Lecture on usability of an e-learning System

1. Cultural Issues that can
Affect Interface Design
Dr. Blessing F. Adeoye
University of Lagos Nigeria
Presented at
Robert Morris University, PA. USA
Feb, 2013

2. Cultural Issues that can
Affect Interface Design
 As the use of ICT, digital devices, LMS, & other
educational technology rise, the concerns of
users, esp. people of difference culture continue
to rise (del Galdo & Nielsen, 1996).
 Why? Cultural differences in perceptions
of technology, names and usage of
technological terms, and the level of
technological literacy across various
cultures.

3. User-interface components
 Metaphors: Essential concepts in words,
images, sounds, touch
 Mental Models: Organization of data,
functions, tasks, roles,
or people at work or play, static or mobile
 Navigation: Movement through mental
models via
windows, dialogue boxes, buttons, links, etc.
 Interaction: Input/output techniques,
feedback
 Appearance: Visual, verbal, acoustic, tactile

4. Observations
 In a global economy, should every
Website look the same?
 Are mobile devices and services in Asia
right for the rest of the world?
 Which Website for Saudi Arabia
is Appropriate?
 Is African Continent a forgotten world?
 Usability and user experience differ
among cultures

5. Facts
 Directional placement of images, icons,
graphics, color, and white space are
frequently used in textual
communication.
 Depending on the context, non-verbal
communication can account for up to
90% of communication, conveyed
through images, symbols, and
icons (Hall & Hall, 1990).

6. Communication Features
 For applications, such as web board,
discussion forums, email, chat rooms, some
cultures have higher expectation to
communicate, which may impose burdens on
other users (Boriarsky, 1995; del Galdo, 1996).
 Many Chinese Internet users have higher
expectation than American counterparts in the
amount of things to communicate.

7. Communication Features
 Because of their cultural orientations,
individual students may only speak up
during a discussion when called upon
personally by the teacher; some will not
speak up in large groups (Hofstede,
1986).
 In the case of online communication, individual
users may not become involved until they are
either prompted or signaled to do so
(Boriarsky, 1995).

8. Visual elements
 Do not generally transfer across cultures
 Navigational images/text groupings intended to indicate
the directional flow of information for users in Western
culture may confuse non-Western users.
 Asian users-whose written languages traditionally
appear vertically and read from right to left-may find it
difficult to have a directional arrow placed at the bottom
right of the page and the arrow pointing right for the
next page.
 People in Eastern cultures may not recognize placing
“important information” in the top left-hand section of a
page.

9. Colours and symbols
 Mitchell Harper claims that the five 'most
used' colour combinations on the web are:
 - red, yellow and white
 - blue and white
 - red, gray and white
 - blue, orange and white
 - yellow, gray and white
If you are aiming at global audiences it is worth
remembering that colours have significant associations.

10. Colours
 White in many Asian cultures is associated with
death, vs. black in many European cultures.
 Green and saffron yellow have particular
associations in Islam and among Buddhist
demographics.

11. In Australia, the UK, Canada and US
colours have multiple connotations, e.g.
 orange - harvest, autumn, creativity, cheap
products
 purple - luxury, royalty
 red - power, energy, danger
 blue - solidity, conservatism, competence
 green - environmentalism, spring, safety
 yellow - hope, hazard, cowardice, happiness
 pink - vibrancy, energy, radicalism, cheapness

12. Color for Visually Challenged
Individual
 Much of the literature about colour on the web assumes
that all users are young and visually unimpaired.
 Research on aging suggests restraint in use of blue,
green and violet to provide information, as yellowing of
the cornea can cause confusion between some shades of
those colours.
 Some suggest that display of red text on a green
background (or green on red) should be avoided, given
problems experienced by people with colour impairment).
 Others note that in practice those colours can be used,
provided saturation levels are sufficiently different to allow
differentiation.

13. Navigation
 Design principles regarding navigation
have a cross-cultural application.
 It is worth noting, however, that there are
differences in how people from different
cultures read a 'page'. Many read:
 from left to right,
 top to bottom.
 right to left.
 from bottom to top.

