SIGIA-L Mail Archives: Re: SIGIA-L: Latin American content plac
Re: SIGIA-L: Latin American content placement preferences
From: Ariel Guersenzvaig (ariel_at_sqr.nl)
Date: Sat Sep 29 2001 - 11:25:12 EDT
Hi all,
Beki Rosenthal wrote:
[snip]
> I have a potential freelance job just reviewing comps and a site map
> for a client. The users of the site are business people in Latin
> America who would be working with a Web app on the site, and reading
> pages with information.
Let me comment on a part of this sentence, namely on the "business people in
Latin America" part. I think this is a too generic description of the users.
There are huge differences among Latin Americans, and therefore there are
huge differences between a Mexican business man and an Argentinean business
woman.
You may want to get more specific information about the users, their needs,
context and goals. I reckon this will facilitate your evaluation job in a
great way.
> The client is wondering if there would be any preference for quantity
> of pictures on the pages, content position, etc. The only thing I know
> is that frequently the connection speeds are slow, so I would recommend
> using pictures only to really illustrate the text if necessary.
Again, I am not sure if there is a all Latin American way of using web apps
or reading web pages.
The same is true for connections speeds: sometimes they are fast sometimes
they aren't.
There is an article written by Aaron Marcus and Emilie Gould that was
published in Interactions Magazine concerning web design for different
cultures. Marcus and Gould integrate Geert Hofstede's "dimensions of
culture" onto web design.
An example: if you are designing a web site for a British bank that will be
used by British users you may want to focus on fulfilling short term needs,
and you would want to do it as fast as you can (according to Hofstede's
research British are very individualistic and very short term oriented).
A web site that will be used by Chinese users on the other hand might rather
focus on establishing a long lasting relationship between client and
customer; instant gratification is in this case not that important.
(I'm purposely not using an example with Latin Americans in order not to
give you a false lead.)
Some pointers:
- Web of culture
http://www.webofculture.com/worldsmart/newASPpages/default.asp
There you will find an extensive directory of resources on the topics of
website globalization, cross-cultural communication, and the (design) issues
that exist for corporations in today's global e-business world.
- The Interactions' article:
Marcus, Aaron, and Emilie West Gould,
Crosscurrents: Cultural Dimensions and Global Web User Interface Design,
ACM Interactions Association for Computer Machinery Inc., New York, NY,
July-August 2000, volume VII.4, pp. 32-46, ISSN: 1072-5220.
If you are a member of the ACM you can download it from:
http://www.acm.org/pubs/citations/journals/interactions/2000-7-4/p32-marcus/
- Geert Hofstede's book:
Geert H. Hofstede
Cultures and Organizations : Software of the Mind Intercultural Cooperation
and Its Importance for Survival
McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing; 1996; ISBN: 0070293074
Ariel Guersenzvaig
[SQR] Amsterdam
Vijzelgracht 7
1017 HM AMSTERDAM
T : +31 20 6202160
F : +31 20 6234879
e-mail: ariel_at_sqr.nl
url: http://www.sqr.nl
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