What is a
visual contract?
A visual contract is a binding legal document where people:
- Can find the relevant content easily.
- Understand it quickly.
- Are supported to make autonomous decisions.
- Build more sustainable relationships.
- Deescalate and resolve their misunderstandings and conflicts themselves faster and easier, also if a dispute ends up in court after all.
The anatomy of a visual contract
A visual contract empowers people legally because it is easier to understand and increases trust because of transparent communication. This better comprehension and transparency is reached by the different layers within the design of the contract, which can be described as follows: The layers of a visual contract exist of:
- Format & medium
- Content: proactive content or traditional content?
- Structure – patterns and layout
- Branding – Visual style/ tone of voice/ words usage
- Interpretation
- Impact
Format and medium
First of all, with the design of a visual contract we look at the needs of the end-user in the first place and not – as in most traditional contracts – lawyers and judges. Therefore, the context of where and by who a contract is used determines which medium (phone,tablet, laptop, paper) is used to create the best user experience. For example, contracts designed for rural areas without a proper internet connection, might not be able to deal with a heavily animated digital contract. While in corporate business contracts that are complex and where the environment facilitates the use of animation, it might be beneficial to use animation to convey the content in different animated states while the user interacts with the contract to communicate the content in a layered transition. In essence, the medium that is chosen highly influences the design of the contract and the options or potential design directions. For example, for mobile use,layered design is almost likely necessary to include all the content with a good UX, while on a laptop a design without a lot of layers can still be user friendly.
With the builder that we are developing we foresee that in the end the medium that is used is going to become less influential for the design decisions because with automation we can easily present the same content in different types of visual formats.
Content: proactive or traditional?
- Traditional, preventive or proactive
- Plain legal language or legal jaron/legalese
- With or without visual or interactive explanations
The content in itself can either be written in traditional legalese or with plain legal language and proactive law focus in mind. Depending on the target audience, format and content, the structure and content will be designed with the outcome and purpose of the contract in mind.
Structure: patterns and layout
The third layer in the contract is the structure. Within the structure the patterns and layout of the design are defined which results in different types of visual contracts. Depending on the target audience you would choose the type of design direction of visualisation, which can be focused on more comic book strips, structured flow charts and swim lanes or multi-modal visuals where visualisation is used as navigation. This structure, when it is setup with the end-user in mind (not the lawyer or judge), can determine if preventive or proactive law is applied and if a contract is setup to reach a certain result or a better base to build sustainable relationships. When the focus of the contract is to prevent conflicts and setup to be proactive, so that people can make autonomous decisions, the structure will be defined on what best fits the target audience to reach that goal.
Regarding structures you can think for example of swim lanes, comic book strips, visual navigation, UX design. The World Commerce & Contracting contract design pattern library shows a lot of different potential patterns and layouts that can be used within a visual contract.
All in all this part of the contract focuses on creating hierarchy and clear composition within the design so that the user is guided through the content in a way they can easily comprehend and take action from.
Branding: visual style & tone of voice
Then another layer is the visual and tone of voice layer, which is all about aesthetics, good design and styling. Your target audience as well as a potential corporate identity is very determinant for the choices you make in this layer. For example, within a high tech company you might use more flowcharts and technical drawings while in the cleaning branche and security guard sector you have a totally different target group and related styling that fits. In plain language there are also still quite some different styles that still are more accessible, but have a different experience in terms of emotions it evokes.
Interaction and interpretation
Interpretation is all about the understanding and comprehension the user gets from your design and if they might take action based on the content they read or not. How behaviour might change because of how the user interprets a certain clause.
A question we often get from lawyers when we talk about visual contracts is:
“How do you visualize X?” Wherein ‘X’ is one specific legal term and their question relates to how a visual can represent a certain legal meaning and interpretation in the same way as a visual does.
