HEURISTICS FOR THE MASSESGLOBALIZATION

Stephen BossomHannah Russell

Melda Washington

SUMMARY

1. Introduction2. Globalization3. ESL4. Design

Internet World Stats

Internet World Stats

Internet World Stats

GLOBALIZATION

Cultural models and their dimensions

Victor· Language· Environment and Technology· Social Organization· Contexting· Authority Conception· Nonverbal Behavior· Temporal Conception

Hall· Speed of Messages· Context· Space· Time· Information Flow· Action Chains

Trompenaars· Universalism vs. Particularism· Neutral or emotional· Individualism vs. Collectivism· Specific vs. Diffuse· Achievement vs. Ascription· Time· Environment

Hofstede· Power Distance· Masculinity vs. Femininity· Individualism vs. Collectivism· Uncertainty Avoidance· Time Orientation

Hofstede

• Well-known organizational psychologist.• Model based on research on questionnaire survey of IBM

employees and managers working in 53 different countries.• Particularly important because the type of organization is held

constant.

Hofstede – Power Distance

• The degree to less powerful members accept that power is distributed unequally. o High power distance countries: people abide by superiors; centralized, tall

structures (e.g., Mexico, South Korea, India).o Low power distance countries: flatter, decentralized structures, smaller ratio

of supervisor to employee (e.g., Austria, Finland, Ireland) are willing to defer present gratification in order to achieve long-term goals.

Hofstede – Masculinity vs. Femininity

• The degree to which society favorably views aggressive and materialistic behavior; ex., dominant social values are success, money, and things. o High masculine countries: stress earnings, recognition, advancement,

challenge, wealth; high job stress (e.g., Germanic countries).o High feminine countries: caring for others and quality of life; cooperation,

friendly atmosphere., employment security, group decision making; low job stress (e.g., Norway).

Hofstede – Individualism vs. Collectivism

• The degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups; People look after selves and immediate family only.o High individualism countries: wealthier, great work ethic, greater individual

initiative, promotions based on market value (e.g., U.S., Canada, Sweden).o High collectivism countries: poorer, less support of great work ethic, less

individual initiative, promotions based on seniority (e.g., Indonesia, Pakistan).

Hofstede – Uncertainty Avoidance

• The level to which members of a particular society deal with the uncertainty and risk of everyday life and prefer to work with long-term acquaintances and friends rather than with strangers.o High Uncertainty Avoidance Level: Japan.o Low Uncertainty Avoidance Level: India and the US.

Hofstede – Time Orientation

• The degree to which members of a culture are willing to defer present gratification in order to achieve long-term goals (short term to long term).o Long-term oriented users think that a stable society requires unequal

relations, and that older people and men have more authority than younger people and women.

o Short-term oriented users think in an equality of relationships, and emphasize individualism.

o http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html

GLOBAL AND ESL

ESL, ESOL, EFL

• All refer to the use or study of English by speakers with different native languages.o English as a second language (ESL).o English for speakers of other languages (ESOL).o English as a foreign language (EFL).

ESL-Web Design

• Well Designed Website creates a positive experience for users and can lead to more desirable outcomes.

• Successful Collaboration of Information, Interface and Interaction.

• Understanding how users think can help create websites that meet users' goals and objectives.

• Users easily know what they can do in the site, where they are, where they can go, and where they have been.

• Successful Design is one where users can easily navigate and find information they were seeking.

Global Websites

Reasons for Creating Global Websites:

- Expand a Product or Service Internationally- Increase a companies global efficiencies

To be able to successfully expand a brand globally, websites must communicate clearly with their user and efficiently establish international e-commerce.

Global Websites

• Standardized Websites o Most basic and generic; website is standardized for all regions with same

web content and language, no information is displayed about international operations.

• Proactive Websites o Standardized website for domestic and international customers, basic

contact information about foreign operations is displayed.• Global Websites

o Basic information describing operations in another country as well as contact information; may contain one or two web pages devoted to other countries, all web content is in English or in local language.

Global Websites

• Localized Websites o Contain localized information about country specific information (ex. time,

date, zip code), multiple language options or translated web pages in the local language.

• Highly Localized Websites o Well developed country specific websites, templates reflected in countries

url (ex. Germany .de; United Kingdom .uk), country specific information listed on home page of parent company, easy to find and navigate.

Global Websites

Highly Localized Websites Examples http://www.coca-cola.com/en/index.html

Guidelines for Designing Websites for ESL Netizens

• Website supported by all browsers (Safari, Mozilla, Internet Explorer).o Minimize use of Java, Flash, or other software that requires download.

• Website easy to navigate.o Clear navigation, search buttons, menus, etc.o Well executed font color, text size and background color.o Layout content and design is clear and concise.o Web page is not cluttered with banners, ads, pop-ups

Guidelines for Designing Websites for ESL Netizens

• Website Speed is fast and efficient.o HTML to minimum.o Web pages Cache free.o Minimum use of pictures; small sized images if used.

• Website clear of what its purpose is (contains information, selling a product, etc.).o Site complete with information.o Pages are easily printable. o Provide plenty of content and detailed information.

DESIGN

Design Process

• Plano Costs need to be carefully scrutinized.

