A Framework for Designing Usable Localised Business Websites

Abstract

Website localisation is the process of adapting the linguistic and cultural content of an internationalised web design for a specific target audience in a specific locale. With the advent of globalisation, website localisation is becoming a powerful way to attract online customers in a global market. Hence, the main driving force behind such moves is financial, but with a strong motivation towards cross-cultural sensitivity.The primary aim of this research therefore is to explore the design of websites for different cultures. It seeks to provide an outline of the current and relevant literature with regard to cultural usability and user interface design. It also aspires to develop and experiment with a Cultural User Interface (CUI) profile. The intention is to create a framework for designing usable localised websites. To achieve these ends, the research employs various methodologies. These include descriptive/interpretive studies of the literature and previous studies by academics and industrial institutions. Furthermore it utilises surveys and case studies among Internet users, web designers, and web production companies in the target cultures (Arab and British). In the process a website has been redesigned according to the guidelines of a newly built framework within the context of an action research approach. Finally, by comparing the original and the redesigned websites, a comparative evaluation has been carried out.The research findings contribute to the general field of software/web localisation and personalisation. They also provide academics and industry with information on the degree to which cultural localisation is needed to ensure usability. In addition, they highlight the extent to which users' cultural background and perceptions influence their preferences and hence the acceptance of the virtual world of online user interfaces. The main findings of this research highlight the necessity to understand both the target culture and the needs of the business commissioning the website. They also show the value of design consistency (navigation, layout, interaction, graphics and colours, etc). Furthermore the researchers were able to identify a drawback in web designers' current practices in the investigated countries, in terms of their limited utilisation of existing guidelines for the exploitation of intercultural usability, accessibility, knowledge, tools and methods.

Preferences of Saudi Users on Arabic Website Usability

“…As can be seen from the results in the previous section, cultural background has a significant influence on user interface acceptance [13]. Therefore, the findings from the survey enable the researcher to construct "cultural usability guidelines" for Saudi Arabia.…”

“…However, other cultures such as the British culture do not consider them important [14]. Furthermore, the Saudi respondents emphasized the importance of the user's own language, website/web application authenticity, accessibility, strong security and privacy, fast download, customer services, and search service.…”

Usability Framework for E-Government Services in Developing Countries

“…The international standards (ISO) for example ISO 9241-11 and ISO 9126-1 focus more on software and graphical user interfaces in general and not dedicated to software usability [10]. The standard guidelines are not specific to any application domain and environment in terms of developed or developing countries yet these two environments have unique aspects such as level of infrastructure development, general literacy of the population, ICT literacy, etc.…”

A framework to localize international business to business web sites

“…In B2B literature most studies have looked into specific B2B web design characteristics or addressed localization issues from cultural adaptation perspective (Chakraborty, Lala and Warren, 2003;Lord and Collins, 2002;Usunier, Roulin and Ivens, 2009;Usunier and Roulin, 2010). More specifically, past studies in the field of web localization can be divided into four broad categories: studies providing general usability guidelines for international user interface design (Becker, 2002;Esselink, 2000;Nielsen and Del Galdo, 1996;Cyr and Trevor-Smith, 2004), studies proposing general frameworks for developing international web sites (Al-Bade and Mayhew, 2010;Al-Badi and Naqvi, 2010;Becker, 2002;Becker and Crespo, 2001;Dou et al, 2002;Singh, 2012;Singh et al, 2009), surveys and studies pertaining user perception of international web sites and international online user profiles (Baack and Singh, 2007;Nantel and Glaser, 2008;Wallace and Yu, 2009;Singh et al, 2006;Singh, 2012), and studies that have specifically explored how to culturally localize web sites (Barber and Badre, 1998;Baack and Singh, 2007;Cyr and Lew, 2003;Cyr and Trevor-Smith, 2004;Singh and Pereira, 2005;Singh, et al, 2009;Usunier, et al, 2009;Usunier and Roulin, 2010). Most of the past research has specifically looked into usability, cultural, and functional level factors to localize international web sites.…”

“…More specifically, the process through which back end technologies are used to create a modular, culturally neutral, extendable, and accessible global web site template is called "Internationalization", or i18n 1 (Singh andBoughton, 2005, Singh, 2012). Internationalization helps companies develop a global platform or web architecture for future localization efforts (Al-Badi and Mayhew, 2010). However, many companies, in their haste localize international sites, or due to insufficient resources, ignore this important back end process and develop separate global templates for different countries, thus creating inefficiencies and i18n" stands for Internationalization, since there are 18 letters between i and n. (note: a small "i" is used to distinguish it from the letter "l" and the number '1".)…”