The Effect of Culture on Usability: Comparing the Perceptions and Performance of Taiwanese and North American MP3 Player Users
Steve Wallace and Hsiao-Cheng Yu
Journal of Usability Studies, Volume 4, Issue 3, May 2009, pp. 136-146
Abstract
A study of how 23 Taiwanese and North American subjects use a consumer electronic product shows that culture strongly affects the usability of the product. Survey data shows that North American users had much lower levels of user satisfaction and perceptions of effectiveness and efficiency than Taiwanese users. On the other hand, results on performance were unclear, indicating similar levels of effectiveness for both cultural groups and conflicting results on levels of efficiency.
Practitioner's Take Away
Usability practitioners should be aware of the following points:
- Ensure usability testing includes subjects that are culturally representative of users.
- Because culture has such a strong influence on usability, testing subjects from the wrong culture may seriously skew the results of usability testing.
- Include subjective and objective measures of efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction when measuring usability.
- Keep in mind different cultures have differing concepts of usability and value effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction differently.
- Aim to minimize the possibility of user error when designing products for the North American users. In this culture, users' perceptions of usability are strongly influenced by this variable.
- Expect North American and Taiwanese users to be similarly effective when using a product.
- Expect Taiwanese users to perceive the usability of a product at a much higher level than North American users, especially with regard to the effectiveness of a product.
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