9 Ways Modern Contracts Double Down on Broken Assumptions

Contracts are supposed to create clarity and trust. Yet modern business agreements have evolved into unwieldy documents full of added steps and legalese – all in an attempt to fix problems that these very fixes often fail to solve. Instead of improving understanding, we’ve doubled down on processes that give only the illusion of safety. From requiring initials on every page to adding witnesses and endless clauses, each practice is built on a well-meaning assumption. In reality, these measures usually add complexity or bureaucracy without addressing the core issue: most people still don’t truly understand what they’re signing. The result is a system of agreements that looks more robust on the surface but remains fundamentally broken in practice.

The following explores nine common contract practices – the assumptions behind them, what we do to try to mitigate risk, and why they ultimately fall short. We’ll also look ahead to a better way of making agreements that focuses on genuine understanding, not just ticking boxes. i agree that the future of agreements can work a lot better for everyone involved when we challenge these broken assumptions.

What this blog contains:

• Initials on Every Page: More Admin, Same Understanding
• Witness Signatures: False Confidence in Identity
• Digital Signatures Imitating Paper Rituals
• More Clauses, Less Clarity
• Hidden Terms in Schedules and Annexes
• Tick Boxes & Confirmations: Clicks Without Comprehension
• “Available to Read” Isn’t Actual Understanding
• Handling Complaints Instead of Preventing Them
• More Legal Jargon for Seriousness (and Its Cost)
• The Future of Agreements: Making Understanding the Priority

1. Initials on Every Page: More Admin, Same Understanding

The assumption: If someone initials each page of a contract, it proves they have read that page. The idea is that the extra effort of initialling every page will force readers to pay attention.

What we do: Contracts often require the signer’s initials on every page (in addition to a signature at the end) as a way to acknowledge each page’s content.

Why it still fails:

• Initialling pages becomes just as automatic as signing the last page. People scribble their initials without necessarily reading the text in detail.

• Initials prove a physical interaction with the document (i.e., that the person touched each page), but they do not prove comprehension. There’s no test of understanding – only evidence that pages were flipped and marked.

• People still often do not know what they have agreed to, despite initialling. If the contract is dense or full of fine print, those initials are just mechanical gestures on unread pages.

Result: Requiring initials on every page adds more administrative hassle but achieves the same lack of understanding. It creates a false sense of security that “every page was acknowledged,” when in reality the signer might be as clueless about the content as if they had only signed once.

It’s telling that studies consistently show a majority of consumers do not fully read or grasp what they sign. In one UK survey (2023), 68% of people admitted they either don’t read contracts or don’t understand them fully – with 13% saying they “hardly” or “never” read the fine print at all. Meanwhile, a Deloitte study in the U.S. found 91% of people consent to terms of service without reading a single word, and among younger adults the rate was even higher at 97%. Those eye-opening statistics confirm that an extra initial on each page doesn’t change the fundamental behavior. People are still signing (and initialling) documents they haven’t truly read, simply because the system expects it of them.

2. Witness Signatures: False Confidence in Identity

The assumption: Having a contract witnessed by a third party will validate the identity of the signer and the integrity of the signature. In theory, a witness adds credibility – they’re supposed to be a neutral observer who later can swear “Yes, John Doe signed this document willingly in front of me.”

What we do: We add a line for a witness signature (and often their name and address) on important documents. The witness is meant to watch the signing and then sign themselves to confirm it was properly executed.

Why it still fails:

• In practice, we often have no idea who the witness actually is. The signer might ask a random coworker or even a stranger to witness, just to satisfy the formality. Later on, if a dispute arises, tracking down “Bob from the lobby who signed as witness” is difficult or impossible.

• There is usually no proof the witness was truly present at the moment of signing. A signature from a witness doesn’t come with a timestamp or photo. It’s taken on faith. In some cases, people have been known to sign as a witness after the fact – which completely undermines the intended purpose.

