers below 10 for decades and centuries:
Two decades ago, three centuries before the
present

Decimals: 1.3 times Ratios: 2 to 1

Measurements:
5-inch border, 8°C, 4 MB RAM, 3 miles, 7 mph

Names or parts of books, volumes and exhibits:

Section 2, Volume 3, Exhibit 4-2, Appendix 3

Luxoft Style Guide 12

Style Guide — Grammar and language
Mixed numbers
• We’re using six companies, three contractors and 18
subcontractors
• It took three experts 3 hours to solve the problem
using four computers and 4 feet of tape
• The three ships struggled with winds of over 65 knots
and temperatures below 8°F
Spell out the words million and billion
In charts or presentations, use M or B in place of million
or billion and close up space: $30M
Don’t use superscripts (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
Luxoft Style Guide
Fractions
In copy, spell out fractions without a whole number
preceding them:
• Two-thirds of the SME’s time will be devoted to this
contract
• We need half-inch-wide tape to seal the gap
Mixed fractions — use numerals. Also, use the Special
Characters in MS Word to create fractions:
• Our page count has been increased 2½ times
Month, day, year — place commas before and after the
year:
• Luxoft was acquired by DXC Technology on June 14,
2019, after an agreement was signed
No comma if only the month and year are mentioned:
• The company was established in April 2017
Phrases
Use a comma when an introductory phrase ends with a
verb or preposition:
• Soon after, we updated the content of the document
• While studying, the student fell asleep
No comma after a short introductory phrase (especially
of time and place):
• On December 16 the equipment will be deployed to
the regional sites
• After lunch we’ll return to work for the day
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Style Guide — Grammar and language
Punctuation
Serial commas: No comma after the penultimate item in a list
for promotional content:
• We’re using nails, tape and glue
Unless omitting it could be confusing:
• Insurance, healthcare, and travel and transportation
Dashes
Em dash ( — ) shows a pause in thought or sets off a
parenthetical element or an appositive phrase (renames,
modifies or amplifies the previous noun). Add one space
either side:
• The focus remains — as it should — on the business itself
En dash ( – ) indicates a range. Add one space either side:
• 10:00 a.m. – 11 a.m. (but from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.)
En dash also links multiword phrases. No spaces either side:
• ISO 9001:2015–compliant systems, computer security–
related services
Luxoft Style Guide
Hyphens In sentences that would be hard to understand without
hyphenation:
No hyphen ( - ) after typical prefixes or before typical suffixes:
• The back-to-back redundant-wiring solution was
• Multiuser, predefined, antivirus
implemented last week
But if the second part of the term is an acronym, number or
However,
proper name, insert a hyphen:
No hyphen for unit modifiers that come after the noun
• Mid-90s, non-Bostonian, pre-IoT
(predicate adjectives):
Use a hyphen when the prefix ends with the same letter that
• The GUI is easy to use
begins the following word:
No hyphen for attributive words that end in “-ly”:
• Anti-intellectual, post-transition (exceptions: Cooperate,
coordinate and reengineering) • Wholly owned subsidiary, radically new idea
No hyphen for attributive adjectives that go together
Hyphens and unit modifiers naturally and are already thought of as a unit:
Unit modifiers are multiword compounds that modify a noun. • End user needs, root cause analysis
Unit modifiers that precede the noun they modify (attributive
adjectives) are hyphenated:
• The easy-to-use GUI is not yet fully implemented
• Long-term contract, state-of-the-art technology, law-abiding
citizen, U.S.-sponsored event, exception: $100 million
project (not $100-million project)
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Style Guide — Grammar and language

Quotation marks Rhythm and fluency Signs and symbols

Use a comma to introduce a quotation: Read your copy out loud and if it sounds awkward, rewrite In copy, spell out phrases like approximately, more than
using words of one syllable. and fewer than when they precede a number:
• The project manager said, “Luxoft anticipated the need to
get ahead of operational costs” • Approximately $100 million for server consolidation

If a quotation occurs within another quotation, set single

Semicolons • More than 50,000 email accounts

quotes around the inner quotation:
• She replied, “Scott said, ‘it’s going to work.’ So, I briefed the
team”
Quotations should start with a capital letter. However, if a
quotation grammatically flows into a larger sentence it should
begin with a lowercase letter:
• The project leader described him as “one of the best
engineers we have.”
Place the period or comma inside the closing quotation
marks.
Use a semicolon to link two independent clauses when the In charts, use the symbol with no space between it and
second qualifies the first: the number:
• Industry analysts also like the integrated tool suite; • ~$100M for server consolidation
they’ve given it positive reviews and awards (a comma • >50,000 email accounts
cannot take the place of a semicolon in this sentence)
When a list is composed of phrases with internal commas,
separate items with a semicolon:
• Luxoft has offices around the world, including in Plano,
Texas; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Chennai, India

Place the semicolon or colon outside the closing quotation

marks:

• Watch the town hall event, “The Future of the Automobile

Industry”; experts discuss how cloud, big data, mobility
and other technologies are changing the industry

Luxoft Style Guide 15

Style Guide — Grammar and language

Terminology The Luxoft URLs

If you’re faced with an unfamiliar IT term, check out: On digital materials, websites appear without the “www”
(all lowercase):
• Computer Desktop Encyclopedia:
computerlanguage.com • luxoft.com
• career.luxoft.com

