Intercultural User Evaluation of the Design of Arabic Websites: A Case Study

Abstract

The cultural background of web users is argued to play a key role in the way they interact with and perceive the usability and usefulness of websites. The objective of this case study is to identify Arab users' preferences and expectations of the design of Arabic websites in order to examine whether these preferences are consistent with their cultural-specific attributes as described and predicted by Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions. Thirty three participants from two Arab countries evaluated and compared two websites, one from their own country and a second one from another Arab country within the same culture. The preliminary results suggest that they show an overall preference for a website developed for their country over another from other Arab countries, even if they share the same culture 1 .