CULTURABILITY: LINFLUENZA DEI FATTORI CULTURALI NELLUSABILITÀ DEL WEB U NIVERSITÀ DEGLI S TUDI DI P AVIA F ACOLTÀ DI L ETTERE E FILOSOFIA, S CIENZE POLITICHE, G IURISPRUDENZA, I NGEGNERIA, E CONOMIA C ORSO DI L AUREA S PECIALISTICA I NTERFACOLTÀ IN E DITORIA E C OMUNICAZIONE M ULTIMEDIALE A NNO A CCADEMICO 2010/2011 R ELATORE : P ROF. M ARCO P ORTA C ORRELATORE : P ROF. M ASSIMO C ELLARIO T ESI DI LAUREA DI A RIANNA R ICOTTI

Usability … the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness (task completion by users), efficiency (task in time) and satisfaction (responded by user in term of experience) in a specified context of use (users, tasks, equipments and environments) (ISO ) 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Usability Web Usability is the art of creating a website where people move at ease and effortlessly find what they need. Web usability is clarity, speed, ability to communicate and provoke a response (Jakob Nielsen) 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Culturability Culturability = culture + usability (Barber & Badre) 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Definitions of Culture Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another (Geert Hofstede) Culture is the software of the mind (Geert Hofstede) 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Geert Hofstede: the five cultural dimensions Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV) Masculinity vs. Femininity (MAS) Power Distance (PDI) Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Long-term vs. short-term orientation (LTO) 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 6

Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV) The presence of people or groups and their relationship with the represented product o High IDV = individualism: few or no person in the websites o Low IDV = collectivism: the presence of a greater number of people represented in the websites 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi USA - IDV: 91 Coca-Cola USA - IDV: 91 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi China - IDV: 20 Coca-Cola China - IDV: 20 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola Masculinity vs. Femininity (MAS) The presence of people according to gender differences o High MAS = masculinity culture: only males depicted in websites o Low MAS = femininity culture: only females or people of both genders depicted in websites 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi Japan - MAS: 95 Coca-Cola Japan - MAS: 95 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi Sweden - MAS: 5 Coca-Cola Sweden - MAS: 5 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola Power Distance (PDI) Age differences o High PDI: adult or older people represented in websites o Low PDI: young people represented in websites 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi Slovakia - PDI: 104 Coca-Cola Slovakia - PDI: 104 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi Austria - PDI: 11 Coca-Cola Austria - PDI: 11 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) The amount of information shown in the homepage o High UAI: many subsections simultaneously o Low UAI: very simple navigation menu 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi Belgium - UAI: 94 Coca-Cola Belgium - UAI: 94 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi Denmark - UAI: 23 Coca-Cola Denmark - UAI: 23 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola Long-term vs. short-term orientation (LTO) The presence of links to the history section o High LTO = cultures oriented to long term: interest in past, present and future events o Low LTO = cultures oriented to short term: focus on the present, not on past events 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi Japan - LTO: 80 Coca-Cola Japan - LTO: 80 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Pepsi Czech Republic - LTO: 13 Coca-Cola Czech Republic - LTO: 13 Case studies: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

Acculturation Preparing and adapting a product to other markets and nations, and for use by different cultures Two possibilities: Internationalization Localization 16/4/ Arianna Ricotti

InternationalizationInternationalizationLocalizationLocalization One website to be used anywhere Result: interface adapted for use in various countries and languages Advantages: o Reduced time and costs o Fewer resources o More efficient architecture Adaptation of the website for specific or local markets Text translated for the specific country Sense of belonging and identification of the user Advantage: access to more markets Internationalization and Localization 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 23

AmazonAmazonLast.fmLast.fm Internationalization and Localization 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 24

Cultural markers Factors that influence the culture Elements of interface design found in Web pages Significant elements highly prevalent or common in a particular cultural group Language, colours, spatial organization, icons, symbols Results: influence the way a user interacts with the website 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 25

LanguageLanguage Symbols, icons and images Speech used by a particular group of people Principal component to acquire information from a website Accessible website if available in the language of the users Plain text, common words and avoiding jargon Misunderstandings or misinterpretations up to offend Different meanings for different cultures Potentially sensitive issues: religious symbols, human body, women, hand gestures Cultural markers: language, symbols, images 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 26

Cultural markers: colour Highly communicative and connected to peoples feelings and cultures Use of colour perceived as negative or positive in different cultures: o Red = happiness in China o Red = death in South Africa o White = funeral in Eastern o White = wedding in Western Colour and religion: o Judeo-Christian = red, blue, white and gold o Buddhism = saffron yellow o Islam = green 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 27

Cultural markers: colour Websites in Saudi Arabia and the UAE: preponderance of Islamic green or desert colours (yellow, brown and orange) 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 28

Asian languages: vertical orientation Arabic languages: written horizontally from right to left Cultural markers: page layout 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 29

Conclusions It is easy to create a website from a technical perspective It is complicated to create a website for effective communication in the global market Culture is important Adapting the main cultural markers Very different people Marketing strategies: impossibility to meet the cultural criteria 16/4/2012 Arianna Ricotti 30