Skip to content
Plainlamp

Hard documents,
in plain words.

Plainlamp turns a difficult PDF into a short narrated video and a plain-English guide. You get what the document says, and the page where you can find it.

Email ushello@plainlamp.com

In early development. We built it first for research papers. Company policies and rules come next.

A lamp switches on above a crowded page. In its light the page turns into a few plain lines, and a tag marks the page number the main point comes from.p. 14

What a lesson looks like

A lesson is a narrated video and a written guide. In the video, simple objects show each idea in a short scene while a calm voice explains it. These pictures come from our finished lesson. It explains a research paper by David Obstfeld (2012) about how organizations do new things.

A still from the lesson: a scale with three pinned pictures. A stove stands for stable routines, the restaurant pass for adaptive routines and an order screen for creative projects.
One scaleThe paper places stable routines, adaptive routines and creative projects on one scale, from repeated action to new action.
A still from the lesson: a board where lines link Noor to a picture of a market stall and a picture of the cook's stove.
Linking peopleIn the lesson, Noor is creating a new lunch menu for a restaurant. Noor puts the cook in contact with a grower (a farmer) from the market.
A still from the lesson: two smiling regulars share a salad at a restaurant table, next to empty tables, a clock and a menu board.
Planning for surprisesNoor invites two friendly regular customers to the first tasting, so the first comments are likely to be positive.
The video
Narrated, with captions and a transcript. This one is about eight minutes long.
The guide
The main point, the key points, explanations of the paper’s own terms, ideas that are easy to confuse, and practice questions with answers. Each point shows the page it comes from.

From a PDF to a lesson

  1. Start with the PDF

    Today it works with research papers, for example one for your course. Later it will also work with company policies, rules and standards.

  2. Plainlamp finds the main ideas

    It finds the key terms and shows how the ideas connect. It notes the page where each idea comes from.

  3. You get a video and a guide

    A narrated video that shows the ideas, and a written guide that you can study and keep.

For anyone who has to understand a hard document

When you study

Prepare for an exam on a paper that is hard to read. Understand the argument, not just the words.

At workComing next

Understand a new policy or rule and explain it to your team. Know what it means for a decision you have to make.

The rules that every lesson follows

Nothing invented
Plainlamp explains what the document says. When it adds an example or a comparison to help, it tells you.
A page for every point
Every point says where in the document it came from, so you can check it yourself.
Honest about gaps
If the document does not answer something, the lesson says so. It does not guess.
Plain English
Short sentences and everyday words. Clear for everyone, including readers of English as a second language.

Where we are now

Plainlamp is in early development. We have made our first full lessons from research papers. Company policies and rules come next.

Do you have a document that you want us to explain? Or do you want to hear when Plainlamp is ready? Write to us.

hello@plainlamp.com

We reply within a few working days. Please do not send confidential documents yet. Tell us about the document first.