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Humanize your content

Tommy Lunde Barvåg

Tommy Lunde Barvåg

@tommybarvaag

5 months ago

In a digital landscape brimming with information, the way content resonates with users can make all the difference. Humanizing our digital interactions through natural language not only captures attention but fosters a connection that can transcend the screen.

By transforming numerical data and system outputs into engaging narratives, we can enhance readability and evoke a sense of familiarity. This shift towards a more conversational tone aligns with our innate preference for stories over statistics, inviting users into a space that feels more personal and less programmed.

Let's explore how we can infuse our digital content with the warmth of human conversation, thereby deepening user engagement and enriching the online experience.

To the point

Too often I see content that is written in a way that is not human. It's written in a way that is not natural. An example of this would be numbers from code pasted into paragraphs.

function VisualizeYear() {
  const year = 2;

  return <p>{`${year} year ago`}</p>; // 2 year ago
}

2 year ago is not a natural way to represent years to text. It should be 2 years ago — pluralized. And even better it could be two years ago.

How do we achieve this?

Pluralization

We create a function called simplePluralize that will pluralize a word based on a number. It will also handle "irregular words" with an optional third argument to account for words like child and person.

export const simplePluralize = (
  noun: string,
  count: number,
  options: {
    suffix?: string;
    pluralWord?: string;
  } = {
    suffix: "s",
    pluralWord: undefined
  }
) => {
  const pluralWord = options.pluralWord ?? `${noun}${options.suffix ?? "s"}`;
  return count === 1 ? noun : pluralWord;
};

Here we set the default suffix to s. This is because most words will just add an s to the end. But there are some words (as mentioned above) that will need to be handled differently. For example child will become children and person will become people. We can handle this by passing in the suffix as the third argument.

We can use this function like this:

const year = 2;

simplePluralize("year", years); // years

const months = 1;

simplePluralize("month", months); // month

const children = 2;

simplePluralize("child", children, { suffix: "ren" }); // children

const people = 2;

simplePluralize("person", people, { pluralWord: "people" }); // people

This is a good start, but we can do better.

Humanize numbers

With the help of a utility function called numberToWords we can make our numbers more human.

const a = [
  "",
  "one",
  "two",
  "three",
  "four",
  "five",
  "six",
  "seven",
  "eight",
  "nine",
  "ten",
  "eleven",
  "twelve",
  "thirteen",
  "fourteen",
  "fifteen",
  "sixteen",
  "seventeen",
  "eighteen",
  "nineteen"
];

const b = ["", "", "twenty", "thirty", "forty", "fifty", "sixty", "seventy", "eighty", "ninety"];

const convertHundreds = (num: number) => {
  let result = "";

  if (num > 99) {
    result += a[Math.floor(num / 100)] + " hundred";
    num %= 100;
    if (num > 0) result += " ";
  }
  if (num > 19) {
    result += b[Math.floor(num / 10)];
    num %= 10;
    if (num > 0) result += " ";
  }
  if (num > 0) {
    result += a[num];
  }

  return result;
};

export const numberToWords = (input: string | number | undefined | null): string => {
  if (input === undefined || input === null || isNaN(Number(input))) {
    return "";
  }

  const number = typeof input === "string" ? Number(input) : input;
  if (number === 0) return "zero";

  if (number < 0 || number >= 1e12) {
    return number.toLocaleString();
  }

  let result = "";
  const billion = Math.floor(number / 1e9);
  const million = Math.floor((number % 1e9) / 1e6);
  const thousand = Math.floor((number % 1e6) / 1e3);
  const remainder = number % 1e3;

  if (billion > 0) result += convertHundreds(billion) + " billion ";
  if (million > 0) result += convertHundreds(million) + " million ";
  if (thousand > 0) result += convertHundreds(thousand) + " thousand ";
  if (remainder > 0) result += convertHundreds(remainder);

  return result.trim();
};

This function will convert a number to words. For example 2 will become two and 12 will become twelve. "It can also handle larger numbers, like 1234567890 which it will convert to one billion two hundred thirty four million five hundred sixty seven thousand eight hundred ninety. But humanizing big numbers might not be the best idea, but it can work marvels for smaller numbers.

We can use this function like this:

const year = 2;

`${numberToWords(year)} ${simplePluralize("year", year)}`; // two years

Humanize dates

There are several good examples of how to humanize dates and we'll walk through two of them that I happen to use a lot.

Duration

Let's say we want to display the duration from a specific date up until now in text form. For example from 2021-01-01 to 2023-12-01 we want to show 2 years and 11 months.

If you want to copy the intervalToDuration function you can find it at the bottom of this page.

export const getDurationAsYearsAndMonths = (startDate: Date, endDate: Date): string => {
  const { years, months } = intervalToDuration(startDate, endDate);

  if (years === 0 && months === 0) {
    return "less than a month";
  }

  if (years === 0) {
    return `${months} ${simplePluralize("month", months)}`;
  }

  if (months === 0) {
    return `${years} ${simplePluralize("year", years)}`;
  }

  return `${years} ${simplePluralize("year", years)} and ${months} ${simplePluralize(
    "month",
    months
  )}`;
};

This function will take two dates and return a string with the duration between them. It will return less than a month if the duration is less than a month. It will return 2 months if the duration is 2 months. It will return 2 years and 11 months if the duration is 2 years and 11 months.

On some scenarios this can be easier on the eyes than just outputting the duration in dates like 2021-01-01 — 2023-12-01. On example of this is LinkedIn's experience section that I shamelessly copied for my own CV.

Time ago

Let's say we want to show how long ago something happened. In this case we always want to show the greatest unit. This means if the year value is greater than 0, we display the duration in years only. If months is greater than 0 we only show months. And so on.

