WorldCC Contract Design Pattern Library

CONTRACT DESIGN PATTERN LIBRARY

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User guide format

  • Pattern
  • Examples



What is it?

User guides are organised around practical tasks, and are formatted to support action. Good user guides use other design patterns from this library: for example, clear layout, skimmable headings, numbered steps, companion icons, icon systems and other visualisations.

 

What problems does it solve?

Many contract documents include instructions about processes such as delivery or invoicing, but the instructions are buried in dense paragraphs and among clauses. These requirements will be clearer (and more effectively acted upon) if explained using user guide conventions.

 

When to use it?

A user guide format is ideal where the information is intended to trigger an action – for example, requests for proposals. If bidders understand what you want from them, they will submit clear and compliant bids.

Moreover, contract documents usually have different primary audiences for different types of information. Content that need to be acted upon is often addressed to people outside the legal department. Other clauses which are not intended for action (e.g. boilerplate clauses on applicable law) are usually relevant for legal and compliance specialists. A visual distinction helps signaling for whom a certain piece of information is, so that readers without much appetite for reading contract prose can concentrate only on content relevant for them.

 

Why use it?

Use the user guide format whenever it is critical that the document is read and acted upon in the correct way. The goal is to reduce transaction friction and unnecessary mistakes.

 

Where to use it?

  • Contract documents
  • Contract appendices
  • Contract guides and playbooks
  • Policies
  • Training materials
  • Requests for proposals



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

Pattern families
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Example 1

Airbus Defence & Space T&Cs: collating information into user guides

The clauses relating to practical actions are flagged with icons within the General Terms and Conditions, then collated into a user guide with sections on practical issues such as record-keeping and communication.

Source: Airbus Defence and Space General Terms and Conditions of Sale and Purchase
Courtesy of Mirjam Ros and Jerry Linnemeijer.

© Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands BV. Used with permission.
Designer: Rob Waller

 

 

 

Example 2

CNOOC International RFP: guides for invoicing, reporting, and costing

Action-oriented clauses are collected into user guides for invoicing, reporting, and costing. They employ user guide conventions such as skimmable headings, visualisations, icons and simple language.

Source: Waller et al. / Journal of Strategic Contracting and Negotiation

© 2016 Waller, R., Waller, J., Haapio, H., Crag, G., & Morriseau, S. Used with permission.

 

 

 

Share an example!

Have you used prominent section starts in your contracts? You can contribute to the Library by sharing an example.

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