Beyond Plain Language

When someone says “plain language” in the access-to-justice context, I know that person is on to something. Lawyers know that the first step in addressing someone’s legal problem is to issue spot. In this sense, identifying a need for “plain language” is very similar. It spots a need – that people must understand legal options to participate meaningfully in the justice system. That said, it is only the beginning.

Design Principles

Scale matters because some legal choices are big-picture decisions, while others involve detailed analysis. A user’s needs change across scale.
What makes something hard to understand? One of the main culprits is idea juggling. We increase difficulty when we ask users to juggle many ideas at once.