Cross-cultural applicability of user evaluation methods: a case study amongst Japanese, North-American, English and Dutch users

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the findings for an international user study investigating cultural applicability of user evaluation methods. The case study evaluates cultural differences in understanding of a virtual campus website across four culturally different user groups by using the same methods for each group. Findings suggest that some user evaluation methods are less applicable than others are for a culturally diverse user base.

REFERENCES

• 1: Elisa M. del Galdo , Jakob Nielsen, International users interface, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1996
• 2: Fernandes, T. Global Interface Design. Academic Press, London, 1995.
• 3: Jeffrey Rubin , Theresa Hudson, Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1994
• 4: Joseph S. Dumas , Janice C. Redish, A Practical Guide to Usability Testing, Intellect Books, Exeter, UK, 1999
• 5: Evers, V. Cultural Aspects of User Interface Understanding. Doctoral Thesis, the Open University, Milton Keynes, expected March 2002.

INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
culture, international usability testing, user research methods