Usability Assessment in the Multicultural Approach

• Published in: Design, User Experience, and Usability. Health, Learning, Playing, Cultural, and Cross-Cultural User Experience pp. 89 - 94
• Main Authors: Okimoto, Maria Lúcia L. R., Olaverri Monreal, Cristina, Bengler, Klaus-Josef
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin, Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Subjects: culture; usability; usability test
• ISBN: 9783642392405; 3642392407
• ISSN: 0302-9743; 1611-3349
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-39241-2_11

In order for products to be marketed successfully, product designs should accommodate users’ cultural differences. Considering these aspects, various authors have already pointed out the need for studies in cultural usability. The main objective of this paper is to identify culture usability elements for product design. First, we have selected associate usability studies with culture, specifically for cases applied to product design. The next step is to identify variables and methods used in a cultural and usability context. We characterize the usability research into practical elements, in order to then apply summative and formative usability methods. Next, we differentiate the type of knowledge involved in the variables: explicit or tacit knowledge. Finally, we discuss a possible preview of the system variables culture and usability within the concept of a complex system.