GE - Billy Blue Communication Design

• Speak in a language your audience understands.
Seldom will your audience be composed solely
of accountants, lawyers, or engineers. As the
following example* from a health benefits plan
shows, specialized subject matter does not
require specialized language:
Original: The benefits of the plan which covers the
person on whose expenses claim is based as a dependent
of a person whose date of birth, excluding year of birth,
occurs earlier in a calendar year, shall be determined
before the benefits of a plan which covers such a person
as a dependent of a person whose date of birth,
excluding year of birth, occurs late in a calendar year.
Simplified: When a husband and wife both have
coverage, we use their birthdays to determine who
pays for their dependents’ coverage. If the husband’s
birthday falls earlier in the year, his plan will pay.
If the wife’s birthday falls earlier, then her plan pays.
For example, if the wife was born in March, and the
husband was born in July, the wife’s plan would pay.
• If legal or technical terminology cannot be
avoided in a form used by a general audience,
put such information at the bottom or on the
back of the form and alert users to its whereabouts.
This promotes a better forms conversation
and can improve forms design.
Listening
To be a good forms conversationalist, a form
must “listen” with consideration. Thus:
• Give your audience enough space to respond.
If you provide too little room for your readers’
responses, they may decide that you do not need
the information and not respond fully.
Forms Requirements, continued 270.03
• Use checklists to speed up the pace of the conversation
whenever possible.
• Use clear, simple words and sentences and be
specific. For example, “In what city and state did
the accident occur?” makes it clear to your
audience that only the city and state concern
you; “Where did the accident occur?” may
compel some respondents to draw road maps.
• If separate sections of your form are intended for
different audiences or if some respondents are not
required to fill out the form completely, clarify who
should fill out which sections:
-Identify and separate such sections by using
a horizontal bar bearing a label such as
“For use by [specified users] only” and, if
necessary, use a screen tint to differentiate one
section from another.
-Write clear instructions and, if necessary, highlight
them in red to help users avoid irrelevant
sections.
(See pages 13, 15, and 16.)
• If some questions are optional, identify them:
-Group them in a section headed with a
horizontal bar bearing the label “Optional
questions” and, if necessary, differentiate the
entire section by using a screen tint.
- For further clarification, use instructions to
explain which questions are optional.
- For a small number of optional questions,
precede each question with “(Optional).”
• If your form has multiple copies, to differentiate
copies, use labels that are easy to understand.
• If your audience must use code numbers, provide
a legend for the code numbers on the back
of the form.
• Test the form before it is reproduced.
Ask potential users to examine a proof or a
tight sketch of the proposed form to determine
whether they can understand exactly what
information is requested. Rewrite and reorganize
the form in response to their needs.
GE Identity Program 270, Forms & Checks GE Identity Website: www.ge.com/identity
continued
*From Kenneth Morris, “Corporate Language: Creating a Verbal
Identity,” Design Management Journal (winter 1991): p. 37.