Skip to main content
Log in

Cross-cultural interface design strategy

  • LONG PAPER
  • Published:
Universal Access in the Information Society Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper addresses the emerging need for an integration of the cultural and social factors of metaphors into interface design, by creating cultural models within the context of indigenous users. Current theoretical and empirical work is reviewed that uses existing cultural models. Finally, an investigative strategic model is proposed for research in this field that incorporates all the important components of cultural contexts of metaphors in interface design.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Their paper is against localisation for heterogeneous systems such as CSCWs, but this paper is advocating localisation for homogenous systems for indigenous users.

  2. Nielsen (18, p 319) found that due to the dominance of web sites by the Americans, many users view “.com” as the standard ending of web sites. We posit that having a global site will therefore increase the accessibility as users who are not familiar with local domain endings like “.co.uk” will be made aware of it from the global site and have the option of using the localised site as well.

  3. The evaluation method used is still a point of contention as some literature advices the use of the same methods across cultures but more recent material is available where suggestions are made for the use of different methods for the different cultures.

References

  1. Badre, A.N.: The Effects of Cross Cultural Interface Design Orientation on World Wide Web User Performance. [Online] Georgia Institute of Technology. Available from: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/reports/2001/abstracts/01-03.html. Accessed 15 April 2003 (2000)

  2. Bourges-Waldegg, P., Scrivener, A.R.: Meaning; the central issue in cross-cultural HCI design. Interact. Comput. Spec. Issue 9(3), 287–309 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Del Galdo, E.: Internationalisation then and now. Designing for global markets. Conference (6th. 2001). In: Day. D., Duckley, L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Internationalisation of Products and Systems, pp. 15–18. The Open University, Buckinghamshire (2001)

  4. Del Galdo, E., Nielsen, J.: International User Interfaces. Wiley, New York (1996)

  5. Evers, V.: Human–Computer Interfaces: Designing for Culture. PhD, University of Amsterdam (1997)

  6. Fernandes, T.: Global interface design. Human factors and computer systems. Conference (5th 1995). In: Katz, I. et al. (eds.) Conference companion on Human factors in computing systems. ACM Press, New York, pp. 363–364 (1995)

  7. Gunter, K., Randall, D.: Is it cheaper online? Cultural motivations for Internet shopping. Culture and HCI: Bridging the cultural and digital divides. Conference (6th. 2003). In: Gunter, K. et al. (eds.) Proceedings of the 2nd British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Workshop, pp. 57–71. University of Greenwich, London (2003)

  8. Hall, P.: The cross-cultural web. Designing for global markets. Conference (6th. 2001). In: Day, D., Duckley, L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Internationalisation of Products and Systems, pp. 109–113. The Open University, Buckinghamshire (2001)

  9. Hannerz, U.: Cultural Complexity; Studies in the Social Organisation of Meaning. Columbia University Press, New York (1992)

  10. Hantrais, L.: Comparative research methods. [Online] University of Surrey. Available from: http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/SRU13.html [Accessed 27 June 2003] (1996)

  11. Hofstede, G.: Cultures and Organisations: Software of the Mind. McGraw-Hill, New York (1991)

  12. Huo, Y.R., Randall, D.: Exploring subcultural differences in Hofstede’s value survey: The case of the Chinese. AsiaPacific J. Manage. 8(2):159–173 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Lister, M.: Usability testing software for the Internet. Human factors and computer systems. Conference (4th. 2001). In: Plaisant, C. (ed.) Extended abstracts on Human factors in computer systems, pp. 17–18. ACM Press, New York (2001)

  14. Marcus, A.: Cross-cultural user-interface design for work, home, play, and on the way. ACM Special Interest Group for Design of Communications. Conference (10th. 2001). In: Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference on Computer Documentation, pp. 221–222. ACM Press, New York (2001)

  15. Marcus, A., Gould, E.W.: Cultural dimensions and global web user-interface design: What? So What? Now What? [Online] Available from: http://www.amanda.com/resources/hfweb2000/AMA_CultDim.pdf. Accessed 23 April 2003 (2000)

  16. Minocha, S., French, T., Dawson, L.: Cultural attractors of usability and customer relationship management in (B2C) E-Commerce environments. Culture and HCI: Bridging the cultural and digital divides. Conference (6th. 2003). In: Gunter, K., et al. (eds.) Proceedings of the 2nd British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Workshop, pp. 37–47. University of Greenwich, London (2003)

  17. Nielsen, J.: Usability Engineering. Academic, London (1993)

  18. Nielsen, J.: Designing Web Usability. New Riders Publishing, USA (2000)

  19. Nocera, J.A., Hall, P.: Making sense in intercultural software implementation. Culture and HCI: Bridging the cultural and digital divides. Conference (6th. 2003). In: Gunter, K., et al. (eds.) Proceedings of the 2nd British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Workshop, pp. 72–79. University of Greenwich, London (2003)

  20. O’Sullivan, P.: Building cultural diversity into the development of multilingual applications. The LISA Newsletter: Globalization Insider XI/2.4. IBM/Lotus Software Group, Ireland (2003)

  21. Russo, P., Boor, S.: How fluent is your interface? Designing for international users. Human factors and computer systems. Conference (4th. 1993). In: Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 342–347. Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing, Boston (1993)

  22. Sheridan, E.F.: Cross-cultural web site design: Considerations for developing and strategies for validating locale appropriate on-line content. MultiLingual Computing & Technology. No. 43, vol 12, Issue 7, MultiLingual Computing Inc. Available from: http://www.multilingual.com Accessed 03 May 2006 (2001)

  23. Simon, S.J.: The impact of culture and gender on web sites: An empirical study. ACM SIGMIS Database, vol 32(1), pp. 18–37. ACM, New York (2001)

  24. Smith, A., French, T., Chang, Y., McNeill, M.: eCulture: A comparative study of eFinance web site usability for Chinese and British users. Designing for global markets. Conference (6th. 2001). In: Day, D., Duckley, L. (eds.) Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Internationalisation of Products and Systems, pp. 87–100. The Open University, Buckinghamshire (2001)

  25. Sondergaard, M.: Hofstede’s consequences: A study of reviews, citations and replications. Organ. Stud. 15(3), 447–456 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sun, H.L.: Building a culturally-competent corporate web site: An exploratory study of cultural markers in multilingual web design. ACM special interest group for design of communications. Conference (10th. 2001). In: Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference on Computer Documentation, pp. 95–102. ACM Press, New York (2001)

  27. Sun, H.: Exploring cultural usability. IEEE Trans. Prof. Commun. 44(2), 319–330 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Trompenaars, F.: Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. Nicholas Brealey, London (1993)

  29. Yeo, A.W.: Global-software development lifecycle: An exploratory study. Human factors and computer systems. Conference (4th. 2001). In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 104–111. ACM Press, New York (2001)

  30. Zahedi, F., Van Pelt, W., Song, J.: A conceptual framework for international web design. IEEE Trans. Prof. Commun. 44(2), 83–103 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jainaba Jagne.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jagne, J., Smith-Atakan, A.S.G. Cross-cultural interface design strategy. Univ Access Inf Soc 5, 299–305 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-006-0048-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-006-0048-6

Keywords

Navigation