Usability - International Bible

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Usability and Design Bibliography for InternationalProducts

December 10, 1998Chauncey [email protected]

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Andrews, D. C. Technical Communication in the Global Community.Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1998.

Andrews has a section entitled Crossing Cultures at the end of most chapters.

Apple Computer, Inc. Human Interface Guidelines: The Apple DesktopInterface. Reading, MA, 1992.

Axtell, R. E. Dos and Taboos Around the World (3

rd

Edition). Wiley, NewYork, 1993.

Axtell, R. E. Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around theWorld. Wiley, New York, 1991.

Belge M. The Next Step in Software Internationalization. Interactions. ACMPublishers. Vol 2. No 1. pp 21-25, 1995.

Bishop, M. International Web Site. The Coriolis Group, Scottsdale, AZ, 1998.

Borgman C L. Cultural Diversity in Interface Design. SIGCHI Bulletin. Vol. 24.

No. 4. p31, 1992.

Coe, M. Human Factors for Technical Communicators. Wiley: New York, NY,1996.

Coe's book provides technical communicators with clear explanations of the impact ofhuman factors on technical communication.

Del Galdo, E. M. and Nielsen, J. (Eds.) International User Interfaces. Wiley:New York, NY, 1996.

Del Galdo and Nielsen's book is a collection of chapters on topics dealing with usability

engineering, culture and design, international differences in software user training, casestudies on international user interface design, and the design of multilingual documents.Examples of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans designs are shown.


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Fernandes, T. Global Interface Design: A Guide to Designing InternationalUser Interfaces. AP Professional: Boston, MA, 1995.

Fernandes book is an excellent reference for GUI designers. His book has sections onvisual design, international formats, cultural issues, symbols and taboos, and cultural

aesthetics. This book has the best examples of good and bad international GUI designsthat Ive seen.

Fowler, S. L. and Stanwick, V. R. The GUI Style Guide. AP Professional:Boston, MA, 1995.

Fowler and Stanwick provide a detailed list of localization and internationalizationresources.

Hall, P. A. V. and Hudson, R. (Ed.) Software Without Fontiers: A Multi-platform, Multi-cultural, Multi-nation Approach. Wiley: New York, 1997.

Software Without Frontiers is a detailed reference book that deals with globalizationmethods, internationalization architectures, cultural conventions, documentation andtranslation, message generation, and quality assurance.

Hars , A.Localizing software is not just a multilingual issue; it's alsomulticultural. http://www.byte.com/art/9603/sec18/art1.htm

Hoft, N. L. International Technical Communication: How to ExportInformation About High Technology. Wiley: New York, NY, 1995.

Hoft provides a comprehensive sourcebook on the issues associated with the design ofinternational technical communications. She covers topics ranging from the

management of internationalization groups to the criteria for selecting good translators.

Hoft, N. L. Case Studies in International Technical Communication.http://www.world-ready.com/cases/index.htm

Horton, William, The Almost Universal Language: Graphics for InternationalDocuments. Technical Communication, Vol. 40, No. 4. pp. 682-693,November, 1993.

Horton, W. The Icon Book: Visual Symbols for Computer Systems andDocumentation. Wiley: New York, NY, 1994.

Everything you ever wanted to know about icon design. The Icon Book describes theprocess for designing icons, provides guidelines for icon design, and gives advice on howto design for international audiences. There is one version of the book that includes adisk with a set of 500 icons. Small companies that cant afford graphic designers mightfind this set of icons useful as a starting point for design.

Horton, W. Designing and Writing Online Documentation. Wiley: New York,NY, 1994.


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Internationalization (i18N).http://www.vlsivie.tuwien.ac.at/mike/i18n.html

A semi-organized list of Web sites that focus on internationalization of software.

Internationalization Working Group of the W3C. Non-western Character sets,Languages, and Writing Systems.http://www.w3.org/International/

International Technical Communication (ITC) PIC Home Page.Http://www.iquest.com/~btatro/itc.itc.html

ISYS Information Architects, Inc. Hall of Shame: Globalization.http://www.iarchitect.com/global.htm

ISYS Information Architects, Inc. Globalization Tips.http://www.iarchitect.com/htglobal.htm

Jackson, R., MacDonald, L. and Freeman, K. Computer Generated Color: APractical Guide to Presentation and Display. Wiley: New York, NY, 1994.

Jones, S., Kennelly, C., Mueller, C., Sweezy, M., Thomas, B., and Velez, L. ADigital Guide: Developing International User Information. Digital Press:Bedford, MA, 1992.

This book has detailed guidelines on how to develop international user information. It isan excellent reference for companies creating international software.

Kano, N. Developing International Software for Windows 95 and Windows

NT : A Handbook for International Software Design. Microsoft Press,Redmond, WA, 1995.

Karat C, and Karat J. World-wide CHI: Perspectives on Design andInternationalization. SIGCHI Bulletin. Vol. 28. No. 1. pp. 39-40. January 1996.

Kellogg W, Thomas J. Cross-cultural Perspectives on Human-ComputerInteraction: A Report on the CHI'92 Workshop. SIGCHI Bulletin. Vol. 25. No.2. pp. 40-45, April 1993.

Leaptrott, N. Rules of the Game: Global Business Protocol. ThomsonExecutive Press: Cincinnati, OH, 1996.

Leptrott offers advice on how to discover the rules of international business games.Chapters topics include: The game of Global Business, Discovering the Rules,Conflicting Rules: Ethics and Integrity.


