Stuart,
As you say
> The legal comics are designed to reduce interpretation, specifically the kind of interpretation that leads to legal disputes.
I do not doubt the stated intent in a particular design, but what evidence is offered to confirm that. In my field of design we look for a high level of agreed evidence. For example, we do a lot of work in the area of medicine information. We always set out to design information that does not lead to harm or death. We test our designs with actual users of the information to ensure, as far as possible, that there is little possibility of people interpreting the information in ways that could be harmful. Nonetheless, even after 30 years, we still find examples where people interpret information in ways that could lead to harm and, importantly, we’re not anticipated by us or the pharmaceutical company. Indeed, last year I had to withdraw our services from one company because they refused to accept one of our findings about patients misunderstanding something critical about a medicine. Neither they or myself anticipated this issue before we began our testing. So this is serious stuff, as it is in legal matters.
Moreover, there is legislation and case law, particularly in the area of consumer rights, which states that consumers are not bound by contracts they cannot understand. Serious stuff.
But I had to laugh at your claim about IKEA instructions.
> You could say that IKEA instructions are a kind of comic that feature minimalist drawings (removal of background setting, reduction of impertinent detail). These comics are not designed to be open to interpretation.
There is a standing joke about the difficulty people have following IKEA instructions.
Multiple and diverse interpretations are an ordinary fact of life. Minimising them is hard work and needs more than good intentions. This is a fact of good usable information in our time.
David
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