intercultural differences in ux
DESCRIPTION
"It’s not only about East vs. West" – Diversity throughout Asia from a Japanese Point of View The EYE SQUARE Academy, a series of talks on the topic of User Experience started with Noriko Osaka's talk on "Intercultural Differences in UX" Noriko Osaka represents EYE SQUARE as Director User Experience Asia at our office in Tokyo, Japan and is a representative for UXPA-Asia, the regional chapter of UXPA. In her talk she highlighted intercultural differences in the usage of interactive systems and how to address these differences in global UX research. watch Noriko Osaka's talk here: https://vimeo.com/46419740TRANSCRIPT
2012 - 04 - 19
Intercultural UX"It's not only about East vs. West" Diversity throughout Asia from a Japanese Point of View
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Intercultural UX
Summary
East vs West:Cognitive Difference
Asia: Cultural & Contextual Differences
How these affectdesign & communications?
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Intercultural UX
Basic Information to explain East and West
Individualism Collectivism
Geert Hofstede
West East
ContextualTo the point
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Intercultural UX
Basic Information to explain East and West
What did they look in the aquarium?
Fish Background
West East
Japan and the Japanese
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Japan and the Japanese
How are we described?
Ruth Benedict (1887-1948)American Anthropologist
“Shame Culture”
http://www.koreanculture.jp/
“Shrink Culture”Lee O-young (1934-)Korean literature professor
Wikipedia
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Japan and the Japanese
Environmental Characteristics
Small land378,000km2 70% mountain, 67% Forest
“Space-Saving, Multi-Use”
Germany357,021 km2, 30% Forest
High Population Density18th Century6 times more than France
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Japan and the Japanese
Environmental Characteristics
Heinrich Julius Schliemann "La Chine et le Japon au temps présent" 1869
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
“Everyone goes to bed at 9:00. The straw mattress on which the whole family spent a day then serves as a bed, a mattress and a sheet at the same time.”
“In Europe, we compete the luxurious furniture, such as cupboards, drawers, tables, chairs… with our neighbors. After coming to Japan, I realized we can totally do without it.”
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Japan and the Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Shame Culture
“Behave yourself, because the sun is watching you.”
“Behave yourself, because no one else is behaving like you.”
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Indirectness
“We are in preparation”
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Indirectness
Would you care for a Bubuzuke? = Could you please go home?
Wikipedia
Kyoto’s “Bubuzuke” myth
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Abstract & Symbolism
Nearly 20,000 family crests to symbolize family and personality
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Shrink & Delicacy
Prof. Lee O-young
“Japanese found beauty in smallness and delicacy.”
“Japanese try to reproduce everything in the small universe.”
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Shrink
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Shrink
Chinese & Korean Poem
“I want to reach the moon”
Japanese Poem
“The moonlight in the garden / water”
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Shrink
美“Beautiful” in Chinese
羊+大=Big Sheep
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Shrink
不細工“Ugly” in Japanese:
Not Detailed
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Shrink
Typical compact crafts
http://www.artgene.net/labo/category/cat285/post_169.php
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Delicacy
“There were many toy shops. They were cheap, but finished perfectly and the device is so sophisticated that the toy manufacturers in Nürnberg or Paris will never be able to compete them.”
Heinrich Julius Schliemann
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Delicacy
Peony (King of flowers)Cherry blossoms
Rose of Sharon
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Japan and The Japanese
Cultural Characteristics / Delicacy
Bush Clover (Autumn)
Wisteria(Early Summer)
The flowers we love
Pink - Nadeshiko(Summer)
Products & Communications
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Products & Communications
Characteristics of Japanese products
Detailed
SmallMulti-use
Delicate
Over-spec Over-quality
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Products & Communications
Characteristics of Japanese Products
Handy & Portable Multi-function
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Products & Communications
Characteristics of Japanese products
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Products & Communications
Japan specific products
http://www.cnngo.com/j
http://www.cnngo.com/j
“Habakari”= Reserved
wikipedia
http://www.yodobashi.com/
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Products & Communications
Habitual & environmental conditions: Washing Machine
Japan North America Europe
Frequency Frequent Once a week Once a week
Washing time Short Longer Longest
Water hardness Soft Harder Hardest
Water temperature Low (cold water) Warm Hot
Location Lavatory Basement Kitchen
Recycled water Yes (from bathtub) No No
Size Small Largest Larger
Noise Low High ?
