DESIGNINGTHE WORLD
FOR THE
Culturally-conscious Design
CHRISTINE IMAIZUMI
@XTEEN
User Experience Lead, Thomson Reuters
MyMail Technology
YouPlusDallas.com
GodTube.com | tangle.com
WORKED FOR
LOCAL DALLAS STARTUPS
:)
"Their smiles looked strange to me. They opened their mouths too widely, and raised
the corners of their mouths in an exaggerated way.”
( ^_^ )
AROUND THE WORLD
Many usability and user experience best practices were created in western cultures and may not translate in other parts of the world.
CULTURAL CONSIDERATION
Considering the cultural traditions, economic status and demographics of a potential market helps to build a better, user-focused product.
That taught us the importance that you really need to go where your consumers are, not just to talk to them, but observe and spend time with them to gather the key insight.
Alberto Carvalho VP of Global Gillette
UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
STAND UPYES, YOU.
WHAT IS THEIR FAVORITE COLOR?
WHERE DID THEY GROW UP?
WHAT IS THEIR ETHNICITY?
WHAT IS THEIR FAVORITE FOOD?
HARAGEI: BELLY TALK
A highly developed intuition that allows a person to understand the the nature of the situation without verbal communication.
Modern societies, holding fast to traditions.
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
We didn’t all come over on the same ship, but we’re all in the same boat.- Bernard Baruch, American financier
HOFSTEDE ‘S FIVE CULTURAL DIMENSIONS
Hofstede created cultural dimensions to provide a measurable way to categorize different cultures.
POWER DISTANCEThe degree people are comfortable with influencing upwards. Acceptance of inequality in distribution on power in society.
POWER DISTANCEThe degree people are comfortable with influencing upwards. Acceptance of inequality in distribution on power in society.
Distribution of power distance around the world. A high score indicates a bigger power distance.
Since the US has a lower power distance, the product needs to have a tone of respect and show interest in their needs. Communicating in a more informal and participative way will gain their trust.
INDIVIDUALISTIC/COLLECTIVISTICHow personal needs and goals are prioritized vs. the needs and goals of the group or organization.
INDIVIDUALISTIC/COLLECTIVISTICHow personal needs and goals are prioritized vs. the needs and goals of the group or organization.
US McDonald’s site is focused on the user navigating their own way throughout the site. Individualistic societies have their own interest and goals.
Where as a collective culture, shown in the Turkish McDonald’s site focuses on what’s popular or common, testimonials or social media sharing options.
INDIVIDUALISTIC/COLLECTIVISTICHow personal needs and goals are prioritized vs. the needs and goals of the group or organization.
MASCULINE/FEMININEMasculine societies have different rules for men and women, less so in feminine cultures.
MASCULINE/FEMININEMasculine societies have different rules for men and women, less so in feminine cultures.
Masculine cultures have high expectations and require upfront information to establish expertise.
Cultures that are primarily feminine, such as Norwegia, have a much more playful and happy look and feel, with less need for a serious tone and design.
MASCULINE/FEMININEMasculine societies have different rules for men and women, less so in feminine cultures.
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCEHow comfortable are people with changing the way they work or live (low UA) or prefer the known systems (high UA).
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE How comfortable are people with changing the way they work or live (low UA) or prefer the known systems (high UA).
Cultures with a high degree of uncertainty avoidance would need limited choices, restricting the amount of data they can access and simple metaphors.
Color cues and fonts are rejected by cultures with a high degree of uncertainty because they prefer clean, distinct choices.
COUNTRIES WITH HIGH UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
Greece
Portugal
Guatamala
Uruguay
Belgium
LONG TERM VS. SHORT TERM ORIENTATIONFocuses on the outlook of the society, do they look to the future or stay in the past and present.
LONG TERM VS. SHORT TERM ORIENTATIONFocuses on the outlook of the society, do they look to the future or stay in the past and present.
Long term societies are oriented in the future and are consistently pragmatic. These cultures reward persistence and saving.
- Value content and navigation structure.
- Share future features with users
LONG TERM VS. SHORT TERM ORIENTATIONFocuses on the outlook of the society, do they look to the future or stay in the past and present.
Short term societies focus on the past and present.
- These cultures or societies value tradition and current social hierarchy
- Immediate gratification
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO DESIGN?
ELEMENTS OF A CULTURALLY CONSCIOUS USER EXPERIENCE
CULTURABILITYA systematic usability method using Cultural Markers such as
- Religion - Language - Customs - Colors - Metaphors - Icons & Symbols
to display patterns within the interface based on country and genre.
Barber & Badre, Culturability: The Merge of Culture and Usability
CRITICAL CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DESIGNLANGUAGEBeing cautious of quality of translation, representation and tone
LAYOUTPlacement of menu items, banners, navigational orientation and reading direction
SYMBOLISMMetaphors and symbols vary greatly from culture to culture. Icons, currencies and other elements will differ as well
MULTIMEDIAWhen to use video, animation, static images and/or sound
COLORColor varies across cultures and can impact a user’s expectations
Cyr (2004). Localization of Web Design
OUR APPROACH TO GLOBAL TAX
TAXATION ACROSS THE WORLD
Taxation and cultural characteristics of three different countries: Chile, Egypt and Hong Kong
CHILE
National Language:
Spoken Language:
Tax Jurisdiction Language:
Currency:
Reading Direction:
Writing Direction:
Spanish
Chilean Spanish, Chileno
Spanish
Peso
Left to Right, Top to Bottom
Left to Right, Top to Bottom
Moving Forward
Caution, Happiness
Warning, Victory
HONG KONG
National Language:
Writing System:
Spoken Language:
Tax Jurisdiction Language:
Currency:
Reading Direction:
Writing Direction:
Chinese, English
Traditional Chinese, Latin Alphabet
Chinese (Cantonese)
Chinese (Cantonese), English
Hong Kong Dollar
Left to Right, Horizontal
Left to Right, Horizontal
Assurance, Infidelity
Neutrality, Mourning
Good Fortune, Victory
Person is Deceased
EGYPT
National Language:
Spoken Language:
Tax Jurisdiction Language:
Currency:
Reading Direction:
Writing Direction:
Arabic, Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic
Arabic
Egyptian Pound
Right to Left, Top to Bottom
Right to Left, Top to Bottom
Color of Joy, Happiness
Caution, Warmth
Warning, Victory
TAKEAWAYS
Localization does not end with language
Take cultural cues for menu items, banners, & navigational orientation
Be aware of icons, currency/decimal points and other elements from culture to culture.
Color varies across cultures and can impact a user’s expectations.
LOSE THE WESTERN FOCUS
SEE THE WORLD
RESOURCES
ALSO READ
Culturability: The Merging of Culture and Usability Wendy Barber and Albert Badre
Cross-Cultural User Interface Design for Mobile Phones: A Literature Survey Huijuan Wu, Anthony Norcio, A Ant Ozok
Geert Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences, 2nd ed., Sage Publications, 2001 Full questionnaire as standardized, 1971 Hofsteded, Kraut and Simonetti
Brejcha, Jan. “Chapter 6: UI Language Components and Cultural Markers” Cross-Cultural Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience Design. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group, 2015.
Top Related