• The witness provides no evidence that they understood what they were witnessing. In fact, a witness isn’t required to read the document or verify its contents. Their role is just to observe the signing and attest that it happened. They don’t have to vouch for the signer’s identity beyond maybe a casual familiarity, nor ensure the signer understood the contract. Essentially, the witness signature is a formality that adds another layer of ink but not much actual protection.

Result: We end up with a false sense of security layered onto weak evidence. Everyone feels better because a “witness” was involved, yet if the signature’s validity is later challenged, the witness often contributes little. They might not recall the event, might be uncontactable, or their credibility could be questionable (since they might be a friend or employee, not truly independent). In essence, the witness requirement in many contracts is just more paperwork that rarely gets tested – and when it is tested, it’s not the rock-solid proof we’d hope for. (Notably, for certain legal documents like deeds, witnesses are required by law – but even then the same weaknesses apply unless the process is very rigorously managed.)

It’s also worth noting the contrast with modern digital methods: for example, an electronic signature platform can record an audit trail (IP addresses, timestamps, etc.) to verify identity better than a hurried scrawl from a so-called witness. Yet many businesses still trust the old witness signature ritual without ensuring any real verification. The bottom line is that a witness signature often adds bureaucracy without truly increasing trustworthiness.

3. Digital Signatures Imitating Paper Rituals

The assumption: If people are uneasy about electronic agreements, making the online signing process mimic old paper formalities will increase trust. In other words, we try to copy the look and feel of pen-and-paper signing in a digital environment, hoping it reassures users that the process is just as legitimate.

What we do: We implement rigid signing workflows in e-signature software. For example, we may force users to click through each page of a PDF, maybe even “initial” electronically, and confirm multiple times that they agree. We add pop-up warnings like “Are you sure you have read the document?” before allowing them to apply a digital signature. Essentially, we transplant all the formal steps of paper signing into the online world.

Why it still fails:

• Digital user behavior is fast and often distracted. Online, people are used to clicking “Agree” in seconds. Even if we put roadblocks like “scroll to the end to enable the Sign button,” users will scroll quickly without reading – it’s a reflex. The formality doesn’t make them more engaged; it just annoys them briefly before they proceed to do what they intended (sign and finish) anyway.

• Long documents perform even worse on screens than on paper. Research shows that reading on a screen tends to be more superficial – people skim and have lower comprehension compared to paper reading. If a contract was hard to digest on paper, on a smartphone or laptop it’s even more likely the person won’t truly absorb it. Tiny fonts, endless PDF pages, or having to scroll on a phone all discourage careful reading.

• Formality does not equal understanding. Just because an online process makes someone click “Confirm” three times doesn’t mean they know what they confirmed. The digital checkboxes and simulated initials are still just checkmarks – they don’t magically convey the meaning of the terms. A user can digitally “initial” 50 pages as mindlessly as they would scribble on paper.

Result: We often get the worst of both worlds: the cumbersome feel of paper contracts now translated into a clunky online experience. Instead of leveraging the benefits of digital (like searchability, interactive explanations, or quick navigation), many e-contracts are literally just scanned paper forms or static PDFs thrown onto a screen. The user is expected to read a 30-page PDF on a phone and dutifully click all the right boxes. Not surprisingly, understanding doesn’t improve – but frustration might. We’ve basically recreated the old problems (unreadable contracts, blind agreement) in a new medium, with extra clicks to boot.

Some dramatic real-world examples highlight how ineffective these measures are. In one famous April Fool’s experiment, an online game retailer slipped a clause into its digital terms claiming the purchaser’s immortal soul as payment. That day, 7,500 customers agreed to the terms and not a single one clicked the opt-out link to save their soul – proving nobody truly read the text. Similarly, a software company hid a $1,000 prize offer deep in its end-user license agreement. It took over four months and more than 3,000 downloads before someone finally noticed and claimed it. These stunts illustrate that no matter how many confirmations or pages to initial, users on digital platforms will click “agree” without reading if the process doesn’t actively engage or inform them.

