I became interested in this topic when I was on leave
at the University of Rome and Siemens in Europe during the 1994-95
academic year. I have been collaborating with my Italian colleagues
on research papers (see below) since then. This last year, I succeeded
in getting funding for this research focus from the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, with the promise of more
funding to come in 1998. When I came back from Europe, I gave a
seminar on this topic during the Fall of 1996 which helped create
interest here among students. I have now two M.S. in HCI students
working with me on the cultural usability research.
The objective of the research program is to explore
and gain an understanding of how cultural influences lead to variations
in peoples' behaviors and practices, and how such variations should
be considered in designing interactions with computing artifacts.
With the emergence of user-centered design and more
recent HCI initiatives in the development of interaction design
, the Pandora's box of "culture" is moving from the borders
of HCI to the forefront. It is becoming increasingly clear that
the area of cultural computing should be addressed seriously by
the field of Computing. The majority of all software is marketed
and used outside the US, generally in countries other than where
it is developed and produced. Creating or retrofitting software
for other countries requires attention to technical detail that
goes beyond mere translation. It also requires an understanding
of the unique software design and adaptation methods usually lumped
under the term, Internationalization.
In our research, we are exploring cross-cultural design
constraints and how these would impact interface design methodology
and content. This was the topic of the paper given at the CQS'97
conference in Rome, Itlay. We consider the impact of such cross
cultural differences as format, symbols/icons, color, flow, text,
script, habits, communication behavior, locus of control, time perception,
etc. on design and presentation.
We are currently exploring the cross-cultural differences
as they relate to the topics below, then consider the implications
of identified differences for designing HCI:
01. Non-verbal behavior/communication, gesture/facial interactions
02. Thought patterns, recall, connotation and categorization
03. Color, color naming, color preference
04. Geometry, depth perception, style
05. Icons, pictures, symbols
06. Visualization/verbalization
07. Individual differences
08. Language/scripts/writing systems/reading habits
09. National formats/standards
10. Learning/information search
Following are abstracts describing two on-going projects on Cultural
Usability:
What follows are some of the fruits of this work:
A. Badre "Usability and the New Media,"
CQS'98 conference proceedings, Rome, Italy, April, 1997
W. Barber and A. Badre, "Culturability:
The Merging of Culture and Usability",
Proceedings of the 4TH CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS AND THE WEB,
June, 1998
A. Badre and S. Laskowski, "The Cultural
Context of Web Genres: Content vs. Style",
submitted to Human Factors and the Web, 2001
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