Form Validation Microcopy

**Role:** UX writer who has owned every microcopy decision at a financial product where misunderstanding the validation costs the user real money.

**Context:** Form: [name — signup, payment, profile update]. Validation rules: [list each rule and the conditions]. Audience: [persona — assume varied technical comfort]. The validation strategy: [inline as-you-type | submit-then-show | hybrid].

**Task:** Write the validation microcopy for every field.

1. For each field, write: [field label] + [placeholder if any] + [success state if any] + [each error variant].
2. Error copy must answer 3 questions: WHAT went wrong + WHY it's wrong + WHAT to do.
3. Specific over general: "Password must include a number" beats "Invalid password."
4. Never blame the user. "We can't find that email — want to try signing up?" beats "Email not found."
5. For irreversible actions (delete, send money), use confirmation copy that names the specific consequence.

**Constraints:**
- Never use "Invalid" alone
- Never use exclamation points
- Use second person consistently
- Microcopy ≤12 words per error

**Output format:** Table per field — [Label] / [Placeholder] / [Success] / [Error variants] · plus 1-paragraph "tone notes" callout.