4. More Clauses, Less Clarity

The assumption: If people keep misunderstanding or disputing contract terms, the solution must be to add even more detail and clauses to cover every possible scenario. The thinking is that a longer, very comprehensive contract will prevent any “wiggle room” or ambiguity, thereby heading off future conflicts (“it’s all in the contract!”).

What we do: We expand contracts incessantly. Over time, agreements grow from a simple 3-page document to a 30-page monster. Every time an issue or dispute occurred in the past, a new clause gets tacked on for next time. Lawyers insert highly specific language and multiple sub-clauses, trying to anticipate all conceivable circumstances. The contract ends up covering an exhaustive list of “if X then Y” conditions, exceptions, definitions, and legal boilerplate to make it bulletproof.

Why it still fails:

• Sheer length dramatically reduces the likelihood that anyone will read the contract in full. When a document looks like a mini-novel, most customers will give up after the first page (if they start at all). The more we add, the more intimidating and impenetrable the contract becomes to the average person. A contract meant for a simple service might balloon to tens of thousands of words – practically guaranteeing that readers will skim at best.

• Important points get lost in the sea of text. The key terms that a customer really should know (for instance, a cancellation fee or an auto-renewal clause) are now buried among dozens of other provisions. It becomes like finding a needle in a haystack – even a diligent reader could miss critical details because they’re hidden by the weight of all the “extra” clauses surrounding them.

• Cognitive overload leads to disengagement. When faced with overly complex and lengthy information, people’s brains tend to shut down. This is a documented behavioral science phenomenon: too much information causes people to not process any of it. By trying to cover everything, the contract ends up effectively communicating nothing to the typical signer, because it’s simply too much to absorb.

Result: We get longer and longer documents that fewer and fewer people actually read. The irony is that in trying to prevent disputes by detailing every scenario, we may actually be causing more disputes or resentment. Customers later say, “I had no idea about X term,” and technically it’s there on page 19, but who realistically saw it? One might argue the business protected itself legally by including it, but if almost no one understands the agreement, it’s a pyrrhic victory. We’re essentially writing contracts that succeed on paper (from a legal CYA perspective) but fail in practice because they don’t achieve a meeting of the minds with the customer.

Consider that some popular online services now have terms of service so extensive that it would take an average person over an hour (or even two) to read them in full. For example, a major social media app’s terms can run 7,000+ words, and an e-commerce platform’s combined user agreement and privacy policy can exceed 30,000 words. It’s fantasy to think users will parse these entirely. So adding clause upon clause has not made things clearer – it’s made the core points harder to find and ensured that most users click “agree” without true understanding. More detail does not equal more clarity when human attention is a finite resource.

5. Hidden Terms in Schedules and Annexes

The assumption: By moving all the nitty-gritty details (technical terms, fee tables, legal definitions, etc.) out of the main body of the contract and into schedules or annexes, we make the primary agreement simpler and clearer. In theory, separating the details keeps the main contract clean and digestible, and anyone who wants the fine print can find it in the appendix.

What we do: We take key terms and put them into attachments at the end of the contract (often labeled “Schedule A,” “Annex 1,” “Exhibit B,” etc.). For instance, a software license agreement might have the pricing and support terms in Schedule 1, or a loan contract might have all the definitions and formulae in an annex. The main document then references these schedules (“per the rates set out in Schedule A”) but doesn’t display them up front.

Why it still fails:

• Most people never bother to open or read the schedules and annexes. If the main contract is already lengthy or the signer is in a hurry, they will sign the agreement itself and ignore the attachments. Psychologically, many treat the schedules as separate documents that are “probably just formalities” and assume the important stuff was in the main part they glanced at. So anything tucked away in an annex might as well be invisible to a lot of signers.

• Crucial obligations get detached from the moment of agreement. For example, an annex might contain maintenance fees or renewal terms that kick in later. The customer may not realize these because they weren’t front-and-center when they signed. By isolating key terms in the back, we ensure that the very time the customer is agreeing (signing the main doc), they are not simultaneously acknowledging those details – leading to “I didn’t know about that!” complaints down the line.

