Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Consumers often do not read the contracts they sign. They know the basic terms of the deal and take the risk that it is enough to avoid being sued for breach. Even sophisticated businesspeople often do not read the documents they sign; they rely on their attorneys to tell them what they need to know. If the sole purpose of documenting a contract is to protect the party that has the financial resources and the leverage to hire an attorney to draft it, then the attorney doesn’t do their client a disservice by focusing solely on the contract’s enforceability. A contract does not have to be read to be enforceable. But if it’s also important that the contract guide the party’s conduct after its signing, that isn’t enough, especially if the other party is unrepresented.

If we really want consumers to follow the contracts they sign, we need to make the documents more accessible to a person who lacks legal training. That’s the goal of the burgeoning area of contract design. The idea is to go beyond language and organization. Contract designers use visual elements to better communicate a document’s content. This article highlights some examples, and the techniques involved in creating them.

Most design techniques are available for contracts drafted with a word processor and then printed on paper. (Almost none of these techniques would be possible if we were still using typewriters.) For example, a graphic icon can be created digitally in a Word document or PDF and then printed. But some techniques, like using assorted colors and adding hyperlinks to a contract, are more appropriate for contracts created digitally as .html files or webpages and then stored and administered online. This article refers to the latter type of contracts as “web -based” contracts. I will also highlight some of the additional features available for these web -based contracts.

According to scholars writing on this topic, there is a trend toward visual communication in numerous aspects of law practice. More and more lawyers are drafting, signing, and storing contracts in digital form. And they are increasingly using “images, photos, icons, diagrams, charts, or videos to enhance or supplant printed language.” For example, a drafter can use a timeline to help the parties visualize the schedule for completing required tasks, and they can use charts and graphs to more effectively communicate payments in installments or based on production. Practicing lawyers and contract-drafting students should learn some of these techniques as well.

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