Although the law remains predominately focused on the written word, a growing body of scholarship and legal practice reflect a dramatic increase in the use of visualization in virtually every legal context. Three starting assumptions underpin our ideas of implementing visualization ideas and techniques into what we call “Legal Design” that may aid contract simplification:First, we examine the use of images in business documents and in statutes, rather than for advocacy. Moving away from adversarial settings offers several advantages. It permits us to illustrate the use of images in a broader range of practical legal applications. It also enables us to adopt the thinking, values, and methods of a non-traditional approach to lawyering and the law: “Preventive Law” or “Proactive Law” (combined here as “PPL”). Second, we offer guidelines for using images in conjunction with words rather than in isolation, since the law only rarely abandons its verbal expression. Realistically, visualization is almost always used in hybrid ways — combinations of words and images to enhance the effectiveness of communication. That seems unlikely to change, given the need for detail and refinement when the law is imposing duties on people. Finally, our method analyzes variables surrounding choices and consequences about the process of generating, transmitting, and using images to accompany legal language. Examining this dynamic can deepen our understanding of the information conveyed; it can also reveal the potential of visualization for creating spillover value for businesses or regulatory agencies that employ the images to advance legal and organizational effectiveness.

中文翻译：

---

从可视化到法律设计：一个协作和创新的过程

尽管法律仍然主要集中在文字上，但是越来越多的学者和法律实践反映出在几乎所有法律背景下可视化的使用都在急剧增加。我们将可视化思想和技术实施到可以称为“法律设计”的概念中的三个基本假设可以帮助简化合同：首先，我们研究在业务文档和法规中使用图像而不是在倡导中使用图像。摆脱对抗性设置有许多优势。它使我们能够说明在更广泛的实际法律应用中图像的使用。它还使我们能够采用律师和法律的非传统方法的思想，价值观和方法：“预防法”或“主动法”（在此合并为“ PPL”）。第二，我们提供了将图像与文字结合而不是孤立使用的指南，因为法律很少放弃其口头表达。实际上，可视化几乎总是以混合方式使用-文字和图像的组合可以增强交流的效率。鉴于法律在对人民施加义务时需要细节和完善，因此似乎不太可能改变。最后，我们的方法分析了围绕选择和结果的变量，这些选择和结果涉及生成，传输和使用图像伴随法律语言的过程。检查这种动态可以加深我们对所传达信息的理解；它还可以揭示可视化为利用图像提高法律和组织有效性的企业或监管机构创造溢出价值的潜力。