• Hiding complexity doesn’t equal explaining it. Moving heavy content to an appendix might make the core contract seem less dense, but it doesn’t make the complexity go away – it just buries it. The customer who doesn’t understand a term in the main text is unlikely to magically understand it in the fine-print schedule, especially if it’s even more technical. So the knowledge gap remains. In fact, burying terms can breed a sense of mistrust if later discovered (“They stuck the important thing in an annex I never saw!”).

Result: The risk is not eliminated; it’s simply hidden. Businesses might think they’ve made the contract more user-friendly by offloading details to the back, but unless they actively ensure people look at and grasp those schedules, it’s a cosmetic fix. All too often, a customer will sign an agreement with a false sense of security, only to be unpleasantly surprised when an annexed term comes into effect. That leads to the familiar scenario: “It was in the contract, in the schedule on page 47,” says the company – and the customer responds, “Well, I never saw that!” In the end, pushing key terms out of sight can create as much friction as it avoids, because it emphasizes form (a tidy main contract) over substance (truly communicating the important points). Clarity would be better served by highlighting key obligations in plain language at the moment of agreement, not by tucking them away.

6. Tick Boxes & Confirmations: Clicks Without Comprehension

The assumption: If customers sometimes later claim “I didn’t know about X term,” we believe that making them actively acknowledge specific clauses (through tick boxes, initialling specific paragraphs, or multiple “I agree” buttons) will prove they gave consent to those terms. The idea is that each extra confirmation step is evidence the customer was alerted to that item and agreed.

What we do: We insert numerous tick boxes and acknowledgment prompts in the contracting process. For example, on an online signup, a user might have to check “I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy” separate from the main “I accept the Terms” box. Or in a contract, there might be a line like “____ (Customer’s initials) I acknowledge that I have received and understood the refund policy.” We pile on confirmations: “Click here to confirm you understand clause 5,” etc.

Why it still fails:

• Ticking a box becomes a reflex action. Think about all those cookie consent pop-ups or app agreements – users are trained to click “OK” or tick the box instantly to get on with what they want. Adding more checkboxes doesn’t fundamentally change this behavior. It just means there are more boxes the user will hurriedly tick without absorbing the text next to them.

• Each extra confirmation adds friction but not enlightenment. At best, it might marginally draw attention to a particular term (“I acknowledge the refund policy”), but unless that term is explained in an understandable way, the user is just mechanically complying. They see a checkbox, they tick it. It’s unlikely they stop everything to go read the full refund policy in another window just because of that checkbox. More often, it irritates them (“Ugh, another box to check”) and they comply mindlessly.

• No evidence of actual understanding is gained. The record will show that yes, the user ticked Box #7 at 3:45pm – but it doesn’t show that the user actually comprehended what Box #7 was about. In disputes, customers can still say, “I just clicked it because I had to – I didn’t truly understand that term.” And they’d be telling the truth in many cases. Regulators and courts know that forcing a user’s click doesn’t equal informed consent, especially if the term was buried in legal jargon. So the extra checkboxes may not even provide the legal protection companies hope for if challenged.

Result: We end up with a clickier, more cumbersome agreement process that still produces the same outcome: customers who later protest they didn’t know what they agreed to. We’ve increased the number of “I agree” moments, but not the quality of agreement. In many customer service or legal disputes, you’ll hear a frustrated person say, “Yeah, I clicked all those boxes, but who actually reads all that?!” If a significant percentage of users treat these confirmations as just hurdles to clear, then the business hasn’t truly reduced its risk of misunderstanding – it’s only added more paper (or rather, digital) trail to argue over later. The core issue remains that the customer wasn’t truly engaged or educated by those steps. In the worst case, overloading users with confirmations can even backfire – customers might feel the process is annoyingly bureaucratic, hurting the overall user experience without yielding any real benefit in comprehension.

