Presentation to county treasurers at the Utah Association of Counties. Guidelines in the Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent, applied to another area of civic design.

1. Effective Designs for
Taxpayer Notices
Whitney Quesenbery
Center for Civic Design
@civicdesign | @whitneyq
Utah Association of Counties
April 29, 2015

3. Washington
State
Confirma1on
Le3er

4. Washington
State
Department
of
Labor
and
Industries
Revised
Confirma1on
Le3ers,
ClearMark
winner,
2010

6. Unum
–
How
to
File
a
Disabilty
Claim
ClearMark
award
winner,
2012

7. Centers
for
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services

8. Center for Civic Design with the Minnesota Secretary of State, 2009
slideshare.net/whitneyq/minnesota-­‐
absentee-­‐clarity2010

10. Information can be
§ technically accurate,
§ legally accurate,
§ legally sufficient
and also
§ clear and understandable
§ affordable to produce

11. There's a lot of forces
behind difficult-to-
read information

12. Working in legal markup

13. Photos,
Jenny
Greeve,
Accessible
Vo1ng
Technology
Ini1a1ve
Not enough active team
design opportunities

14. Poster
from
Washington
State,
Jenny
Greeve
More
about
usability
tes1ng
at
slideshare.net/
whitneyq/need-­‐a-­‐li3le-­‐
usability
Not enough testing
with real citizens

15. Plain language?
helps people
find what they need
understand what they find
and use the information well

16. Plain information is important
because people...
§ have different degrees of literacy
§ do not always read carefully.
§ may have a cognitive disability
§ or a visual disability that can affect
reading.
§ may not know (or read) the language
well

17. 43% of Americans have
a reading disability
Below basic
30 million
14%
Basic
63 million
29%
Intermediate
95 million
44%
Proficient
28 million
13%
U.S.
Na1onal
Assessment
of
Adult
Literacy
h3p://nces.ed.gov/naal/kf_demographics.asp

18. People react to hard-to-read text
§ too much text
ignored or skipped
§ hidden steps
miss important actions
§ jargon and unfamiliar words
misinterpret meaning
§ instructions in the wrong place
make mistakes
§ passive voice (ambiguity)
guess what to do

19. Write for your
audience
§ Use simple, everyday
words
§ Avoid jargon
abbreviations
and legalisms
§ Speak directly to the
audience: use pronouns
like “you”

20. The
text
in
the
image
says:
Living
with
MS.
Whether
you
just
received
a
diagnosis
of
MS
or
have
been
living
with
it
for
a
long
1me—this
sec1on
is
filled
with
informa1on
and
1ps
on
how
to
maintain
your
quality
of
life
in
the
years
ahead.
Read
about
strategies
to
enhance
your
health
and
wellness,
maximize
your
produc1vity
and
independence,
and
deal
with
emo1onal,
social,
and
voca1onal
challenges.
Speak directly to the reader
§ Even if the reader
may be people in
several different
roles, you can talk
to them all as "you"
na1onalmssociety.org

21. Organize information
logically
§ Place instructions where
they are needed
§ Put instructions in order
§ Put the “if” before the
“then”
§ Each step in its own
paragraph

22. Establish context and requirements
Make sure people
know what they have
to do
§ To get ready
§ To complete an
action

23. Put instructions in the right order
Draw a triangle on top of an upside down “T”
Did
you
draw
a
pine
tree
or
a
wine
glass?

24. Write for action
§ Write in active voice
(the person comes before
the verb)
§ Tell people what to do,
rather than what not to
do
§ Make actions stand out

25. Use active voice and clear instructions!
Tell voters what to do rather than what not to do"
"Before!
"If that oval is not marked, your vote cannot be counted."
"After!
"You must fill in the oval for your vote to count"
"
Put the person doing the action before the verb"
"Before!
"Moving ahead is accomplished by touching the word Next"
"After!
"To go forward in the ballot, touch Next"

26. Can users
interpret and
act on the
information?
h3p://www.yourdiseaserisk.wustl.edu/hccpquiz.pl

27. Keep it as short as
possible
§ Short, common words
§ Short sentences
§ Short paragaraphs

28. What are the words that taxpayers
might not understand?
§ Delinquent
§ Tax sale
§ Payoff
§ Real property
§ What other questions do you hear in
your offices?

