Towards culture-centred design

  • Authors:

  • Siu-Tsen Shen;Martin Woolley;Stephen Prior

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Multimedia Design, National Formosa University of Science and Technology, 64 Wen-Hua Road, Hu-Wei 632, Yun-Lin County, Taiwan, ROC;Central Saint Martins College, University of the Arts London, Southampton Row, London WC1, UK;Department of Product Design and Engineering, School of Lifelong Learning and Education, Middlesex University Trent Park Campus, Bramley Road, London N14 4YZ, UK

  • Venue:
  • Interacting with Computers
  • Year:
  • 2006

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Abstract

This paper addresses culturally rooted factors within user interface design. The design implications of globalisation are discussed, together with the related processes of internationalisation, localisation, 'glocalisation', iconisation and culturalisation, in order to establish a basis for a new approach to HCI design. The potential for a more diverse culture-centred, design-based system-'Culture-Centred Design' (CCD) is introduced, and a CCD process developed. A redesigned computer interface, incorporating a consistent and culturally rooted metaphor for a Chinese user target group is discussed. A culturally specific 'garden' metaphor is developed and applied as an alternative to the current global 'office' or 'desktop' metaphor. A working demonstration of the interface is piloted with a group of Chinese users to assess its success in terms of interactivity, usability and cultural significance. The overall results of the first two evaluation phases have shown very positive outcomes for the use of the CCD system and Chinese garden metaphor.