How do you solve a problem like small print?
Many years ago, in a hurry, I booked a non-refundable room in a London hotel without reading the T&Cs.
It was when I got the email confirmation that mentioned a rooftop pool that I started to panic. A pool… on the roof… in south London…?
Sure enough, I found I’d booked a room in Greenwich Connecticut, not Greenwich UK.
I vowed to always read the small print from that day on.
And did I?
Of course not.
Why? Because like many regular humans, whenever I get sent a document with reams of off-putting looking text, I scroll to the bottom and click 'Agree' so that I can get on with my day.
But someone has. And they’ve been rewarded with a free bottle of wine.
Tax Policy Associates, an independent think tank, added the below clause to their privacy policy in February as an experiment, to see if anyone would actually read it.
It took until May for someone to claim the wine, and even then, it wasn’t a client, but someone writing their own policy looking for inspiration.
The organisation’s head Dan Neidle told BBC News: "It was my childish protest that all businesses have to have a privacy policy and no one reads it."
So how do we get people to read privacy policies, T&Cs, agreements like these when they’re actually pretty important?
“This is what Consumer Duty is all about,” said Compliance and Training Solutions director Mel Holman. “It’s about drawing the client’s attention to information they should be aware of in a way that’s engaging, rather than bury it in pile of impenetrable content.”
So how do we do this?
I'm pretty sure that more people would read T&Cs etc if they didn't look so much like T&Cs. Here are some ideas:
Alternative formats: Create a web-based version of your document instead of a PDF - this would enable you to create links to related topics or pop ups that would provide additional explanations or related information. Even a video perhaps..
Simplify language: Use the active, rather than passive voice. Shorten sentences. Replace legal terms with everyday alternatives, for example change ‘terminate’ to ‘end’, ‘compensate’ to ‘pay’.
Design: Give text a little wiggle room. By spacing out headings and paragraphs you can make the content more scannable and engaging. Using icons and even just bullet points can make things look less intimidating.
Hidden gems: Perhaps not the bottle of wine, but a simple message to thank people for reading, acknowledging that legislation and regulation can make things rather complex, but that you've tried to simplify things.
Finally, why not use the opportunity to invite people to comment or suggest improvements – not just on the document itself, but on your service or things in general. Providing contact details instantly adds a feeling of warmth to an otherwise cold and formal text. And imagine if you got a response!
Feel free to feed back on my own privacy policy here 😉.
Stat of the week
In the UK in 1965, the most common age of death was in the first year of life. Today it’s 87 years old.
Trending topic
Internet searches and mentions of ‘semantic layers’ are on the up this week according to Exploding Topics. A semantic layer is a simplified data model that acts as a bridge between the data source and the user, making complex data easier to understand and use.
Purple daze
A TikTok user in Norwich filmed himself following a purple glow in the night sky thinking he was going to get a glimpse of the Northern Lights, only to find that it led him to a branch of Premier Inn.
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