Lithuanian UX: how a small country uses tech to grow its economy
How Lithuania transferred itself in 30 years from an underdeveloped country to one at the forefront of tech
I hope you are not hungry because we need to speak about Hannibal Lecter. The fictional character is of Lithuanian descent. Just like Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis, another horror figure. (Disclaimer for Americans… just kidding)
The Silence of the Lambs author Thomas Harris must have wondered which obscure country he could choose for his story.
Preferably a country that seems morbid, unfamiliar, and too small to cause a media controversy.
Lithuania appeared to be the perfect pick!
What do people know about the Baltic country anyway, right? They might as well all be cannibals. Who knows?
I’m afraid I must disappoint some of you.
Lithuania is not obscure, nor do people eat flesh. It’s actually a very well-developed country with a flourishing economy. Most local millennials and Gen Z’s speak fluent English.
In this article, I will discover what makes Lithuania culturally unique and how it impacts its tech industry.
The Baltic struggle
The Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) had the unfortunate circumstance of being located between the former German (Prussian) and Russian empires. Both empires loved to have control over the Baltics.
All Baltic peoples have thus been exposed to a constant change of emperors. This was not great for the locals or the emperors. So Hitler and Stalin made a secret deal to allocate most parts of the Baltic republics under Soviet rule. This happened already before World War 2.
The deal, obviously, turned out to be shady at best and unconstitutional at worst. The discovery of the contracts in the late ’80s triggered the fall of the Soviet Union.
The German influence goes back much longer than Soviet times. The German legacy is, nevertheless, still easily visible in the Baltic countries. Some architecture is clearly a result of German imperialism.
The Prussians only ruled the west of Lithuania, where Klaipeda is located (shown in the photo).
Estonia and Latvia were fully under German control. As a result, these countries became protestant.
Lithuania, however, is Catholic. The country shares a long history with Poland, also a Catholic country. The two countries once formed the extensive Poland-Lithuania empire.
Many of today’s cultural aspects of Lithuania can be explained by the more recent Soviet times. The leaders of the USSR were eager to make the non-Russian parts of the union more Russian. One of the strategies was to relocate its citizens to other parts of the empire.
I am married to a Lithuanian woman with Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarussian grandparents. A clear example of how various cultures came together.
The Language
The Soviets tried to impose the Russian language throughout the empire. They tried to reduce the use of local languages like Lithuanian. Institutions like schools and media were obliged to use Russian.
Underground publications became a way to protect the local language.
For many Lithuanians, being unable to speak and write their native language felt like tyranny. After the fall of the Union, people took a lot of pride in openly speaking their language again. It’s a big part of their identity.
It’s therefore understandable that even today, some people, despite being able to speak English or Russian, prefer to have their devices set to Lithuanian.
Android supports Lithuanian, but Apple doesn’t. This is a reason for some to not buy in iPhone.
I’m sure there are clever PMs and localisation specialists at Apple looking at the cost of maintaining a language. They might conclude the ROI is not worth it. However, for people who lived under foreign rule, using their language can be a part of feeling accepted.
The tech development
A big advantage of the fall of the Soviet Union was that the Baltic countries had the opportunity to create a new state, almost from scratch.
The countries had to aggressively fight corruption in the ’90s and succeeded fairly quickly. In addition, the governments invested enormously in their economy and the tech sector in particular.
Lithuania had a clear vision. It wanted to create a start-up culture. One part of this was ensuring its population was well-educated to support the tech companies it wanted to attract.
Today, Vilnius, the capital, has several districts where renowned and local tech companies are based.
Amongst them are Cyber City, where you can find Nord Security and Surfshark, Vilnius Tech Park, home to BoredPanda and the local Google campus, and plenty of other locations throughout the city, including Tech Zity (what’s in a name).
The long-term investment in the tech industry pays off in various aspects of life.
The country scores consistently high on the Quality of Digital Life index. Higher than countries like the UK, US, Japan, Israel, or Korea.
This claim is worth a disclaimer, though…
The index is an initiative of Surfshark, a Lithuanian company. However, I think their assessment is objective and fair. Lithuania’s brother Estonia actually scores a fair bit higher.
Empirical evidence of Lithuania’s tech-adaptability can be found in a study done by Swedish economy researchers.
They investigated the acceptance of e-learning environments in Sweden and Lithuania.
You might assume Sweden is a tech-centred society, which is definitely not untrue. However, the study found that Lithuanian students are much more at ease with digital learning tools than their Scandinavian peers.
Lithuanian students display a substantially higher degree of acceptance compared to the Nordic students.
Avoiding human contact
One of the benefits of a well-developed tech infrastructure is that it can resolve social awkwardness.
Lithuania is the most introverted country in the world, according to 16 Personalities. I must say that I am not convinced about the validity of these statistics, but I can confirm, based on living in Vilnius for a part of the year, that Lithuanians are indeed not the most extroverted and outgoing folks.
People rarely approach a stranger, let alone look them in the eyes. Interactions at shops are kept to the bare minimum and don’t include emotional expressions.
When I walk down the steps of our residential complex and encounter a neighbour, they won’t say hi or smile.
It’s, therefore, only explainable that many necessary social interactions have been moved to the digital world. Most restaurants and pubs work with QR codes and apps.
All tables have a unique code that allows you to order food, pay your bill, and tip the personnel.
