Cultural Models & Interaction Design

For my 'Cross Cultural Study' we had to analyse the Web sites for different cultures...the approach I took was to use the existing cultural model...the idea behind it was to get some patterns...which can be applied to other sites and thus in short building a kind of a formula which can be used in 'designing' for other cultures...here are some of extracts from the Report of that assignment...


Discussion
Hosftede model is good to give a broad perspective of what a culture is. The important point to
note here is that the parameters given by Hofstede are all relative values. So it is not correct to state that certain culture is “Feminine” or Power Driven. What Hofstede model states that one culture is more or less “Feminine” or what the case may be, than the other culture. One can broadly understand one culture with respect to the other. In my opinion that is the strength of that model.
When it comes to details of analysis, expectation or prediction; this model alone does not work.
And I don’t think this model was developed for that purpose. To do an analysis one has to experience the culture or the context to understand the people’s behavior and their liking or disliking. The situation becomes complicated when we try to analyze any artifact or a cultural opinion. The outcome of any artifact or opinion is simultaneously effected by all the 5 factors plus their oppositions- Power Distance, Individualism, Collectivism, Masculinity, Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long Term Orientation and Short Term Orientation. At it is still unpredictable as to what factor dominate and shape up the artifact or the opinion. Again one should not undermine the importance of Context in which that artifact or opinion is built.


After hours of trying to get a pattern or being able to use the Hofstede’s model unsuccessfully for
analysis of websites I have reached to a conclusion that his model can not be directly applied for analysis. With study of Halls and Hofstede’s model I came to a conclusion that these models can be clubbed and modified in order to make a model that can to an extent work in analyzing websites. This little formula is based on very few data and can be challenged. This formula seems to be working in my context and has been formulated after studying few patterns in the display of the page and information. This formula is based on the findings that High/Low Context, IDV, MAS, UAI and Religious Orientation can be primarily being identified as the influencing factors in a website...

this work is just a begining...to finally come to a concrete solution...i requires a lot of deep study and anlysis...but I was happy becoz this formula was working to some extent...

God bless you :)