Actually, when looking from a user perspective, we want them to just act in a certain way to comply with the law. Visualization can provide the context in how certain text needs to be interpreted and guide the user in understanding several concepts, processes or legal ideas within the context that we are trying to make understandable. The text helps for explaining certain details, and if they are still specific legal terms, the visuals can make it easier for the user to know how to interpret this complex term.
Of course interpretation also depends on the knowledge the user already has. Just think of discussing a bird, when talking about it, all different people will have different /site/templates/images in their mind. And with text it is the same. This is why prototyping and testing your designs are crucial in order to find the right patterns, structures, visualisations and combinations of visuals and text to know which combination has the best results regarding how people interpret and use the contract (clauses).
Comprehension —how easily a reader can process text, derive meaning, and incorporate that meaning into a broader context. If a passage is easily comprehensible, then the user can:
- Understand the meaning of the words
- Derive broader meaning from the overall content
- Draw inferences from the content
- Answer broader questions about the content
- Identify key point(s)
- Identify intent
- Understand the content’s tone, mood, and inflections
Impact
The impact finally is what the result is from using a visual contract. In the first place we name legal empowerment, but also business ethics and changes in how businesses organise themselves can change towards more results and sustainable relationship building because of the use of visual contracts. On a larger scale it contributes to Access to Justice and creating more equal opportunities, inclusion and diversity. You can read more about this on our impact report, where we will keep updating our impact results. We categorize our impact on four levels:
- Legal Empowerment
- Business Ethics, inclusion and diversity and economic benefits
- Institutional, access to justice
- Social: equal opportunities, inclusion, diversity
FAQ
Is a visual contract legally binding?
Yes, because of contract freedom a visual contract is legally binding. Also, you can even use spoken words as a contract. Nevertheless, having tangible proof of your agreements make for a better reference and evidence in the case that something goes wrong. Or if you just want to emphasize the agreements you make when working together. Depending on the context the style and amount of visualisation in a visual contract can differ, just as the level and amount of plain language or traditional legalese you use. We co-create our visual contracts always with legal experts that stand behind the drafted and designed content, so we can assure you to have a contract that generates results and good collaboration, as well being legally binding.
Does a visual contract hold up in court?
In short: yes. We have conducted our own mock trial with one of our visual contracts in April 2024. Clarity provides stronger cases in court. Visualisation can help with clarity. Most importantly is that the visuals are created with attention, just as much as you draft contracts with attention and purpose. Download our impact report on Tzorg’s visual contracts including the mock trial or read more here and here.
Who are visual contracts for?
While many argue that visual contracts are only for consumer facing contracts, we have plenty of experience with both consumer, employee ánd commercial contracts. Even lawyers, judges and higher educated people benefit from clear contracts. Check out our showcases for examples.
Do I need to be a designer or artist to create a visual contract?
No you don’t. If you like you can train yourself on the ins and outs of contract design through our articles and trainings, or using our contract design library to get to a higher level quickly. Get started here or book a call with us.
How can I get started with contract design and/or legal design with limited resources?
You can keep learning through our articles and start directly with our free contract design brief and 7 day course here.
How can I learn more about contract design?
We offer training and materials to help you gain more understanding of contract design. Start here.
Which patterns are best to use for different situations?
Best practices in UX and information design show which patterns work best for different situations. It is all related to how our brains work, combined with the context that the contracts are used in and the people (audience/users) who are reading and using the contract.
What is the ROI of a visual contract or contract design?
You can calculate the ROI of a visual contract by checking your current readability score, the level of difficulty of text you are using, the legal strategy and validity of the content and the brand experience of the contract. It is a mix of different factors, though a rule of thumb for ROI is that you can gain at least a 5-20% improvement by applying contract design principles.
What is Legal design thinking?
Legal Design Thinking is the practice of making legal systems, services and documents more understandable and accessible to people by the use of multiple design disciplines like design thinking, User Experience Design and information design, as well as plain legal language and proactive law. Read more about Legal Design Thinking here.
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