7. “Available to Read” Isn’t Actual Understanding

The assumption: Companies often defend themselves by saying “we provided the terms, the customer could have read them.” The belief is that as long as the contract or terms were available (say, given as a PDF or via a link), the responsibility shifts to the customer. Essentially, access equals consent – if it was there to read, that’s good enough legally.

What we do: Businesses will attach lengthy PDFs of terms and conditions or include a URL to the terms on a website, and then have the user sign or click “I agree” to indicate acceptance. The onus is put on the consumer to read those materials. When challenged, the company argues that the information was provided and the customer had the opportunity to review it. Increasingly, companies rely on this approach especially online: terms are posted somewhere, and the user is assumed to be bound by them once they agree, even if they never opened the link.

Why it still fails:

• Availability does not mean engagement. Just because a document was handed over or linked doesn’t mean the customer actually read it (or could even navigate it). It’s like burying an important notice on page 10 of a packet – technically it’s “available,” but practically it might never be seen. Many customers will not click that link or open that PDF at all, especially if it’s optional or separate from the main flow of whatever they’re doing.

• The company gains no insight into what was actually seen or understood by the user. If you send a PDF and the person signs an acknowledgment page, you don’t know if they skimmed every page, read only the summary, or didn’t open it at all. There’s no feedback loop. It’s a black box – you assume they informed themselves, but you have zero evidence of that. As a result, you might be lulled into thinking you’ve covered your bases, when in reality the customer might still be uninformed about key terms.

• Regulators are increasingly skeptical of the “but it was in the terms we provided” defense. Consumer protection bodies and courts in various jurisdictions have started to emphasize actual communication over mere availability. They know that simply dumping a novel-length T&C on a customer doesn’t ensure understanding. For example, financial regulators now push firms to demonstrate that customers truly understood critical terms – not just that the terms existed on a website. The old-school practice of “We emailed them the terms, so our job is done” is being called out as inadequate in a world where information overload is real.

Result: The legal exposure remains high. A business might technically comply by making terms available, but in a dispute, that might not save them if a pattern emerges of customers being misled or confused. We continue to see frequent scenarios where a customer says “I had no idea this condition applied,” and the company replies “It was in the document we sent you.” If that ends up before a regulator or judge, the question will be: was it reasonable to expect the customer to wade through and grasp that? Often, the answer is no, especially if the term was obscure or not flagged. So relying on “it was available to read” is a shaky crutch. Without measures to ensure comprehension (like summaries, plain language, or actually highlighting key points to the customer), simply providing a pile of text offers little real protection. It’s a check-the-box approach to informing consumers, and everyone knows it – including those who enforce consumer laws.

8. Handling Complaints Instead of Preventing Them

The assumption: If customers keep complaining about unexpected terms or poor outcomes, we think the solution is to improve how we handle those complaints – hire more support staff, refine the complaint resolution process, set up faster response timelines (SLAs), etc. The underlying belief is that complaints are inevitable, so the best we can do is manage them efficiently to reduce legal risk and customer churn.

What we do: Rather than addressing why customers are confused or unhappy, companies double down on complaint management. They establish dedicated complaint teams, invest in call centers or ticketing systems, and create detailed scripts for apologizing and compensating when things go wrong. Internal metrics focus on how quickly complaints are closed and how well we pacify upset customers. There’s often less investment in fixing the root causes (like making contracts clearer); instead, resources go into firefighting mode after the fact.

Why it still fails:

• Complaints are a lagging indicator of a problem. By the time someone complains, the damage (bad experience, confusion, mistrust) is already done. Only focusing on handling complaints is like mopping up a floor under a leaking pipe but never fixing the leak. You might mop faster and better, but the water keeps coming. Without preventive action (like ensuring customers know what to expect upfront), you’ll just face an endless stream of similar complaints.

• Root causes remain unresolved. If customers frequently complain “I didn’t realize I’d be charged this fee” and you simply train your support staff to explain the fee more nicely after the fact or waive it occasionally, you haven’t solved why customers are surprised by the fee in the first place. The contract or sales process that failed to set correct expectations is left unchanged. This means new customers will keep falling into the same trap, generating the same complaints. The cycle continues, possibly even growing as your customer base grows.