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Liungman, C. G. Dictionary of Symbols. ABC-CLIO, Inc: Santa Barbara, CA,1991.

Luong, T. V., Lok, J.S. H., Taylor, D. J., and Driscoll, K. Internationalization:Developing Software for Global Markets. Wiley, New York, NY, 1995.

Luong and his colleagues have compiled a detailed set of the rules that developers ofinternational software need to know. The book is clearly written, even when discussestechnical programming issues. The one drawback that I found was a lack of graphics -the book is heavy on text and light on graphics.

Microsoft Corporation. Developing International Software for Windows 95and Windows NT: Glossary. 1996.http://microsoft.com/OfficeDev/Articles/DISAppA.HTM

Microsoft Corporation. The Windows Interface Guidelines for SoftwareDesign. Microsoft Press: Redmond, WA, 1995.

This is Microsofts much expanded GUI guidelines for Windows 95 and Windows NT.The first section of the book deals with fundamentals of designing user interface; thesecond covers Windows interface components; the last section covers designspecifications and guidelines.

Microsoft Corporation. The GUI Guide: International Terminology for theWindows Interface. Microsoft Press: Redmond, WA, 1993.

The GUI Guide provides a list of terms used in Windows products in 14 languages. Thisbook would be an excellent resource for international teams and translation agencies.

Microsoft Corporation. The Microsoft Manual of Style for TechnicalPublications. Microsoft Press: Redmond, WA, 1996.

The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications is a comprehensive usagemanual for Windows 95 software and documentation. This style guide contains lists oftechnical terms and examples of appropriate usage, acronyms and abbreviations, andspecial characters.

Miller, C. L. Transborder Tips and Traps. BYTE. Vol 19. No 6. pp. 93-102,1994.

Nakakoji K. Crossing the Cultural Boundary. BYTE. Vol. 19. No. 6. pp. 107-

109, June 1994.

New Mexico State University. Books on International TechnicalCommunication. http://www.nmsu.edu/techprof/attwrsrc/books.html

A list of books and links to other references on international technical communication.


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Nielsen, J. (Ed.) Designing User Interfaces for International Use. Elsevier:Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1990.

Nielsen, J. Usability Engineering. Academic Press: Boston, MA, 1993.(Note: There is a paperback version available. The paperback version hasadditional references and some updated material.)

Nielsens Usability Engineering is highly recommended. The book describes theprocess by which development groups can create usable applications. The book detailshow usability issues must be considered throughout the development process andprovides techniques for gathering usability data. There is excellent information on low-

cost usability testing techniques.

Nielsen, J. International Web Usability.http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9608.html

Nielsen, J. Global Web: Driving the International Network Economy.http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980419.html

Nielsen, J. International Usability Testing.http://www.useit.com/papers/international_usetest.html

Nielsen, J. Flag Problems. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/flagproblem.html

ODonnell, S. M. Programming for the World: A Guide toInternationalization. PTR Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1994.

Russo P, and Boor S. How Fluent is your Interface? Designing forInternational Users. Proceedings INTERCHI '93 Conference on Human Factors

in Computing Systems: INTERACT '93 and CHI'93. (Amsterdam, 24-29 April).ACM Press. pp. 342-347, 1993.

Smith, W. J. ISO and ANSI Ergonomic Standards for Computer Products: AGuide to Implementation and Compliance. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River,NJ, 1996.

Society of Technical Communication. Global Talk Newsletter of theInternational Technical Communication SIG.http://www.iquest.com/~btatro/itc.itc.html.

You can download copies of Global Talk, the newsletter of the STC International SIG.

Steiner, H. and Haas, K. Cross-cultural Communication: Communicating ina Global Marketplace. Thames and Hudson: London, 1995.


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This book has a series of case studies on how marketing communications experts solvedproblems they faced when designing marketing materials outside their own cultures. Thisbook gives examples from corporate identity programs, magazines, books, andadvertisements.

Stevenson, D. W. Audience Analysis Across Cultures. Journal of Technical

Writing and Communication. Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 319-330.

The New York Times, Sunday, August 18, 1996, p. 7. Whats A-O.K in theU.S.A is Lewd and Worthless Beyond.

Thorell, L.G. and Smith, W.J. Using Computer Color Effectively: AnIllustrated Reference. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1990.

Trenner, L. and Bawa, J. (Eds.) The Politics of Usability: A Practical Guide toDesigning Usable Systems in Industry. Springer-Verlag: London, UK, 1998.

This short paperback has excellent advice for anyone who is trying to establish ausability presence. Chapters topics include: making a business case for usability,overcoming inertia in large organizations, integrating usability into system development,and cultivating an effective client relationship. Each chapter ends with a list of majorlessons learned. Newcomers to the field can gain some savvy from this book.Experienced practitioners may find some new methods or political ideas that will maketheir work easier. Part 4 of this book focuses on international usability topics (the title isThe Politics of Expansion: How to Work Effectively on an International Scale).

Trompenaars, F. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding CulturalDiversity in Business. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London, 1996.

Weiss, T. Translation in a Borderless World. Technical Communication

Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 407-423, 1995.


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Wixon, D. and Ramey, J. Field Methods Casebook for Software Design.Wiley, New York, 1996.

Chapter 8 by Susan Dray and Deborah Mrazek describes an international ethnographicstudy from beginning to end.

Yeo, A. World-Wide CHI: Cultural User Interfaces, ASilver Lining in Cultural Diversity.

http://www.cwi.nl/~steven/sigchi/bulletin/1996.3/international.html

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