Textured agreements: Re-envisioning electronic consent

Research indicates that less than 2% of the population reads license agreements during software installation [12]. To address this problem, we developed textured agreements, visually redesigned agreements that employ factoids, vignettes, and iconic symbols to accentuate information and highlight its personal relevance. Notably, textured agreements accomplish these goals without requiring modifcation of the underlying text. A between-subjects experimental study with 84 subjects indicates these agreements can signifcantly increase reading times. In our study, subjects spent approximately 37 seconds on agreement screens with textured agreements, compared to 7 seconds in the plain text control condition. A follow-up study examined retention of agreement content, fnding that median scores on a comprehension quiz increased by 4 out of 16 points for textured agreements. These results provide convincing evidence of the potential for textured agreements to positively impact software agreement processes.