• Costs scale with failure. Complaint handling is expensive – it requires human resources, refunds or goodwill gestures, maybe even legal fees if things escalate. The more failures in understanding, the more you’ll spend on these back-end fixes. It doesn’t scale well. For every ten confused customers who don’t complain, maybe one does – but those other nine might simply leave silently or never trust you again. So poor communication can be bleeding customers and reputation in ways that don’t show up immediately as formal complaints. Focusing only on explicit complaints can give a false sense of security (“only 5% complained, so 95% are fine”) when in fact many were unhappy but didn’t bother to complain to you (maybe they vented on social media or just stopped doing business with you).

Result: You end up with a proficient complaints department managing a preventable problem. It’s like getting really good at damage control instead of preventing the damage. The company might pride itself on great customer service recovery, but from the customer’s perspective, the best experience is not needing to complain in the first place. Moreover, regulators and industry watchdogs look at complaint volumes and themes. If a lot of complaints cluster around “I didn’t understand X,” they may impose penalties or new rules, seeing it as a systemic issue of poor communication. We’re already seeing this shift: for example, financial regulators now emphasize customer understanding as a key outcome – effectively telling firms to design products and contracts that consumers can comprehend, thereby reducing complaints and disputes at the source.

There’s evidence that focusing on understanding yields real benefits. When customers truly understand what they’re agreeing to, they are less likely to be unpleasantly surprised and thus less likely to complain. In one sector study, it was found that clear, plain-language communication reduced inbound customer queries and complaints by a significant margin (some reports cite reductions on the order of 20–30% in certain financial services contexts after simplifying documents). And in the legal services arena, a consumer panel survey in 2022 found nearly one in four clients didn’t fully understand the service or terms they signed up for – a statistic that correlates strongly with dissatisfaction and complaints. These figures show that by investing earlier in clarity – making agreements straightforward and checking understanding – businesses could save a lot later on in complaint handling and maintain much healthier customer relationships.

9. More Legal Jargon for Seriousness (and Its Cost)

The assumption: Many organizations feel that if an agreement comes off as too “plain” or casual, it won’t be taken seriously. So they assume that adding formal legal jargon, Latin terms, and complex sentence structures will signal that this is a serious, enforceable contract. In other words, formality is equated with robustness – the more it reads like traditional legalese, the more “binding” and protective it must be.

What we do: We draft contracts in dense legal language. Plain English gets overridden by archaic phrases (“Now therefore, the parties hereto, in consideration of the mutual covenants…”). Simple words are replaced with complicated ones (“indemnify” instead of “compensate,” “terminate” instead of “end”). We include multiple redundancies (“null and void,” “any and all”) and cross-references that only a trained lawyer can easily follow. Even if an in-house counsel writes a readable first draft, it might get reviewed by another lawyer who inserts more “correct” legal verbiage to make it feel proper. The end product looks very formal and comprehensive to the trained eye – but to a layperson, it’s virtually a foreign language.

Why it still fails:

• Precision for lawyers is not clarity for customers. Legal jargon is indeed precise in a technical sense – each term might have a specific defined meaning to avoid ambiguity in court. However, the average customer is not a lawyer. So while the company’s attorneys feel secure that the language covers them, the customer’s eyes glaze over. You’ve achieved precision at the cost of communication. If people can’t easily understand the terms, it doesn’t matter how precisely those terms are crafted – practically, the customer doesn’t know what they mean.

• Reading comprehension drops dramatically with complex language. Most adults read at a certain grade level (often cited around 8th to 10th grade reading level for the general public). Yet many consumer contracts are written at a college or even post-graduate reading level. Studies of website terms and conditions have found that the vast majority are “unreadable” by standard benchmarks – one analysis of 500 popular sites showed that 99% of their terms were more complex than an 8th-grade level, often comparable to academic journal articles. When confronted with such text, many people literally cannot process it fully. It might as well be gibberish, or they pick out a few familiar words and assume the rest. So all that careful wording is essentially lost on the person it’s meant to bind.

