Designing Globally for Smartphones: Part 3
Considering the accessibility of mobile phones, internet access and multilingual cultures in developing regions
The third and final installment of this series wraps up the full picture of designing international products and the considerations you, as the designer or client, should take into account. The first article reviewed the balance of Android and iOS operating systems, screen sizes as well as device storage size and cost. The second article builds on that foundation with looking at the cost of data around the world, privacy, and government censorship.
Now as a third chunk of information to build user empathy, I’ll break down how device usage changes around the world, and what that means within households and across languages. Complex systems are compounded exponentially by cultural differences, especially when the design, tech and client teams don’t reside in those same cultures.
1. A device as a lifeline, and as an extension of self
While traveling, and working, in various locations around the world for a couple of years, I observed locals around me using their devices, be it laptops or mobile phones.
I found that each country varied greatly in their habits, customs and expectations. While in South Korea, I discovered the country’s extraordinary internet speeds over wifi and its near ubiquitous access. Both public and private wifi systems were incredible, and this ease of access resulted in observing Koreans being glued to their devices. Selfies, photos, games, music, streaming video, you name it. Moving over to Hong Kong saw much of the same, but somehow the behaviors appeared to be even more amplified.
Then jumping to Morocco and Jordan, behaviors were the exact opposite. Mobile phones were scarcely out of pockets, if used at all. Often when phones were out it was to play music amongst friends or in shops, and messaging was frequent. But the consistent use of apps, streaming video and games wasn’t nearly as present as it was in much of Asia.
On the African continent, access to phones — especially smartphones — varies wildly from country to country. Some, like Zimbabwe, have public wifi systems which encourage the purchase of smart phones in households. Others, like Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia, have enforced social media taxes on products like Facebook and Instagram, which force citizens to question the value of a smartphone.
An additional complication for users on the African continent, as I mentioned in my last article about Russia, is the blocking of social media or simply the complete shutdown of the internet by the government. After the Arab Spring in 2010, citizens and governments alike saw the power of social media in uniting individuals. As a result, Zimbabwe, Sudan and many other countries have since seen their internet access restricted or altogether taken away during conflicting times. This has sweeping affects, not only for the transfer of information and connection to the rest of the world, but also for communication from person to person during stressful times.
Design tip: brush up on your knowledge of politics, technology infrastructure and economies of the countries your target audience resides in. This is extremely important to understand the mindsets, challenges and day-to-day life that your users face. Then, make sure you stay aware of any potential interruptions to those user’s lives, and be prepared for your product or business to potentially be impacted as well
2. Multiple family members, one device
In the US, about 1 in 3 households have at least 3 smartphones. And not only that, but in those same households, at least one computer, tablet and streaming device like Apple TV or Roku exist. That allows for most household members to either actually have a device dedicated for their personal use, or to feel like they have one because of the quantity of options available.
However elsewhere around the world, especially in developing regions, this privilege of having one smartphone per person isn’t necessarily the case. Across the African continent, feature phones are on the rise due to factors like device cost, basic need and service access. When looking at the prevalence of desktop, tablet and mobile devices, mobile and desktop take the lion’s share. Computers are still alive and well in schools, community centers and universities. Not only does this device serve students of all ages, it’s also a source for the broader community to come in and connect with one another.
In India, it’s common for a single household to share a single smartphone amongst its members. The reasons for this can range from the cost to purchase a phone, cost to maintain service, or household rules around who can engage with the device. That means a single user’s time is limited for the products and services that they want to engage with. Then they also have to deal with reduced storage space, as the total amount is divided up by the number of people using the phone.
Design tip: consider alternative methods for getting your product’s information to your users, other than access through an app. Particularly as it relates to other channels (such as a site) or capabilities (such as SMS communications). Additionally, for users who can’t have constant access to the internet or even their devices, a daily recap of what they need to know as it relates to your product or service could prove helpful. It can also let users feel that content was personalized for them, and that, as a business, you’re keeping their living situation in mind
3. Multilingual considerations
Despite English being a strong contender as the universal language, it’s nowhere near being the one most individuals understand. Depending on how many languages your product touches, having to think beyond English can make the task at hand much more complicated.
Looking at one country at a time, a place like Spain would be relatively easy to design for given that their main language is Spanish. Same logic would apply to Portugal, Italy and France. But if you were to look at Switzerland, you’d be required to ensure your product factored in language capabilities for those that speak Swiss French, Swiss German, Swiss Italian and Romansh. Look a bit further to Morocco, and you have citizens speaking French, Spanish, English and Arabic. Continue to build on multilingual complexity and you’re faced with Zimbabwe with 16 official languages, then India with more than 22.
Languages affect a digital product in a variety of ways — touching on basic app translation, calls to action on buttons, icon usage, web views of pages, keyboard access in searching and messaging, and a multitude of other components. By defaulting to English, and not fully scaling a product to addresses the cultural needs of its users, you’re bound to fall short of success. There are a variety of digital products, specifically keyboards, that address this need pretty smoothly that are great to use as reference. Gboard from Google is one that excels in language options with literally hundreds to choose from. Swiftkey from Microsoft is another one that not only supports hundreds of languages, but takes it a step further by allowing a user to switch between 5 languages in a single message.
Design tip: look at digital products outside your competitive realm when trying to work through a multi-lingual approach, like keyboards. Analyze your product to understand how it would be impacted by language translation, and ways to ease some potentially tough hurdles like dialect contradictions for the same word. Icons can help simplify and ease some of these challenges, but only if universally understood
It’s no small task to stay up on the rapidly changing behaviors and laws surrounding digital products around the world. Personally, I’ve found the best way to really understand all this is to travel outside the US. That’s not the most reasonable thing to expect most others to do, so advocating to speak with end users outside the States is a great alternative. Same goes for reading up on the changing tech landscape in the regions that are most applicable to your product. Remember that collecting and maintaining all this knowledge takes time. But at the end of the day, it’ll make you a much better designer.
