Icon system

What is it?

Icons used systematically within a document to signal content about a particular theme, or content requiring a higher level of attention.

What problems does it solve?

Important information may be missed if it is embedded in a lengthy paragraph.

Information about a particular theme may be scattered throughout a document, making it hard for a reader to grasp the full list of obligations, prohibitions, rights or requirements that apply to them.

When to use it?

Use a system of icons where a document needs to be used by multiple audiences looking for different categories of information, which may be scattered across several clauses and documents. For example, an icon system can be used to flag clauses in a contract which place obligations about staffing, reporting, providing documentation, or obtaining the approval from the other party.

An icon system is also useful where you want to create links across the document (but cannot reorganise it) or across multiple documents (e.g. a highly modularized contract.)

Why use it?

A system of icons can be used to flag particular themes, making it possible to scan the document and quickly find related clauses. In particular, it may be used to flag obligations and requirements which, if not acted upon, may lead to potential problems (e.g. penalties, non-compliance, non-performance, delays…)

To be most effective, a system of icons should cover just a handful of key concepts: too many icons are hard for readers to recognize and memorize.

Where to use it?

• Contract documents
• Contract appendices
• Contract guides and playbooks
• Policies
• Training materials
• Contract planning and development

© 2019 Rob Waller.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License