Reference: http://www.nikkei.com
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Products & Communications
Design preference
Gorgeous Delicate
Asymmetric
Symmetric
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Differences & similarities: Clotaire Rapaille
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Safety
Joy Power
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Products & Communications
Successful promotion examples
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Products & Communications
Successful promotion examples
Kamon (Family Crest) Generator
Japanese tend to express themselves in a form of analogy:
• “My blood type is A.”• “If I compare myself to an animal, I am like a Koala.”
Cognitive ComparisonEast vs West
Sample
N = 30
N = 15 N = 15
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Hilton – Mirror Website - (identical in Germany and Japan)
Structured, clear Website. Too structured for Japanese?
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After 5 sec.: Germans pay more attention to booking entry
Density:
Red areas mark highest deal of attention.
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After 5 sec.: Booking entry is intensively regarded by Germans
Types of Percepetion:
Red areas mark intensive perception.
Superficial processingMedium processingInvolved processingNo fixation
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After 15 sec.: Japanese explore whole page
Density:Red areas mark highest deal of attention.
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After 15. sec.: Japanese percept all areas equal
Types of Percepetion:
Red areas mark intensive perception.Superficial processing
Medium processingInvolved processingNo fixation
Pragmatic Websites are more successful in Germany
Germany Japan
Yahoo!
Other
Google – 88,5%
Yahoo! – 50,7 %
Conclusions Complexity
For Germany
• Keep websites simple
• Place the most important clear and prominent
Market leader in Germany
For Japan
• Japanese users can be confronted with more contents
Yahoo
Market leader in Japan
Search Engine Yahoo: For Germans too unclear
Statements of german users:
• Too colourful
• Loud colours
• Too much content
• Useless content
Search Engines US vs. China
• Research Study by Enquiro research, Canada 2007
Context Comparison China vs Japan
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Online home appliance shopping
Visual Design / Contents
SuningYodobashi Camera
• More texts• Less product explanations
• More pictures• Detailed product explanations
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Online home appliance shopping
Why the difference?
Kakaku.com
• In China, the most popular online information source is an e-commerce website
• While in Japan, a comparison website would be the most powerful information source.
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Online home appliance shopping
User‘s behaviors / concerns to make purchase decisions
• Value objective opinions (User reviews)• Value real life experience (Real store)
• Concerns for credibility (genuine product, delivery, after-sale service etc.)• Comparison website use
Similarities
Difference
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Online home appliance shopping
Payment method
• Credit Card• Convenience store• Cash on delivery• Bank • Post office• Points
• Cash on delivery• Online money• Escrow service (Alipay)• Credit Card• Bank • Post office
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Conclusion
Asian market is so diverse• Business environment• User’s interest / concerns• User’s preference / taste
A Little History of Germany and Japan
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A little history of Germany and Japan
Japan learned a lot from Germany...
• Military System• Police System• Medicine
To build up a modern society, we imported:
Prussia Royal Police Captain: Wilhelm Hahn Monument in Tokyo(1894)Prussia Army University Professor:
Klemens W. J. Meckel
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A little history of Germany and Japan
Japan learned a lot from Germany...
… And Beer!
First imported by Dutch
1870 “Bavarian Beer” brewedFirst beer company was established in Yokohama by Norwegian American William Copeland (Learned brewery in Germany)
1888 “Japan Brewery” invited German brewers to improve their product, then became “Kirin Beer”
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A little history of Germany and Japan
Meissen and Arita
Friedrich August I (Sachsen)
Johann Friedrich Böttger
Arita Since 1616
Meissen Since 1710
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A little history of Germany and Japan
Germany x Japan = Arita Premium Beer Glass!
Lucky draw!