1. Localization of Web Sites: Is there still a need for it?
Abdalghani Mushtaha
WISE lab
International Workshop on Web Engineering
Hypertext 2004

2. Overview Localization Purpose of our Research The Pilot Experiment
Constraints and Limits
Method
Results
Discussion of the Pilot Experiment
Webmaster Survey
Discussion
Further Research
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

3. Localization
Adapting a product or service to a particular language, culture, and give it a local ‘look-and-feel’
Localization not only about translation but also the adaptation to culture is considered important
Most work in (software) localization is based on Hofstede’s theory
Geert Hofstede collected and analyzed from 1967 to 1973 data from over 100,000 individuals from 53 countries.
he identifies 5 primary dimensions to differentiate cultures
power distance
collectivism-individualism
masculinity-femininity
uncertainty avoidance
long and short-term orientation
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

4. Localization of Web Sites
Usually based on Hofstede’s theory
Marcus and Gould , Dormann and Chisalita apply the cultures dimensions to global web interface sites.
(detect the existence of culture markers. Apply those dimensions to global web interface design).
Several studies which investigated the impact of culture dimensions on web interface design.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

5. Purpose of our Research
We also assumed that web interface designs would be influenced by the culture in which they originate.
Small-scale action research to verify this
However, the results were different!
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

6. The Pilot Experiment Purpose:
To determine the extent to which the homepage design of local web sites reflected the Hofstede score assigned to their country for different cultural dimensions.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

7. The Pilot Experiment Constraints and Limits
Only 4 of the 5 cultural dimensions:
Power Distance: degree of equality, or inequality, between people in the country's society
Collectivism-Individualism: degree the society reinforces individual or collective, achievement and interpersonal relationships
Masculinity-femininity: The traditional masculine work role model of male achievement, control, and power.
Uncertainty Avoidance: level of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity within the society - i.e. unstructured situations.
Only one application domain: University web sites
Evaluation of only the homepage
Focus on the visual parameters (images, symbols, logos, etc) and design elements (color, lay-out, etc)
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

8. Method(1) 16 student. Each dimension was examined by 4 students.
PDI
Malaysia
Guatemal
Panama
Philippines
Mexico
Venezuela
Arab countries
Equador
…..
Switzerland
Finland
Norway
Sweden
Ireland
New Zealand
Denmark
Israel
Austria
IDV
USA
Australia
Great Britain
Canada
Netherlands
Italy
Belgium
Peru
Costa Rica
Pakistan
Indonesia
Colombia
Guatemala
MAS
Japan
Jamaica
Portugal
Chile
Yugoslavia
UAI
Greece
Uruguay
Salvador
India
Hong Kong
Singapore
16 student. Each dimension was examined by 4 students.
Within one dimension, each student examined 10 university homepages.
5 universities at least 3 of the seven highest ranked countries.
5 universities, from at least 3 of the nine lowest ranked countries.
In total, 40 homepages were analyzed per dimension.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

9. Method(2) Students filled out a questionnaire, which asked to:
Give a general impression of the homepage
check the adjectives they felt to be relevant to the homepage (attractive, formal, simple, clear, nice, dark…)
Rate from 1 to 5 the cultural values extracted from Hofstede’s theory, for the homepage
1 = not applicable = strongly applicable.
Rate from 1 to 5 if the homepage reflected the expected (high or low) score.
Describe the main differences in design between the 5 high-score homepages and the 5 low-score homepages.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

10. Results - Quantitative Results(1)
Number of ticks and the scores.
Power Distance:
No significant differences in the adjectives ticked.
No significant difference in the score of the cultural values.
An average score of 2.5 for homepages from high power distance, and an average score of 3.4 for homepages from low power distance.
Collectivism-Individualism:
No difference in the adjectives ticked.
For individualistic countries’ homepage: individual interests prevail over collective interests.
An average score of 2.95 for individualistic and of 3.05 for collectivist countries.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

11. Results - Quantitative Results(2)
Masculinity-Femininity:
The adjective “nice” was ticked more often for feminine countries.
No significant difference in the score of the cultural values.
An average score of 1.45 for homepages from Masculinity counties!
 hardly reflected any masculinity
An average score of 3.25 for homepages from feminine countries.
Uncertainty Avoidance:
No significant differences in the adjectives ticked.
An average score of 2.6 for High Uncertain Avoidance and of 3 for Low Uncertain Avoidance .
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

12. Results - Qualitative Results
The students had to indicate how they perceived the expected cross-culture differences
Findings:
They mainly based their evaluation on the homepage’s pictures, graphical elements, size and positions.
Sometimes, huge design differences among homepages from one single country.
In power distance homepages, 8 of the 20 university homepage portrayed (laughing) students.
In collectivist homepages, pictures of buildings or groups were found more prominently than in ‘individualistic’ homepages.
Masculine homepages display some feminine values(10 of the 20).
No difference in the complexity of the homepage between low and high uncertainty avoidance countries.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

13. Discussion of the Pilot Experiment
Except for the dimension collectivism-individualism, the cultural value orientations were not clearly ascertained by the students in the analyzed homepages
Possible reasons:
Random selection of web sites: some were too plain to evaluate
Could our participants’ findings be ascribed to their own cultural background?
Only focus on the visual elements (no content).
Selected domain, university web sites, may had an impact on the result: target audience young and web site may display deliberately an international character.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

14. Conclusions of the Pilot Experiment
Two new hypotheses:
Our students were unable to recognize culture-specific characteristics.
Evaluated local homepages did not actually reflect local culture, as Hofstede’s theory would predict.
So…
We decided to query webmasters of university web sites.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

15. Webmaster Survey (1)
Objective Finding out the extent to which web development teams draw inspiration from existing web sites when (re)designing the university web site
An online survey was sent to 233 webmasters.
Several types of questions to mask our objective.
We obtained 45 responses.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

16. Webmaster Survey (2) Results
Inspired by the design of other existing websites:
36% often, 58% occasional, and 6% never.
94% declaring that they are receptive to external influences:
54% claimed that they looked at in-country web sites
46% checked web sites of various origins.
Most webmasters visit web sites from the same language countries.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

17. Discussion (1)
Our findings looks inconsistent with previous research findings
Possible explanations
limited scope of the study
Concentrate on visual parameters.
Comparison of two opposite poles of countries, but not of countries individually.
Restricted to 4 of the 5 dimensions of Hofstede
Only one application domain.
The Web is ‘an international medium and inspiration comes from all over’
could imply a certain homogenization of cyberspace
Hofstede’s theory is more than 30 years old.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

18. Discussion (2) Possible Conclusion
the Web seems to promote the emergence of a cosmopolitan online culture
A hybrid culture
With characteristics different from those of the traditional cultures
The existing Web culture is the outcome of the communication and interaction between people from different cultural backgrounds
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha

19. Further Research
Will web sites really better fit users’ expectation if web developers take Hofstede’s cultural dimensions into account?
More research is needed to revise the existing methods and guidelines for localization of web sites.
To consider:
What will be the attitude of the Internet User in the future?
Some domains may be more sensitive to cultural difference than others.
© Hélène Stengers, Olga De Troyer, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, and Abdalghani N. Mushtaha