Omit the period after a URL that appears at the end of

Time a sentence and isn’t followed by a new sentence:
Use numerals:
For more info, please visit career.luxoft.com
• 11:30 a.m.
• from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more info, please visit career.luxoft.com.
• 24x7, 24x7x365
For more info, please visit career.luxoft.com.
• Day 1, Week 2, Month 3
Or you can email us at…
• 1 day, 2 weeks, 3 months, 4 years
For more info, please visit career.luxoft.com
Or you can email us at…

In print marketing material, use the following format for

our URL:

• www.luxoft.com

“www” included for context in a nondigital environment

(all lowercase)

Luxoft Style Guide 16

Style Guide — Copyright
Copyright
Using copyrighted material from external
sources
• Unless images or text are in the public domain, they’re
protected by copyright. If you use material from
another source in a piece you’re writing, you must
comply with copyright law
• You can use brief excerpts from a published article or
book if you provide publication details. But to quote
an entire article or book chapter, you must get prior
permission from the publisher
• When using a quote, place the publication details
immediately after the quote, as a footnote at the
bottom of the page or the end of the article:
“The convergence of cloud, mobile, social and data
have ushered in a new wave of business models that
will present unique challenges for various industries.”—
“How Digital Disruption Transcends Industry Borders,”
Bob Weiler, Forbes.com, March 23, 2017
Luxoft Style Guide
• You can also place the publication details in running text: Using other company logos
In an article on Forbes.com, Bob Weiler writes,
You’ll need to get permission from the organization in
“The convergence of cloud, mobile, social and data have
question if you want to reproduce their logo.
ushered in a new wave of business models that will
present unique challenges for various industries” • Creative Services (or CDC) should not insert other
company logos for visual interest unless express
Using material from Gartner and other permission has been granted
analyst firms • If a proposal team (not Creative Services) adds a logo,
Gartner, Forrester and other analyst firms have specific the proposal team (not CDC) must obtain permission
rules governing the use of their material. For guidance on
the proper use of analyst materials (including how to obtain
permission), consult Luxoft’s analyst relations group.
Using material from websites
Please do not download and use text and images from
websites without written permission from the owner. Unless
they’re in the public domain, images and text are protected
by copyright.
17
Style Guide — Appendix 1

Appendix 1 We say… We don’t say…

Luxoft vocabulary
Bill Invoice

In-store In store, instore

Cell phone Mobile, handset

Roll-over Roll over, rollover

Store Retail outlet

Coordinate Co-ordinate

Reengineer Re-engineer

Text SMS

Terms and conditions T&Cs, fine print

WiFi Wi-Fi, Wifi

Engineering at scale Staff augmentation

Clients (who we work with) Customers (who our clients work with)

Luxoft Style Guide 18

Style Guide — Appendix 2

Appendix 2 U.S. UK U.S. UK

U.S. English versus UK English airplane aeroplane expiration expiry

aging ageing favor favour

aluminum aluminium favorable favourable

analyze analyse two weeks fortnight

As Luxoft is a multinational company, standard U.S.
English is not always appropriate (e.g., for divisions in customized bespoke fulfill fulfil
the UK, Europe, Australia, Asia). Here are some of the
catalog catalogue gray grey
differences:
center centre honor honour

check cheque (bank) instill instil

color colour judgment judgement

cooperate co-operate labor labour

coordinate co-ordinate math maths

counseling counselling meter metre

coworker co-worker modeling modelling

defense defence organization organisation

emphasize emphasise percent per cent (but percentage)

endeavor endeavour personalized personalised

enroll enrol preempt pre-empt

Luxoft Style Guide 19

Style Guide — Appendix 2

U.S. UK U.S. UK

programme (but computer

program sizable sizeable
program)

speciality (but specialty in

recognize recognise specialty
medicine, chemicals, steel)

reengineering re-engineering specialize specialise

reexamine re-examine stabilization stabilisation

restructure re-structure summarize summarise

reorganize reorganise systemwide system-wide

rigor rigour toward towards

setup (noun) set-up (noun) transportation transport

set up (verb) set up (verb) traveling travelling

Luxoft Style Guide 20

Style Guide — Appendix 3

Appendix 3
Words with different meanings
Term U.S. meaning UK meaning

Remove from discussion until

To table something Put forward for discussion
some future date

Million million (10¹²) — also in

Billion Thousand million continental Europe. Beginning to
adopt the U.S. meaning

Momentarily In a short while For a short time

Smart Intelligent Well-dressed/street-wise/cunning

Floors in a building First, second, etc. Ground, first, etc.

Personalized
Custom-made Bespoke/tailored
specification

Luxoft Style Guide 21

About Luxoft
Luxoft is the design, data and development arm of DXC Technology, providing bespoke, end-to-end technology solutions
for mission-critical systems, products and services. We help create data-fueled organizations, solving complex operational,
technological and strategic challenges. Our passion is building resilient businesses, while generating new business channels
and revenue streams, exceptional user experiences and modernized operations at scale.

luxoft.com

© 2022 Luxoft, A DXC Technology Company. All rights reserved.