Are You Cultured?

Scholars have studied cultures thoroughly for years and have published several classic theories, many of which are not well known in the Web design community. The attributes mentioned above were set forth in 1997 by Geert Hofstede in Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind (McGraw -Hill). They may sound rather academic, but understanding them is the key to successfully globalizing your site, products, or services.

Culture Gurus

When Hofstede published Cultures and Organizations, his focus was not on the definition of culture as "refinement" of a people, but rather on essential patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. This makes his work especially useful when applied to site design and usability. Hofstede identified five dimensions of culture:

1. Power distance is the extent to which people accept social hierarchies and the power gaps they create.

2. Individualism versus collectivism is the orientation to personal or group achievements.

3. Masculinity versus femininity is the degree to which a culture separates or does not separate traditional gender roles.

4. Uncertainty avoidance is the degree to which a culture is uncomfortable with ambiguity and seeks certainty.

5. Long-term time orientation is a culture's orientation to Confucian thought, which emphasizes patience.

Hofstede analyzed fifty-three countries, rating them on each dimension, with values varying from zero to one hundred. This index is an extremely useful guide to understanding cultures of interest to your business.

1. Who's First, Who's Last

Power distance refers to the extent to which a culture expects and accepts unequal power distribution amongst individuals. Whether a culture is high power-distance or low power-distance can have a profound impact on your UI design.

High power-distance countries tend to have centralized political power and exhibit tall hierarchies in organizations, with large differences in salary and status. Subordinates may view an employer as a benevolent dictator and are expected to do as they are told. Inequalities are expected, and may even be desired. People in low power-distance cultures expect and desire equality.

A culture's concept of power distance should determine the following aspects of UI design for the Web:

• Access to information: highly versus less-highly structured.
• Hierarchies in mental models: tall versus shallow.
• Emphasis on social and moral order: (e.g., nationalism or religion) significant or frequent versus minor or infrequent use of morals as a motivator.
• Focus on expertise: (authority, experts, official stamps, or logos) strong versus weak.
• Social prominence: leaders versus citizens, customers, or employees.
• Importance of security: restrictions/barriers to access; use of certificates; explicit, enforced, and frequent restrictions on users' mobility versus transparent, integrated, and implicit freedom to roam.
• Social roles used to organize information: (e.g., a managers' section visible to all but sealed off from non-managers) versus less-obvious references to social roles, perks, and authority.

Figure 1 [click for larger image] The Universidad Technológica de Panamá site emphasizes structure and respect for the institution.

[click for larger image] This Dutch university Web site reflects low power-distance cultural values by focusing on student experience.

These power-distance differences can be illustrated on the Web by examining university Web sites from two very different countries (see Figure 1). The Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (www.utp.ac.pa/) is located in a country with a high power-distance rating of 95. The Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (www.tue.nl) is located in the Netherlands, with a rating of 38.

Note the differences in the two sites. The Panama Web site features more axial symmetry, a focus on the official university seal at the top left, and photographs of monumental buildings devoid of people.

The Dutch Web site features an emphasis on students (not leaders), much stronger use of asymmetric layout, and photos of both genders. This site emphasizes the status of students as consumers and equals.

2. But Enough About Me

Individualism in cultures implies loose ties; everyone is expected to look after themselves or their immediate family, but no one else. Collectivism implies that people are integrated from birth into strong, cohesive groups that protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. Based on this definition, individualism and collectivism may influence the following aspects of UI and Web design:

• Personal achievement: maximized (expect the extraordinary) for individualist cultures versus underplayed (in favor of group achievement) for collectivist cultures.
• Success: demonstrated through materialism and consumerism versus achievement of social-political agendas.
• Rhetoric: controversial or argumentative speech and tolerance or encouragement of extreme claims versus official slogans and minimizing hyperbole or controversy.
• Imagery: youth versus aged, experienced, wise leaders; activities versus states of being.
• Social prominence: individuals emphasized versus simple images of products or of groups.
• Goals: extrinsic, personal goals emphasized ("you can lose weight so you can look good") versus intrinsic or official group goals ("fight overpopulation, have fewer children").
• Morality: emphasis on truth versus relationships.
• Change: emphasis on what is new and unique versus tradition and history.

You can see these cultural differences in action by examining national park Web sites from two countries with very different indices. The National Park Web site (www.nps.gov) is based in the U.S., which has the highest individualism rating at 91. The Web site from the National Parks of Panamá (www.panamatours.com/Rainforest/Rainforest_intro.htm) is based out of a country with a much more collectivist rating of 11.

The US site emphasizes the visitor and his or her goals, uses the slogan "Experience Your America" in the window title, shows three pictures of individuals, emphasizes "your National Parks Pass," and labels one button "Visit Your Parks."

The Panama site emphasizes nature, features a large image of leaves taking up one-third of the main content area, downplays the individual tourist, and uses another one-third of the main content area for text that emphasizes the contents of the forests and parks.

3. Gender Neutral?

For our purposes, the definitions of "femininity" and "masculinity" refer to gender roles, not physical characteristics. Hofstede focuses on a masculine orientation to assertiveness, competition, and "toughness," and a feminine orientation to home and children, people, and "tenderness." In feminine cultures, the distinctions tend to collapse or overlap; both men and women exhibit modesty, tenderness, and a concern with quality of life as well as material success. In masculine cultures, gender roles are distinct and strongly maintained.

Based on Hofstede's definitions, masculinity and femininity emphasize different aspects of UI Web design. Design for masculine cultures should focus on the following:

• Distinctions: clearly defined and disparate roles divided by gender, family, or age.
• Accomplishment: tasks, roles, and mastery, with quick results for finite tasks.
• Control: navigation oriented to exploration and user control.
• Sport: games and competition used to gain user attention.
• Utility: graphics, sound, and animation used for utilitarian purposes.

Feminine cultures would emphasize the following user-interface elements:

• Ambiguity: blurring of gender roles.
• Cooperation: teamwork, exchange, and support, rather than mastery and winning.
• Artistry: poetry, aesthetics, and unifying values used to gain attention.

Japan has the highest gender-difference rating at 95, and Excite has a special site for Japanese women (woman.excite.co.jp). The women's site emphasizes content about cosmetics or cooking and features a pink color scheme. The regular site (www.excite.co.jp) focuses on "general" users (men), and emphasizes business, stocks, and cars. The United States has a much less masculine culture index of 62. Excite's US Web site (www.excite.com), does not feature a separate women's site.