Simple Information: Researching, Teaching, Doing

This research center profile describes the Simplification Centre, from its origin as a university research center to its present status as a not-for-profit dedicated to education and advocacy. We address the problem of poorly designed complex information in societies where a significant proportion of people have poor functional literacy. Our main activities are education, training, advocacy, and demonstration. This brings together a network of designers, writers and students to tackle “orphan” design projects-important communications that have no owner taking responsibility for effectiveness. Much of the poorly designed information we experience demonstrates the absence of professional processes for design and testing, so our goal is to articulate good practice to make it accessible to non-professionals.