Huatong Sun

Building a culturally-competent corporate web site: an exploratory study of cultural markers in multilingual web design

The localization of transnational corporate websites requires a strategy for designing usable web interfaces that can be easily accessed and understood by international audiences. With a discussion of a pilot study of cultural markers in two multilingual websites, this paper explores how we might accomplish website localization more effectively by defining criteria, searching for efficient and effective strategies and techniques, and evaluating current practices.

The Triumph of Users: Achieving Cultural Usability Goals With User Localization

Current localization practices suffer from a narrow and static vision of culture resulting in usability problems for IT product and design. To address this problem, this article compares user localization efforts of mobile messaging technology in two different cultural contexts with a new methodology of cultural usability. It calls for expanding the scope of localization practices and linking user localization efforts to the IT product design cycle.

Exploring cultural usability

This paper attempts to explore the concept of usability with a broader scope in the cultural dimension by discussing the emerging notion of cultural usability. It compares the consideration of general cultural factors in two trends of usability studies and investigates the relationship of usability, technology and culture. Then it reviews the current theoretical and empirical work on cultural usability. Next it outlines important components for the concept of cultural usability and provides a tentative model. It ends with suggestions for future work.

Designing for social commerce experience as cultural consumption

Social commerce websites are facing a challenge of how to use social media effectively in reaching their users in this globalization age. In this paper I look at two successful cases of social commerce websites, TaoBao of China and Etsy of the U.S. and argue that the design of a social commerce website should implement effective local SNS features to connect with and engage its users, mediate their identities, and empower them in this rising participatory culture.

Designing for a Dialogic View of Interpretation in Cross-Cultural IT Design

To search for ways of better communicating the intended meanings to culturally diverse users, this paper uses Bakhtins concept of dialogicality and its application to examine how interpretation functions in cross-cultural design. It argues for a dialogical view of interpretation based on the genre notion with its features of situatedness and dynamism. This view of interpretation connects action and meaning in cross-cultural IT design and makes a design appealing to a local context without stereotyping the local culture in an essentialist fashion.

An activity approach to cross-cultural design

The demanding challenges urge us to develop an effective way to address cultural issues in IT localization and design well-localized products to support complex activities in a concrete context. This article proposes an activity approach to cross-cultural design informed by key concepts and methods from activity theory, genre theory, and British cultural studies. The approach brings cross-cultural design focus from operational affordances to social affordances.

The case of facebook Japan: cross-cultural design in postcolonial conditions

Centering on the unfolding development of Facebook Japan case, this work-in-progress research poster seeks to engage the audience in a conversation on critical sensibility the cross-cultural design community should develop in postcolonial conditions.

Extended abstract: Fans as creative mass for user localization and open innovation

In this participatory culture, technology innovation is increasingly driven by fan-based participation, catalyzed by the rapid growth of social media platforms and networked communication. This paper applies a user localization perspective to look at cases of fan participation from South Korea and China on social media platforms. Regarding those emerging fan practices as an alternative model for innovation, the paper hopes to start a conversation on how to nurture fan bases as a creative mass for open innovation.