• Trust erodes when people feel confused or overwhelmed. A customer might not articulate “I don’t trust this because of legal jargon,” but subconsciously, that’s often what happens. If a document looks complex and impenetrable, a reader may suspect it’s hiding something or designed to trip them up. They know they can’t parse it, so they either feel at the mercy of the company or decide not to read it at all. Neither is good for trust. In contrast, if an agreement is straightforward and written in plain language directly to the customer, it can build trust – it feels like the company isn’t trying to hide behind legalese. Overloading a document with needless formality can thus backfire by making customers wary (“What am I missing here? This is too convoluted.”).

Result: We end up with contracts that look robust and intimidating (perhaps satisfying executives and lawyers), but fail the people who actually have to agree to them. The documents may hold up in court (assuming a dispute gets that far and a judge deciphers them), but day-to-day they do a poor job of setting expectations and securing genuine informed consent from customers. The gulf between the business and its customers widens – one side speaks in legal code, the other side signs in ignorance. Importantly, even legal effectiveness can be undermined by overusing jargon: there are cases where courts have struck down or criticized terms because they weren’t communicated in a way the consumer might understand (especially when consumer protection laws require clarity). So the very tactic meant to strengthen the contract can actually weaken it if it’s deemed too unclear or unfair to the layperson.

In summary, making an agreement more “legal” and less human-readable is usually counterproductive. It doesn’t truly make the agreement more enforceable in practical terms, and it certainly doesn’t enhance the relationship with the customer. On the contrary, simplifying language and focusing on clear communication can often cover legal bases just as well while massively improving customer comprehension and goodwill. The strongest agreements are those that both sides understand – not just those that one side’s lawyers labored over.

The Future of Agreements: Making Understanding the Priority

After examining all these broken assumptions, one thing becomes clear: the traditional contract playbook is overdue for a transformation. The future of agreements shouldn’t be about piling on more formalities – it should be about ensuring all parties truly understand and agree with full knowledge. In other words, the focus must shift from proof of signature to proof of understanding. This is where modern approaches and the work of innovators like i agree come in, aiming to rebuild the agreement process around clarity, transparency, and human engagement.

Imagine an agreement that feels less like a thick legal dossier and more like a conversation. Instead of tiny print and legal mumbo-jumbo, you get clear summaries of the key points in plain English. Important terms aren’t hidden; they’re highlighted and explained in context. For instance, if there’s a cancellation fee or an auto-renewal, the agreement proactively tells you up front: “Here’s what will happen and what it means for you.” This can be done with short text summaries, infographics, or even interactive Q&A sections.

The future likely involves multi-modal communication – not just text on paper (or screen), but also audio and video to enhance understanding. i agree and others have piloted using voice and video consent, especially in the UK, as a next-generation method. How does that work? Instead of relying on a drawn-out contract alone, the company provides a brief video or voice explanation of the critical terms, in a conversational tone. After ensuring the customer hears these points (e.g., “your monthly fee is £X, and you can cancel anytime with 30 days’ notice”), the customer might record a quick voice reply or video clip confirming they understand and accept. This creates a piece of evidence that the person was informed and consciously agreed – far more compelling than a hastily clicked checkbox. It’s like capturing the handshake and the “yes, I get it” moment on record.

Such approaches can seem novel, but they tap into how humans actually communicate and build trust. People naturally trust a face or a voice explaining something clearly more than a wall of text. A short explainer video can convey in 2 minutes what a 20-page contract might hide. The key is that with voice/video confirmations, the agreement becomes *humanized*. It’s not an impersonal form; it’s an interaction, almost as if you sat down across the table and talked through the deal. This not only improves understanding, but also shows respect for the customer’s right to know what they’re signing. It says “we want you to really get this,” rather than “we just need your signature and we’re done.”

