Anthropomorphism is attributing human characteristics or behavior to things that are not human. In technical writing there is an understandable temptation to anthropomorphize in order to make difficult material easier for the reader to relate to. Do not succumb to this temptation.

Because anthropomorphism is a form of metaphor, it can cause the same readability problems as other forms of metaphor. Not all readers will grasp the limits of the metaphor. Further, anthropomorphic metaphors may be interpreted differently by people from different cultures.

Anthropomorphism in technical writing is often the result of an imprecise or incomplete understanding of the topic at hand. While anthropomorphism may help you work toward a clearer understanding, your own content should reflect the result, not the process, of your learning.

Microsoft style

If you receive a confirmation message, the engine will store your data in the specified format.

Not Microsoft style

If you receive a confirmation message, the engine will behave as you requested.

Sometimes terminology forces anthropomorphism upon us. For example, in a hierarchical relationship, a child object is said to inherit attributes from its parent or ancestors. If, as in this case, the anthropomorphic metaphor is well established and limited and its limitations are clear, it is all right to use it, but take care to explain what some readers may not understand about the metaphor. Straining to avoid such usage would introduce more confusion than the metaphor itself, especially among initiated readers.

Be skeptical of established usage, though. If an anthropomorphism is not the predominant way a concept is expressed in edited publications or on websites, find another way to express the concept.

Sometimes the user interface or application programming interface of a feature is anthropomorphic. In dealing with wizards, assistants, guides, and other characters built into a program, you must let your professional judgment guide you in deciding how much the documentation should reinforce the anthropomorphism of the feature. But do not use words or phrases that convey intention or desire (such as refuses or wants or is interested in), intellect (thinks, knows, realizes), or emotion (likes).

Microsoft style

The speech recognition engine accepts only the following words.

Documents manage data; views display the data and accept operations on it.

You do not have to use the sizeof operator to find the size of a Date object, because the new operator encapsulates this behavior.

Not Microsoft style

The speech recognition engine is interested only in the following words.

Documents know how to manage data; views know how to display the data and accept operations on it.

You do not have to use the sizeof operator to find the size of a Date object, because the new operator can tell what size the object is.