Language

Statistical confusion of olympian proportions 

london olympics 2010 tickets email with confusing statistics

This email about the cost of tickets for the Olympics left me shocked. Not because I clicked through to find out that a ticket for the 100m final would cost £750, but because of the utterly bizarre approach to presenting the figures.

See the full Statistical confusion of olympian proportions page

Don’t duplicate it – delete it 

A comment I often make, is that ‘I get paid to delete stuff’. It’s meant to be self-deprecating but it’s largely true.

And what’s the first thing I look for when I’ve got my hatcheting head on? Duplicated information.

As a first step to making information simpler, deleting duplicated information is a great place to start, particularly because it doesn’t require any great analysis. It’s a very simple process.

See the full Don’t duplicate it – delete it page

The Plain Language Act 

There has been a lot of talk in the plain language field about the forthcoming vote on the Plain Language Bill in the US. Its premise is very simple: to require the federal government to write all new publications, forms, and publicly distributed documents in a “clear, concise, well-organized” manner that follows the best practices [...]

See the full The Plain Language Act page

The Crystalmeth Mark 

This was my Eureka moment in the bath – not exactly Archimedes I grant you. I think it’s time for a new standard in plain english. I give you the ‘The Crystalmeth Mark – can people understand your information while under the influence?’

Alright, so you’ve taken a look at the date and realised I’m not entirely serious, but I do have a valid point to make.

See the full The Crystalmeth Mark page

bmi baby baggage allowance text 

A little while ago I picked up on a tweet from Mark Boulton about the confusing information about baggage allowance that he experienced on the bmibaby website. Having taken a look at the site in question it was easy to see why.

Having already had a go at Virgin Atlantic’s baggage information I thought I’d have a go at this too. Here’s how I got on

See the full bmi baby baggage allowance text page