About us

We are a non-profit and registered as an educational charity. We exist to challenge poor communication, particularly in health, the law and government. We advocate, educate and demonstrate.

What do we mean by simplification?

Sometimes we mean simplifying the information itself at the surface – clearer language, well-signalled arguments, coherent explanations. Or it may mean simplifying the content – for example, the underlying process or system which the information tries to convey. Or it may mean simplifying the reader's task: providing helps, better navigation, more legible fonts, and better layout.

One thing we are clear about is that simplicity isn't just about appearance. Something can look simple but be very hard to use because it hides important detail – rather like those modernist kitchens where there is no clutter or mess, but also no handles on the doors and no clue which door hides the fridge.

For us, simplification is closely related to information design, and that's where the core skills of the simplifier can be found. Information designers apply what has become known as 'design thinking' to content, to language, and to layout.

This article in the design theory journal She Ji sets out our philosophy and background.

Our mission

We want to make information easier to understand – the information we use every day to make important choices, or to understand our options.

Funding

We are a non-profit, reliant on pro bono effort by our organisers. We are funded through a small surplus from our summer school and training activities but would be grateful for your additional help.

Partners

We partner with other organizations including:
International Institute for Information Design (IIID)
Clarity

History

The Simplification Centre was launched at the University of Reading, based in the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, a leading UK centre for research and teaching. You can read more about our time within the university in this report: The first two years: 2009-2010.

Organisations we helped during our time at Reading and since include: HM Revenue & Customs, Department of Work & Pensions, Office for Students, NHS, Aegon, AXA, HM Prison Service, National Government of Wales.

We became an independent non-profit from 1 April 2011, working to help organisations develop the skills and processes for clearer communication. These days we are mainly focused on the annual summer school.

The Simplification Centre is coordinated by Rob Waller. We are a registered charity (number 1154741). The trustees are Rob Waller, Alan Wells OBE (founder of the Basic Skills Agency) and Clive Richards (Emeritus Professor at Birmingham City University).

Contact us