For example 2023-12-2 to now should show 5 months ago.

export const getHumanizedDateFromNow = (date: Date) => {
  const now = new Date();

  const { days, hours, minutes, months, seconds, weeks, years } = intervalToDuration(date, now);

  if (years && years > 0) {
    return `${years} ${simplePluralize("year", hours)}`;
  }

  if (months && months > 0) {
    return `${months} ${simplePluralize("month", hours)}`;
  }

  if (weeks && weeks > 0) {
    return `${weeks} ${simplePluralize("week", hours)}`;
  }

  if (days && days > 0) {
    return `${days} ${simplePluralize("day", hours)}`;
  }

  if (hours && hours > 0) {
    return `${hours} ${simplePluralize("hour", hours)}`;
  }

  if (minutes && minutes > 0) {
    return `${minutes} ${simplePluralize("minute", minutes)}`;
  }

  if (seconds && seconds > 0) {
    return `${seconds} ${simplePluralize("second", seconds)}`;
  }

  return "now";
};

I use this function to show how long ago I wrote a post. For example 2 years ago or 2 months ago. For an e-commerce site you could use this to show how long ago the last purchase of a item was. For example Last purchase was 39 minutes ago. The opportunities are endless.

A practical application of humanized dates on my website is seamlessly integrating them into narratives, as exemplified on my homepage. Here, I showcase my tenure as a developer, transforming a simple duration into a story. This method not only enhances readability but also adds a personal touch.

I've spent the last ten years creating web solutions for great companies. Experimenting with new technologies and learning new things is what I love the most.

The code for this is pretty straight forward when we take into account the functions we've already created.

import Link from "@/components/link";
import { intervalToDuration } from "@/utils/date-utils";
import { numberToWords, simplePluralize } from "@/utils/humanize-utils";

const getActiveWorkYears = () => {
  const duration = intervalToDuration(new Date(2014, 0, 1), new Date());

  return `${numberToWords(duration.years)} ${simplePluralize("year", duration.years)}`;
};

function ActiveWorkYears() {
  return (
    <>
      I&apos;ve spent the <Link href="/cv/about">last {getActiveWorkYears()}</Link> creating web
      solutions for great companies. Experimenting with new technologies and learning new things is
      what I love the most.
    </>
  );
}

export { ActiveWorkYears };

The benefits

The improvements to the general readability of content are obvious, but there are other benefits to humanizing content.

Improving SEO

Humanizing content significantly benefits SEO in several ways. Search engines increasingly use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand content better, meaning humanized, conversational content is more likely to align with search algorithms, enhancing search rankings.

Engaging, natural content can improve user engagement metrics like longer session times and lower bounce rates, which search engines view as indicators of quality and relevance.

As voice search grows in popularity, conversational content matches better with spoken search queries, improving visibility in voice search results. By aligning closely with how users naturally search and interact, humanized content creates a more effective SEO strategy.

User trust

Relatable and natural language makes content more accessible and engaging, building a connection with the audience. Clear and straightforward communication reduces confusion, fostering confidence in the content's accuracy and reliability.

A consistent, humanized tone across various platforms solidifies a trustworthy brand image. By presenting information in a way that mirrors everyday conversation, websites can cultivate a more trustworthy and user-friendly online environment.

Conclusion

Readable content is more important than you think, and small changes can make a big difference.

I hope you found this article useful. If you have any questions or feedback please reach out to me.

The promised intervalToDuration function

I recently revised my codebase to remove some undesired dependencies. One of them was date-fns and I had to rewrite the intervalToDuration function. I ended up with this. Feel free to copy it along with everything else you find useful on this page.

export const intervalToDuration = (startDate: Date, endDate: Date) => {
  // Ensure startDate is earlier than endDate, swap if not
  if (startDate > endDate) {
    [startDate, endDate] = [endDate, startDate];
  }

  // Extracting year, month, and day components from start and end dates
  const startYear = startDate.getFullYear();
  const endYear = endDate.getFullYear();
  const startMonth = startDate.getMonth();
  const endMonth = endDate.getMonth();
  const startDay = startDate.getDate();
  const endDay = endDate.getDate();

  // Calculate total years difference
  const years = endYear - startYear;

  // Calculate months difference; adjust for negative difference
  const monthsDiff = endMonth - startMonth;
  let months = monthsDiff >= 0 ? monthsDiff : monthsDiff + 12;
  let yearsAdjusted = monthsDiff >= 0 ? years : years - 1;

  // Calculate days difference; adjust for negative difference
  // Using the last day of the previous month for accurate calculation
  const daysDiff = endDay - startDay;
  const lastDayOfPrevMonth = new Date(endYear, endMonth, 0).getDate();
  let days = daysDiff >= 0 ? daysDiff : daysDiff + lastDayOfPrevMonth;
  if (daysDiff < 0) months--;

  // Calculate the total difference in seconds
  const totalDiffInSeconds = Math.floor((endDate.getTime() - startDate.getTime()) / 1000);

  // Convert total seconds to weeks and remaining days
  const daysFromSeconds = Math.floor(totalDiffInSeconds / (3600 * 24));
  const weeks = Math.floor(daysFromSeconds / 7);
  days -= weeks * 7; // Adjust days to remove the full weeks

  // Convert remaining seconds to hours, minutes, and seconds
  const hours = Math.floor(totalDiffInSeconds / 3600) % 24;
  const minutes = Math.floor(totalDiffInSeconds / 60) % 60;
  const seconds = totalDiffInSeconds % 60;

  return {
    years: yearsAdjusted,
    months,
    weeks,
    days,
    hours,
    minutes,
    seconds
  };
};