Numbers & dates

Dates

Use the long-form date format: day Month year. Write the month in full or as a 3-letter abbreviation. Never use all-numeric date formats in UI copy — 04/05/26 is meaningless without knowing which locale is in use.

Date ranges

Use an en dash (–) between dates in a range, with no spaces around it when the range shares a year. Write the year once if it’s unambiguous, twice if it spans a year boundary.

Relative dates

Relative dates (“2 days ago”, “yesterday”) are acceptable in activity feeds and recent-history contexts. For anything with a hard deadline — consultation closing dates, submission windows, access expiry — always use the absolute date. A stakeholder should never have to calculate when “in 3 days” actually is.

Time

Open Point users work across multiple time zones. Any time shown in the product should include a time zone indicator. The stakes are real — a consultation that closes at “5:00 PM” without a time zone can lead to missed submissions and complaints.

Format

• Use 12-hour format with AM/PM in capitals, no space before: 5:00 PM
• Use a colon between hours and minutes: 9:30 AM, not 9.30am or 0930
• On the hour, include the :00: 5:00 PM, not “5 PM”
• Always show the time zone for consultation opening and closing times, access expiry, and scheduled events

Time zones

Show the IANA time zone abbreviation (AEST, NZST, PDT, etc.) or the UTC offset. For global audiences, prefer UTC offset when the abbreviation may be unfamiliar.

Numbers

Whole numbers

• Spell out one through nine in running text: “three consultations”, “nine responses”
• Use numerals for 10 and above: “10 consultations”, “342 responses”
• Always use numerals in data displays, tables, charts, and labels — even for single digits: “3 responses”, “0 stakeholders”
• Use a comma as the thousands separator: 1,000 / 12,500 / 1,200,000

Decimals

Use a period as the decimal separator: 1.5, 98.6%, 2.3 million. Round to two decimal places at most in displayed data — more precision rarely helps comprehension.

Percentages

Use the % symbol directly after the number with no space: 42%. In running text, say “42 percent” only if the sentence is very formal or the % symbol looks out of place. In data displays, always use the symbol.

Large numbers

For very large numbers in display contexts (dashboard metrics, summary stats), use short forms: 1.2K, 34K, 2.1M. Only use these short forms when the full number would be unwieldy; never in body copy.

Ranges

Use an en dash with no spaces: 10–25, 50–100 responses. Don’t use a hyphen or the word “to” in data displays — reserve “to” for prose: “We received between 50 and 100 responses”.

Currency

Always include the currency symbol and, where ambiguity exists, the currency code: $1,250 AUD, $850 CAD. Never assume ”$” means AUD or USD without context.

Engagement data — Open Point specific

Engagement metrics are a core part of what Open Point reports. Use these conventions consistently so reports and dashboards read clearly.

Participant counts

Response rates

Express response rates as a percentage of the total invited or eligible audience, not as a raw count ratio. Be specific about what the denominator is.

Consultation date ranges in reports