Plain Talk: Clear Customer Documents That Work A two-day workshop for Washington’s Plain Talk leads July 2005 Washington Department of Personnel

Plain Talk: Clear Customer Documents That Work A two-day workshop for Washington’s Plain Talk leads July 2005 Washington Department of Personnel Instructor: Dana Howard Botka Agenda Day - a.m – 4:30 p.m • • • • Looking at the Plain Talk Executive Order Why plain language? Example and discussion Starting your Plain Talk project Choosing and planning your document Lunch • • Making your revisions legally sound Guest speaker – Office of the Attorney General Writing guidelines (Discussion and exercises) Agenda Day - a.m – 4:30 p.m • Writing guidelines, continued • “Group write” outlines of actual documents • Navigating Plain Talk through your agency Lunch • Usability testing • Conclusion After this workshop, you should be able to:  Plan a Plain Talk rewrite  Understand basic plain language principles  Know what legal issues to watch for  Have a plan for navigating your project through the agency  Test the usability of new documents Executive Order 05-03 Plain Talk – March 24, 2005  “… we recognize that clear, easy-to-understand communications are essential to good service We communicate with businesses and individuals through letters, forms, instructions, announcements, publications and other documents … They must be written and designed to they can be easily understood.” Expectations for agencies  Choose documents customers read  Develop a Plain Talk plan that will work – and is meaningful for your type of agency  Publicize your efforts internally  Ensure readability and “use-ability” of the new documents  Track and measure outcomes What is Plain Talk? It is plain language, or writing the typical customer can understand and act upon after a single reading Original VA Letter Dear : Please furnish medical evidence in support of your pension claim The best evidence to submit would be a report of a recent examination by your personal physician, or a report from a hospital or clinic that has treated you recently The report should include complete findings and diagnoses of the condition which renders you permanently and totally disabled It is not necessary for you to receive an examination at this time We only need a report from a doctor, hospital, or clinic that has treated you recently This evidence should be submitted as soon as possible, preferably within 60 days If you not receive this information within 60 days from the date of this letter, your claim will be denied Evidence must be received in the Department of Veterans Affairs within one year from the date of this letter; otherwise, benefits, if entitlement is established, may not be paid prior to the date of its receipt SHOW VETERAN’S FULL NAME AND VA FILE NUMBER ON ALL EVIDENCE SUBMITTED Privacy Act Information: The information requested by this letter is authorized by existing law (38 U.S.C 210 (c)(1)) and is considered necessary and relevant to determine entitlement to maximum benefits applied for under this law The information submitted may be disclosed outside the Department of Veterans Affairs only as permitted by law _ Adjudication Officer Revised VA Letter Dear _: We have your claim for a pension Our laws require us to ask you for more information The information you give us will help us decide whether we can pay you a pension What We Need Send us a medical report from a doctor or clinic that you visited in the past six months The report should show why you can’t work Please take this letter and the enclosed Guide to your doctor When We Need It We need the doctor’s report by [date] We’ll have to turn down your claim if we don’t get the report by that date Your Right to Privacy The information you give us is private We might have to give out this information in a few special cases But we will not give it out to the general public without your permission We’ve attached a form which explains your privacy rights If you have any questions about this letter, you may call us at 1-800-827-1000 The call is free Sincerely, _ Enclosures: Doctor’s Guide, Your Privacy Rights What about this language? "We ask that you not add risk classifications or rates to your quarterly reports If your firm's nature of business has changed or you need additional risk classifications added to your industrial insurance account, please contact your account manager by calling 360-9024817."   10 Staff and management may…  Feel they own the document  Fear legal liability  Resist learning different routines  Worry about making errors in rewrites  In enforcement programs, think confusing documents are “tougher”  Resist programming costs Disagree on actual policy or law  89 Dealing with resistance…        90 Give them ownership from the beginning Include a respected inside “persuader” on the team Clear message from the top Return with alternative language Focus on the solution to their own problems Present yourself as a resource Market their success to their peers Dealing with resistance Most important:  91 Make sure you have a clear mandate and an executive sponsor Usability testing: The ultimate reality check You think your document is clear But you: • Know the material • Work at the agency • Know the language Is the representative customer like you? 92 What is usability testing? Review: Focus group: Presentation: Usability test: Is it correct? What you think/feel? Satisfied? Like it? Can they use it? Usability testing observes a typical customers behavior: Can they find what they need and understand what they find? - Thanks to Dr Janice Redish, Redish & Associates 93 What is usability testing ?  4-6 representative customers, called “participants” or “users.” One at a time  About one hour each  Participant reads a scenario (written by you) that would prompt the letter you are testing  Reads section aloud  Paraphrases section in own words  Answers factual questions about the document 94 Usability testing… Who should you test? • You must select people who represent the typical customer who will read the document • A range of ages, familiarity with program, education, responsibility • 4-10 people It’s not science It’s pinpointing basic problems 95 Put your usability participant in the situation …  Create a scenario that would have typically prompted the letter  Write it simply They will be reading it aloud  Develop questions for the participant:  Test for readability of the most important information  Test what you’re unsure customers will grasp 96 Scenario and questions … Example scenario : You are employed as a laundry worker at a large nursing home A week ago, you slipped and fell on the laundry room floor, breaking your elbow Your boss drove you to the emergency room, where a doctor examined you and referred you to a orthopedic surgeon, who operated on you that night After you are released the following day, your arm is in a cast and you cannot return to work for at least six weeks Example questions: What medical costs will L&I cover? What costs are covered by the check you are expecting in the mail? What should you if you believe L&I made a wrong decision? 97 What can you learn from usability testing? • • • • • • Words people don’t understand Words that have different meanings that you expected Sentences that are too long or tangled Information users need that you haven’t given given them Information you gave that users don’t think is important Information that is not in the order or format they expected • 98 Thanks to Dr Janice Redish, Redish and Associates Using test data… Extract what you learned  Prepare a short, bulleted report  Example:  “Five of our six participants did not understand they were required to complete and return the XYZ Statement to us.” “All five participants were unable to correctly calculate their tax owed after using our table.” 99 Get your revised document reviewed  Don’t automatically accept You are the customer’s advocate! Negotiate  Use track changes to show them what you’ve changed through each version  Don’t get emotionally attached to your document  Remind management that changes were recommended by customers, not you 100 Document your work        Style guides Best practices reports Case studies/professional papers Reports Reports to Plain Talk site Publicize Governor’s Plain Talk website www.governor.wa.gov/priorities/plaintalk/default.htm 101 Track, reward and publicize your achievements  Find ways to measure your results  Publicly recognize all those who made a contribution  Announce progress and results in e-mails, newsletters and agency bulletin boards  Consider an award program or “stamp of approval” system 102 “Where words are scarce, they’re seldom spent in vain.” - William Shakespeare 103