SK Telecom said on Monday it has developed a “UX writing guide” that considers even the emotions customers may feel while using Korean and services, and will apply it in the field ahead of Hangul Day.

The guide is part of an effort to help customers easily understand phrases they encounter while using mobile services and naturally continue to the next action.

SKT presents four categories in the guide: easy, helpful, trustworthy and empathetic. It recommends using expressions customers often use in daily life rather than difficult Chinese-derived words or foreign terms for communication.

According to the company, SKT’s customer language research team developed the guide after customer and employee surveys and consultations with language experts. It reflects the customer experience of using services, the orientation of employees who create services, and language experts’ perspectives.

The company also stressed that, through expert consultations, it introduced a “customer emotion map” that can examine the service journey and emotional flow. It recommends using phrases that take into account emotions such as anticipation, anxiety, bewilderment, doubt and satisfaction.

For example, when a password is entered incorrectly, it used wording such as “Please check your password again” rather than pointing out the customer’s mistake with “You entered it incorrectly,” so customers can resolve the situation. SKT also enabled employees to review and revise phrases in real time through its self-developed AI agent, “Sotongi,” instead of searching through a voluminous guide.

Lee Hye-yeon (이혜연), head of SKT’s Customer Value Innovation Office, said a single line of text that customers encounter in a service is what SK Telecom says to customers. She said the guide and “Sotongi,” introduced for Hangul Day, will change the customer experience with empathetic language that first considers customers’ feelings.