Regulators are actually encouraging this trend. Consumer protection rules, like the new UK Consumer Duty, are pushing firms to ensure communications are “fair, clear and not misleading” and that customers are equipped to make informed decisions. That essentially mandates a lot of what we’re discussing: use plain language, highlight the important stuff, check that the customer has understood before locking them into a contract. Future agreements will likely embed these principles as standard practice, not just as extra customer service.

The benefits of moving in this direction are huge for all involved. Customers who understand their agreements are more confident and comfortable – they know what they’re getting and what’s expected of them. That leads to fewer disputes and complaints, as discussed, which saves companies money and reputation damage. It also builds loyalty: a client is more likely to stick with a business that they feel is honest and upfront with them. On the flip side, businesses gain stronger legal protection not by hiding behind fine print, but by having clear evidence that “yes, we did inform the customer, and here’s the recording of them acknowledging it.” That’s powerful in court or regulatory settings because it demonstrates informed consent, not just a one-sided contract.

In practical terms, the future of agreements might involve digital platforms (like i agree) that replace static PDFs with interactive contract portals. These could present each key term as a module with a short description, an optional detailed view, maybe a 30-second video clip, and a quick quiz or acknowledgment to ensure the user got it. It could even allow the user to ask questions (via chat or a support line) at points of confusion, right there in the signing process. This kind of context-rich, user-friendly contract is not a fantasy – the technology exists now. It just requires a mindset shift from businesses: prioritizing understanding over tradition.

In conclusion, the agreements of tomorrow will likely reject the broken assumptions we’ve outlined. Instead of doubling down on the old ways (more initials, more clauses, more jargon), they embrace a new assumption: that an agreement is only as good as how well it is understood by the people signing it. Everything flows from that principle – simplicity, clarity, and even creativity in communication (like voice and video). Such agreements won’t just protect legal positions; they will create stronger, trust-based relationships. They work better for everyone involved: customers feel respected and informed, and businesses actually get the true “meeting of minds” that a contract is supposed to represent. That’s a future of contracting worth agreeing to.

References

Internal Links

• i agree – Informed Consent: Understanding Beyond Signatures (Why a signature alone is not enough, and the need to capture proof of understanding.)
• i agree – Voice and Video Consent: The Future of Agreements (How using short voice or video confirmations can make agreements more human and trusted.)
• i agree – Consumer Understanding Reduces Disputes and Complaints (Explains how clear communication and ensuring customer comprehension leads to fewer complaints and better outcomes.)
• i agree blog – The Missing Context in Contracts (and Why It Changes Everything) (Discusses how simply having terms “available” isn’t enough, and regulators expect customers to truly understand what they sign.)

External Links

• University of Law (Press Release 2023) – Survey finding 68% of people don’t read or fully understand contracts they sign (and 13% hardly or never read them).
• Deloitte Survey (via Business Insider) – 2017 study of 2,000 U.S. consumers found 91% consent to terms & conditions without reading, and 97% of 18–34 year-olds do so.
• Carpmaels Law Firm – Signing Agreements: What Makes a Good Witness? – Notes that a witness to a signature isn’t required to verify identity or read the document, highlighting the limited value of witness signatures.
• DocuSign Blog – Faster Contract Turnaround Stats – Indicates that 80% of agreements via e-signature complete in < 24 hours and 44% in < 15 minutes, showing how quickly people sign digital documents (often without full review).
• Reading Rockets – Comprehension on Screens vs. Paper – Summary of research/meta-analyses showing that reading on screens tends to be faster and shallower, with lower comprehension and more skimming compared to reading on paper.
• Pinsent Masons – “Nobody Reads Terms and Conditions” (2010) – Article about Gamestation’s April Fool’s experiment (claiming customers’ souls in T&Cs, with 7,500 people agreeing unknowingly) and a PC Pitstop EULA test (offering $1,000 prize to see if anyone reads the fine print; it took months for one person to respond).
• Vice/Motherboard – Online TOS Readability Study – Reports on a 2019 academic study of 500 website terms of service, where over 99% were unreadable to the average adult (required college-level reading skills, similar to academic journal complexity).