Designing for different cultures
Nintendo’s introduction to the Nordic market during the 1980s is an entertaining story of Swede Owe Bergsten bluffing his way through telexes, phone calls, missed flights, and unscheduled meetings to gain the rights to sell Nintendo products in this homeland. However, the bluffs and risks Bergsten took to get in front of Nintendo executives were not the keys to this success. What got him over the line was the trust he gained through his basic understanding of Japanese culture — bring a gift, don’t nag, try to get them to invite you to lunch.
This all happened before the internet. As the world has become more connected, the way we do business internationally has changed. But the need to understand the cultures we interact with hasn’t — it’s as important as ever.
Cross-cultural design
For a business, an online presence is like a global shop window. Whether it’s a website, app, or social media account, businesses can now be discovered by people in cultures they would not have interacted with before. While it’s exciting to consider marketing to this wider, more-varied audience, it can also represent a wasted opportunity if you don’t communicate in the right way. To be successful, you’ll need to address the needs of these audiences in a way that works for them.
For example, the clean lines, absence of decoration, and mathematical layout grids may look good to western eyes, but other cultures have their own design values. In the home of Nintendo, the Japanese have a preference for dense user interfaces.
Designing for other cultures
Designing for cultures goes way beyond the user interface. As we design for other cultures, it’s natural that we’ll bring conscious and unconscious bias with us in the process. We need to work to reduce the impact of this. Avoiding cultural stereotypes is essential. This is best done through research — understanding what people value.
Speaking with people from that culture is a great place to start. Better still, engage with a UX Designer from that culture. A more basic approach is to consume their media and web content.
Cultural dimensions can also give you a strong indication of what a culture values, and then how best to communicate with them. For example, Long- versus Short-term Orientation speaks to whether a culture values effort for immediate results or working for long-term gain. Cultures with a long-term orientation will value credibility and common-sense solutions, whereas those with short-term orientations prefer problem-solving for immediate results. Depending on the culture, a bank may message their users on the benefits of long-term saving or the availability of credit to achieve short-term success.
No matter what, you have to be open to learning and to change your design as you learn. As always in UX design, you should test what you design with the actual people that will use it.
Technical considerations in cross-cultural design
Beyond the message you deliver to a specific culture, there are many design and technical choices you can take to create a successful experience. These are catered for through internationalisation and localisation.
All too often, we focus on the translation or the choice of colour to address cultural needs, but many other areas deserve equal attention. The list is extensive, but it includes;
- Choice of photography/illustration
- Typography (see stereotypography)
- Text direction
- Iconography (including responsiveness to text direction)
- Vertical and horizontal spacing
Your brand and site designs should be open to flexing to meet the cultural needs of your market.
Why this matters
If a business chooses to enter a specific market and sell across cultures, they need to allow for this in their service offering. A good business aims to give their customers a solution that meets their needs.
This should align with the UX design. A designer should work to create an experience that understands their users’ needs. Applying a design that allows for the user’s culture isn’t just about creating a good experience, it’s a mark of respect.
If you enjoyed this article I highly recommend checking out Cross-Cultural Design by Senongo Akpem. This excellent book demonstrates why designing for cultures is important in a short but detailed and practical format. Check it out!