• Researcho Wider variety of users – international, cultural, local.

• Analyzeo Based on itemized global market research.

• Design – Prototype Stageo Alternative prototypes to satisfy global requirements.

• Evaluateo Testing on international and localized audiences.

• Design – Implementation Stageo Written code, final interactivity and visuals.

• Final Evaluation• Document

(Marcus and Guttman, 1999)

Interface Components

• Metaphors and Conceptso Words, images, sounds, tactile qualities.

• Mental Modelso Organization of data, tasks, jobs.

• Navigationo Menus, dialog boxes, control panels.

• Interactiono User input and feedback.

• Visual Appearanceo Colors, fonts, written content, layout.

(Marcus and Guttman, 1999)

Color Considerations

• Ageo Children prefer bright colors.o Adults prefer subdued colors.

• Classo Working class connect with standard names

(red, blue, green).o More educated connect with specialized names

(taupe, azure, etc.).• Gender

o Males prefer cool colors.o Females prefer warm colors.

• Cultureo Especially important to respect local customs, religion, culture.o Individual colors often carry conflicting symbolism across

cultures.o Important to establish a balance with company’s branding.

(Kyrnin, Jennifer 2011)

Color by Culture

Color – Practical Understanding

(Zühlke, Bödcher and Röse, 2006)

Understanding of Color Associated with Common Industrial Interface Functions

Font Considerations

• Aestheticso Latin fonts (English, German, French, Spanish).o Non-Latin fonts (Japanese, Chinese, Russian Cyrillic).o Problems when mixing Latin fonts with non-Latin fonts.

• Technicalo Seifs vs. san serifso Ascenders/descenders vs. lack thereof.o Stroke weight, character spacing, line spacing, color, etc.

• Culturalo Asian ideographs’ complexity may be problematic.o Traditional vs. Simplified.o Japanese Fonts – A Case Study.

• Linguistico Different languages have varying content length.o Different languages have different reading orientations.o Adjective, noun, verb placement differs across languages.

Fonts - Aesthetics

(Matteson, 2011)

Fonts - Technical Issues

(Matteson, 2011)

Fonts – Cultural

(Matteson, 2011)

Japanese Fonts – A Case Study

• 3 Character Setso Hiragana – simple, phonetic, curvilinear strokes.o Katakana – simple, phonetic, angular strokes.o Kanji – complex strokes, multiple meaning and pronunciation.

• Typeface Classificationo Mincho – varied stroke weight, based on brush strokes.o Gothic – uniform stroke weight, akin to san serif Latin fonts.

• Technical Issueso Poor kerning tables, characters need to be individually spaced.o Mixing simple characters with complex disrupts harmony.o Italic is not an option, boldface is not universally accepted.o Complexity of certain characters and their stroke weight makes.

legibility problematic at small sizes (e.g. mobile devices).o Rendering text as a graphic can cause accessibility problems.

Japanese Fonts – 3 Character Sets

(Palmieri, 2004)

Japanese Fonts – Classification

(Palmieri, 2004)

Japanese Fonts – Technical Issues

(Palmieri, 2004)

Language and Layout

• Languageo Different languages have varying content length.

o French, German and Spanish character lengths may be 30-50% longer than English.

o Different languages have different reading orientations.o Arabic and Hebrew have a right to left reading orientation,

while English reads left to right.o Adjective, noun, verb placement differs across languages.

o Spanish places the adjective after the noun, while the adjective precedes the noun in English.

• Layouto Because of these differences in language uses, layouts will have

to be adjusted accordingly.o The ratio of verbal to visual content varies by country and culture.o Global websites use navigation and information architecture to

satisfy the need for globalized and localized interfaces by creating a system of individual yet highly organized, related sites.

Language and Layout - Orientation

Hebrew

English

Language and Layout – Global and Local

Works Cited

ColorMatters, http://colormatters.com/ Colours in Cultures, http://visual.ly/what-colors-mean-different-cultures Dracopoulos, Effie. (2003). E-Learning ESL: Bringing the World Together: Global Peace Through The

Global University System. Gabrielle Ford, Paula Kotzé. (2005). Designing usable interfaces with cultural dimensions, Springer,

Berlin/Heidelberg GEERT HOFSTEDE, http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.htm Hall, E. T., & Hall, M. R. (1990). Understanding cultural differences. Yarmouth, Me.: Intercultural Press.l Kelly, Charles. (2000). Vol. VI No. 3 March. Guidelines for Designing a Good Web Site for ESL Students:

The Internet TESL Journal Kyrnin, Jennifer. Using Colors to Convey Meaning May Backfire on a Website

http://webdesign.about.com/od/color/a/aa072604.htm Liu, Min (2008) Vol 25 No 2 January. Designing Websites for ESL Learners: A Usability Testing Study Marcus and Guttman. (1999). Globalization of User-Interface Design for the Web Matteson, Steve. (2011). Font Tactics for Globalization Palmieri, Chris. (2004). Japanese Typography on the Web and Beyond Trompenaars, F., & Turner, Charles H. (1998). Riding the Waves of Culture, McGraw-Hill, New York Victor, David A. (1992). International Business Communication. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Zühlke, Bödcher and Röse. (2006). The Imapact of Globalization on User-Interface Design