CROSS-CULTURAL WEB DESIGN STUDY: RESEARCHERS’CHALLENGING TASKS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Cross-cultural web design research in developing countries especially in Southeast Asia is challenging due to its cross-cultural constraints and complexities. Drawn from analysis and extensive literature review in cross-cultural studies, HCI and design theories, the paper presents the current research trends and challenges faced by contemporary researchers in this area. Myriad of definitions and understanding of culture; uncritical adoption of models and culture theories; issues of etic, emic and the problems of pseudo-etic claims in research findings; and the significant role of designer as primary decision-maker in design processes, are the challenges delineated in this paper. It is crucial to examine these issues to secure the best practice in cross-cultural web design study. The paper concludes by indicating a substantial misdirection in the current research trends and suggests that a redirection of research approach is essential to improve the web service in government websites in order to further enhance social and economic development. Five significant guidelines to conduct cross-cultural web design research in developing countries are thus proposed

Developing a Penang Cultural Tourism Website Prototype: A User-Centred Design Approach

Most Malaysian tourism website designs are text-heavy. They deliver information but reflect little regard for usability. Malaysian web designers and developers are unaware of the importance of user-centred web designs necessary in order to promote cultural tourism. This paper details the development of a Penang cultural tourism website prototype that employs a user-centred design approach. The website aims to disseminate information about the multicultural traditions of Penang, which include the performing arts, crafts and festivals. In the use of personas, this article seeks to examine the effectiveness and functionality of web pages and subsequently develop a Penang cultural tourism website prototype

The Instructional Design of Chinese Characters’ Stroke Order Motion Graphics Based on Cognitive Load Theory

This research aims to develop stroke order motion graphics for Chinese characters to solve the problem of memorising Chinese characters’ stroke order in the learning process. This research adopted cognitive load theory and the ADDIE model as an instructional design process guide. Herbart’s four-stage teaching method is used as a guide for the motion graphics presentation module. Based on the characteristics of Malaysian students who learn Chinese as their second language, motion graphics for Chinese characters’ stroke order learning were developed. The expert evaluation was conducted to identify problems, and modifications were done to improve the created prototype. A total of six Chinese characters’ stroke order motion graphics have been successfully developed. The result shows that cognitive load theory provides an effective solution for developing Chinese characters’ stroke order motion graphics. The ADDIE model also offered a significant direction for the instructional design process. In addition, to be more effective in Chinese character stroke order teaching, interface design must consider the relevant teaching effects of cognitive load theory. However, making the prototype in advance can avoid large-scale modifications in the later process. The successful development of the Chinese characters’ stroke order motion graphics allows teaching Chinese character stroke order in Malaysia to be carried out more effectively

Developing an Indigenous Cultural Values Based Emoji Messaging System: A Socio-Technical Systems Innovation Approach

Digital divide remains a major concern among indigenous people despite the rapid increase in mobile phone penetration. Beyond the appalling participatory gaps, the devaluing of humanity in the digital era is seen as a much bigger threat. This paper addresses the emerging challenges that are putting indigenous communities at a great disadvantage. The use of emoji in social media and its prominence as a visual language for delivering emotional expressions, gestures and action in a speedy manner is fast becoming a way of life. The universality of emoji poses a major problem to the sustainability of the indigenous cultural values as it imposes western cultural and social behaviour hegemony on the indigenous society. Interactions with remote rural communities in Borneo over the past twenty years have revealed the devastating effect that such an outside-in communication medium has on their cultural resilience. Diversifying the emoji design in adopting a local cultural flavour alone, as described in current literature, will not address the issue effectively. Without considering the whole socio-technical system at a macro-level, the dangers relating to the aggravated disconnect to their rich traditional way of life cannot be averted. We posit a holistic socio-technical systems innovation approach with the participatory involvement of the indigenous community. In this paper, we demonstrate the modeling of complex systems that embed the socio-cultural context without compromising cultural values

Inventive Design Solutions for the Complex Socio-technical Problems in Preserving Indigenous Symbolic Visual Communication

Visual symbolic communication systems such as emojis are increasingly important to facilitate casual communications and spontaneous information exchange in our daily lives. However, the use of such systems poses dangers to the preservation of local visual symbolic languages as practised by many indigenous and culturally rich local communities. This research aims at developing a local cultural value-based visual communication system for indigenous people in the Malaysian Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak. The design of such systems requires systematic analysis and identifying the core issue in solving complex socio-technical system problems. Meaningful engagement with different community levels, the sustainability of local knowledge, and cultural values were the primary considerations in designing a culture-preserving model. By utilising the Law of System Completeness of TRIZ, and the engagement of the interaction of supersystems, a conceptual model that can map and analyse indigenous symbolic visual communication systems was developed. This modelling approach has provided numerous insightful ideas for transforming global communication approaches to be sensitive to the cultural needs of indigenous communities

Riding Waves of Change: A Review of Personas Research Landscape Based on the Three Waves of HCI

With the current growth of personas studies in HCI, we undertook the mapping out of the research approaches done for the past 18 years to provide an overall view on the landscape of personas research. Based on the narrative literature review of published work and paired with the three waves of HCI research development, we identified (1) the publication milestones of personas, (2) established genre of research approaches, and (3) the emerging issues and research trends. By looking at historical development of personas, the studies highlighted some key areas which might be the future trends of personas in the new wave of HCI. These will provide significant insight and direction for future research of personas