You might wonder if this innovation is the result of introversion. During COVID, the world moved more towards a cashless society; these methods are a great way to reduce staff costs.
It’s true, these factors might have contributed. But all European countries were exposed to the same pandemic, and the way the Lithuanians have afterwards adopted this payment mechanism indicates that they have a stronger desire for these technologies. In many countries, human interaction is still preferred.
A desire for stability
You might think a well-developed tech culture means Lithuanians are at ease with risks and change. Not really.
The country simply understands the necessity of digital possibilities to advance its economy.
However, like most Catholic countries, Lithuania scores high on the cultural dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance. A long history of wars and invasions logically contributes to a desire for stability. They want to avoid uncertainty.
Hofstede, the leading cultural psychologist, describes the Lithuanians as follows:
Lithuanians have a built-in worry about the world around them, which society provides legitimate outlets for.
Crime rates
One example of uncertainty avoidance can be found on Lithuania’s main website for real estate: Aruodas.
The website shows a bar that indicates the number of crimes in the neighbourhood of the house you are viewing.
The country was indeed dealing with a significant amount of crime in the ’90s but these days are far behind us.
In 1995, the country’s crime rate (homicides) was 13.4/1000K population, similar to that of Panama today. In 2011, it was 6.8, comparable to that of the USA.
Today, the country is very safe, with a score of 2.5/1000K, similar to that of the other Baltic republics and Canada.
Most European real estate websites don’t show crime rates, but the Lithuanians still do. For them, the certainty of knowing their neighbourhood is safe is essential. Even though they should know there’s very little crime in the country.
Financial expectations
CVBankas, the most popular job board, shows salary ranges for each job post. This is required by Lithuanian law.
It’s not uncommon for uncertainty avoiding countries to implement laws that increase clarity and expectations. In this case, the obligation to show a salary range.
CVBankas goes one step further. The platform fetches information to show the salary averages of the company that posts the job. This way, you can verify whether your potential salary matches that of your future colleagues.
The digital marketplace
Ebay never managed to get a big share of the Lithuanian second-hand market. The locals use their own platform Skelbiu.
Lithuanians don’t like auctions. They agree to a price on a first-come, first-serve basis. A deal is a deal.
Skelbiu also distinguishes itself from other European marketplaces like Marktplaats (Netherlands) and LeBonCoin (France). In Lithuania, there is not a big emphasis on the shipping of items. Lithuanians prefer to see the object before buying.
A third observation is that the platform contains a prominent place for loans. I wrote in my article about the Netherlands that Dutch people don’t spend money they don’t have, and therefore don’t have credit cards.
Lithuania still struggles with a big income gap. The well-educated millennials have great jobs, but a big portion of the population doesn’t have a lot of disposable income. Therefore, they are bargain hunters and might need loans for second-hand goods.
Clothes
Having to be frugal can make people creative. It’s thus no surprise that the popular second-hand clothes platform Vinted is a Lithuanian start-up.
The company started as a small platform for locals to exchange the clothes they no longer need. In the first two years of its existence, the website became one of the 10 most visited websites in the country.
Over time, Vinted has become one of the biggest European clothes marketplaces. Interestingly, the reason for people to use the platform varies per country.
In some countries, people prefer to use Vinted to save money, whilst countries like Germany and France have more idealistic motivations. In these countries, fast fashion has become less desirable and sustainable brands and second-hand clothes are gaining popularity.
Humbleness
Lithuania is a very small country with less than 3 million inhabitants. It has a unique language that almost no one in the world speaks. It, of course, also has a history of being conquered by its bigger neighbours.
This all leads to a certain patriotic pride and an embedded humbleness.
As Hofstede describes:
Lithuanians have a tendency to feel awkward about giving and receiving praise, arguing that they could have done better or really have not achieved anything worthy of note. As such, they are modest, keep a low profile, and usually communicate with a soft and diplomatic voice in order not to offend anyone.
Vilnius’ Bureau for Tourism has brilliant campaigns, but their humbleness is always central to their message. It’s almost as if they are apologising for being an interesting city.
The latest slogan is: Vilnius, unexpectedly amazing.
Conclusion
I’ve conducted cultural studies of many countries, and it’s evident that Lithuania is small. It doesn’t have the luxury of having many culturally tailored products.
Lithuanians learn to adapt quickly and accept that they must comply with most international products.
When I asked my local friends about their culture, uniquenesses, and struggles in tech, most didn’t have an answer.
The specific examples I included in this article are things Lithuanians don’t even realise.
Lithuanian users mostly adapt to international products. The domestic tech industry itself has more influence on its culture. Vilnius is the home of quite a number of internationally renowned products.
The country has shown impressive development and growth, and the local companies have contributed to this.
I personally believe that they have reached the point of becoming more international. Most local companies are still mainly composed of Lithuanian people and, therefore, limit themselves.
Too many Lithuanians think and behave similarly. Having a more diverse workforce can give a more holistic view of their business practices and user experience, which, I believe, would greatly benefit the product quality, its impact, and the user growth.
Lithuania has shown that it can rapidly develop. It’s now up to them to show that they can continue this growth.
PS: I realise that this article is far from complete. In fact, this is the first draft of one of the chapters of a book that I’m writing on multicultural design.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or examples I could add, please reach out to me. I wouldn’t be able to give an accurate and complete story without your contributions.