14. Navigation
 For the people from the Middle East,
information should support both text
directionalities.
 Also, the ideographic witting systems
used by Chinese, Japanese, and
Koreans recognize vertical text
directionality, but mathematical
expressions are generally written
horizontally.

15. Recommendations
 Plan: Include global issues in all steps
 Research: Investigate global sets of users,
issues
 Analyze: Determine global criteria, targets
 Design: Visualize global alternatives
 Implement: Use tools that facilitate global
variations
 Evaluate: Test prototypes with global user
sets
 Document: Include global guidelines, specs

16. Hofstede’s 5 Dimensions of
Culture
 1. Power-distance
 2. Collectivism vs. individualism
 3. Femininity vs. masculinity
 4. Uncertainty avoidance
 5. Long- vs. short-term time orientation

17. Culture vs. UI : Power
Distance, 1/2
 Metaphors
 High: Institutions, buildings with clear hierarchy:
schools, government, monuments, etc.
 Low: Institutions, buildings with equality, options:
Summerhill, play/games, public spaces, etc.
 Mental Models
 High: Reference data with no relevancy ranking
 Low: Less structured data with relevancy
 Navigation
 High: Restricted access, choices; authentication;
passwords
 Low: Open access, multiple options, sharable paths

18. Culture vs. UI: Power
Distance, 2/2
 Interaction
 High: Severe error messages: “Entry
Forbidden,” “You are wrong;” wizards or
guides lead usage
 Low: Supportive error messages, cue cards
 Appearance
 High: Images of leaders, nations; official
music, anthems; formal speech
 Low: Images of people, daily activities;
popular music; informal speech

19. Culture vs. UI: Individualism
vs. Collectivism, 1/2
 Metaphors
 Individualist: Action-oriented, tools
 Collectivist: Relationship-oriented
 Mental Models
 Individualist: Product- or task-oriented
 Collectivist: Role-oriented
 Navigation
 Individualist: Individual paths; popular choices,
celebrity choices; stable across roles; customizable
 Collectivist: Group-oriented, official choices;
changes per role

20. Culture vs. UI: Individualism
vs. Collectivism, 2/2
 Interaction
 Individualist: Keyword searches; active-oriented;
multiple devices; customizable;
 Collectivist: Limited, official devices; role driven
 Appearance
 Individualist: Images of products, people; low
context; hyperbolic, dynamic speech; market-driven
topics, imagery, language; customizable; direct, active
verbs
 Collectivist: Images of groups, organizations;
images of roles; high context; official, static
terminology; institution-driven topics, imagery,
language; passive verbs

21. Culture vs. UI: Masculinity vs.
Femininity, 1/2
 Metaphors
 Masculine: Sports-oriented; competition-oriented;
work-oriented
 Feminine:Shopping carts; family-oriented
 Mental Models
 Masculine: Work/business structures; high-level,
“executive views;” goal-oriented
 Feminine: Social structures; detailed views;
relationship-oriented
 Navigation
 Masculine: Limited choices, synchronic
 Feminine: Multiple choices; multi-tasking,

22. Culture vs. UI: Masculinity vs.
Femininity, 2/2
 Interaction
 Masculine: Game-oriented; mastery-oriented;
individual-oriented
 Feminine: Practical, function-oriented; co-
operation-oriented; team oriented
 Appearance
 Masculine: “Masculine” colors, shapes, sounds
 Feminine: “Feminine” colors, shapes, sounds;
acceptance of cuteness

23. References
 Global Graphics: Color (Gloucester: Rockport 2000) by Cheryl Cullen and Global
Graphics: Symbols (Gloucester: Rockport 2000) by Jared Brown & Anistatia
Miller.
 Henry Dreyfuss' Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International
Graphic Symbols (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold 1984).
 William Horton's The Icon Book: Visual Symbols for Computer Systems &
Documentation (New York: Wiley 1994) is more directly relevant.
 Hofstede, Cultures and Organizations, 1991, 97
 Trompenaars, Riding the Waves of Culture, 1998
 Marcus, "Internat. and Intercult. User Interfaces,"
in Stephanidis, ed.,, User Interfaces for All,
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000.
 Marcus and Gould, "Cultural Dimensions and Global Web UI Design,"
Interactions, Vol. 7, No. 4, July/August 2000, pp. 32-46.