kontraktsdesign

Kontraktsdesign is an interdisciplinary practice that focuses on the design and presentation of contracts and related agreements. Rooted in law, design thinking, and information design, kontraktsdesign seeks to make contracts more understandable, usable, and fair while preserving their legal enforceability. In Norwegian-speaking contexts, the term is commonly used to describe applying user-centered design to contract creation.

The aim is to reduce ambiguity, facilitate negotiations, support compliance, and minimize disputes by aligning the contract with how people read, decide and act.

Core principles: plain language, clear structure, modularity, transparency in risk and cost allocation, accessibility to diverse audiences, and appropriate balance between flexibility and certainty. Visual layouts, headings, bullet points, defined terms, and plain-language summaries are common tools.

Methods: user research (interviews, surveys), readability testing, clause libraries, modular templates, and contract analytics. In technology contexts, kontraktsdesign can involve 'contract as code', visual contracts, flow diagrams, and decision trees, with attention to governance and versioning.

Applications: commercial agreements between businesses, consumer terms of service, employment and supplier contracts, software licenses, privacy notices, and governance documents. In the growing field of legal tech, kontraktsdesign intersects with smart contracts and contract management platforms.

Challenges include jurisdictional differences, enforceability across borders, dynamic updates, privacy concerns, and balancing rigidity with flexibility. It remains an evolving field influenced by law, user experience, and technology.