29. Design for easy
reading
§ Use Mixed Case in text
and names (not ALL
CAPITAL LETTERS)
§ Use bold for emphasis
§ Use lists and tables.
§ Choose one readable font

30. Design helps with understanding
§ Bullets
§ Bold
§ Illustrations

31. When people can't understand
government information,
they think that it is difficult,
confusing, and complicated.

32. Designing effective
tax notices
Disclaimer: I am not a tax expert.
I hope to spark ideas that will help you think
about how to make tax notices work better in
your county, with your laws, and your taxpayers.

33. Make it easy to see key information

34. Group related information logically
Owner
name(s)
Trancygier,
Joseph
V
Mortgage
company
paying
taxes
None
Property
owner
and
taxpayer
Property
informa1on
Parcel
number
00-­‐0001-­‐3480
Address
or
legal
decrip1ons
See
the
other
side
of
this
form
Tax
district
001-­‐Morgan
County
Are
back
taxes
owed?
No
back
taxes
are
owed
Tax
status

35. Make text easy to scan
Good
Be3er

36. Maybe even
better?
§ Use bullets for lists
alternatives,
options
§ Make headings
large enough to see
§ Left-justify text
§ Make headings
meaningful. Avoid
"Important" or
"Please note..."
§ Mixed Case
How
to
pay
your
taxes
You
can
pay
your
taxes:
• By
mail
Name
County
Treasurer
50
S.
Main
Street,
Fillmore,
UT
84631-­‐5504
• In
person
County
Courthouse,
50
S.
Main
Street,
Fillmore
County
Office
Building,
71
S.
200,
W.
Delta
• Online
h3p://www.countyutah.net
Do
not
send
cash
in
the
mail
Make
checks
payable
to:
County
Treasurer
Payments
procedures,
op1ons,
receipts,
returned
checks,
and
delinquencies
(amounts
you
owe)
on
the
back
County
offices
will
be
closed:
Thanksgiving
Day,
Nov
27,
2014
and
Friday
Nov
28,
2014
2014
Budget
hearings
• Name
County,
Dec
2,
7:00pm,
50
S.
Main
St,
Fillmore
• M
C
Fire
Service,
Dec
17,
715pm,
45
E
100
S,
Fillmore
• D-­‐S-­‐O
Cemetery,
Dec
3,
7:00pm,
81
S
Manzanita
Ave,
Delta
• H-­‐D
Cemetery,
Dec
11,
7:00pm,
161
E
200
N,
Hinkley
• W
M
Mosquito
Abate,
Dec
15,
7:00pm,
1050
W.
100
N,
Delta
How
to
pay
your
taxes

37. Make sure your conversation is
clear. Cut "noise words."

38. How might we make these notices
both friendly and clear?
• What are the key
messages? Can they be
listed in separate
paragraphs or bullets?
• Who is this notice to? Talk
directly to the reader.
• What terms might need to
be defined?
• Can we make the
sentences shorter and
easier to read?
"

39. How might we explain tax penalties
more clearly?
§ What is the
sequence of
events? Put the "if"
before the "then"
§ Can each rule or
action be listed
separately?
§ What can the
taxpayer do, and
when?
By
state
statute,
property
taxes
are
due
on
or
before
December
01,
2014.
If
payment
is
made
or
postmarked
aier
the
due
date,
the
GREATER
of
a
$10.00
or
2.5%
penalty
per
tax
no1ce
will
be
added
to
the
tax
amount.
If
ALL
2014
delinquent
taxes
are
paid
in
full
prior
to
January
31,
2015,
the
penalty
will
be
reduced
to
the
greater
of
$10.00
or
1$
of
the
tax
amount.
If
you
have
delinquencies
for
2010,
your
property
will
be
subject
to
tax
sale
by
public
auc1on
in
2015
if
the
taxes
are
not
paid
in
full
by
March
15,
2015.
An
upaid
tax
is
a
lien
upon
the
owner's
real
property
as
of
12
o'clock
noon
on
January
1
of
each
year.
If
you
have
paid
your
taxes,
please
disregard
this
no1ce.

40. Download
the
manual
from
civicdesign.org
or
cavotes.org

41. Field Guides To Ensuring Voter Intent

42. Research
commissioned by
EAC
Research
supported by
MacArthur
Research
supported by
MacArthur
Research
supported by
MacArthur
Field Guides series
Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent

43. Get in touch!
Whitney Quesenbery
whitneyq@civicdesign.org
@whitneyq
civicdesign.org
@civicdesign