A CROSS CULTURAL USABILITY STUDY ON THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF USER INTERFACES BASED ON AN EMPIRICAL FIVE FACTOR MODEL

With the internationalization of e-commerce, it is no longer viable to design one user interface for all environments. Web-based applications and services can be accessed from all over the globe. To account for this globalization process, software developers need to understand that simply accounting for language translation of their websites for different countries and cultures in which they operate is not sufficient. Developers must exhibit sensitivity for the nuances that exist in all cultures if their e-commerce sites are to be successful in gaining acceptance in the domestic markets. Indeed, today's developers must be charged with the task to think globally but act locally. The problem posed to researchers and developers alike is to identify a set of universally accepted design guidelines that are useful to developers in deigning cross cultural websites. Current researches have applied Hofstede's cultural dimension model to explain cultural differences in web-based applications and suggest modifications. However, there is a general lack of empirical evidence in the field upon which to base these suggestions. In this study a five factor hybrid cross cultural model (the SLICK model) for the internationalization of user interfaces based on literature findings is proposed and empirically tested using participants from two cultures, American and Zambian. The SLICK model consists of five common attributes factors of culture as found the in the literature. Two pilot studies were carried out on the two cultures using this model. The results of the preliminary study suggested the need for some modifications to the web-based questionnaire to maximize the effectiveness of this model. The dissertation study was conducted using undergraduate students from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Zambia. The findings of the study indicate that users showed a greater understanding of user interfaces that employed culturally familiar instances of the hybrid SLICK model. This study demonstrates that with the correct application of the SLICK model, software developers can effectively design cross culturally sensitive user interfaces for an international audience.