Cross-Cultural Design

A Book Apart #32

by Senongo Akpem

The internet is connecting more people in more places than ever before—and yet many of us still design with only wealthy, Western audiences in mind. In truth, our users extend well beyond those borders, and bring a dazzling variety of languages, perspectives, and expectations about the web with them.

With utmost timeliness, Senongo Akpem shares a clear and accessible methodology for designing across cultures: from performing socially conscious research, to building culturally responsive experiences, to developing meaningful internationalization and localization approaches. Expand your craft, and your mindset—and start creating a richer experience for everyone on the web, regardless of location, language, or identity.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Technology, Social Justice

161 pages, Unknown Binding

Published February 25, 2020

Reviews

[Dhuaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to the topic. It's more "food for thought"; it contains little answers, but rather points the reader in the right direction regarding their own research. It covers everything from people/society aspects, user research, through design (I really liked the part about the icons) and even mentions some technical difficulties. This book is more about creating awareness about the challenges of cross-cultural design.

It's also a blast to read. Not too dry, the author often branches off into little stories and anecdotes to illustrate the point. It felt very humane to me, and very fitting to underscore that it's all about humans and how they're going to react to / interact with our creations.

[Sarah Klos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was originally drawn to this book when a project I was working on called for right-to-left interfaces and translated content. This book helped me make sure I was taking EVERYTHING into consideration when it comes to designing for other cultures. I feel more equipped to design outside of western culture and expectations. I constantly recommend this book to my colleagues. I only gave it 4 stars because it's starting to show its age and doesn't cover new cross-cultural issues in design, but it's still a great foundation to have.

[Michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will resonate with a wide variety of people who design digital experiences across cultures, including digital publishers, web developers, and usability specialists. I'm a librarian, and the many government/non-profit examples the author uses were relevant to my practice. In some cases the resources described are not available to academics and nonprofits on shoestring budgets. The book is well designed, brief, and points to mostly free tools to implement suggestions. Many of the ideas overlap with psychology (implicit bias), universal design (structured headings, text with icons), and marketing (audience research). I've never read a book with this particular focus, though, and I came away with greater awareness of how make content more accessible and culturally relevant by internationalizing and localizing. Sections on fonts, translating, and personalization were all particularly helpful. Highly recommended for anyone who designs for people from multiple countries, ethnicities, and languages.

[Stringy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with useful advice and pointers to further reading and handy tools, like all the A Book Apart titles. Akpem writes in an approachable style, encouraging readers to take on large tasks by preparing them for the realities and letting us know where to find support.

My top takeaway is that you must get local help when making things for people in other cultures - good partnerships will save you from embarrassment and re-work! And I loved seeing attention paid to cognitive accessibility as part of design 💜

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical guide that covers both doing the research to understand user needs across cultures, and the technical requirements to make digital products that work for people of different cultural backgrounds. I particularly liked the Bollywood method of research and will look for ways to adapt it in my own work!

[Marcela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of this wasn't new if you've done one of Aaron Marcus's CHI workshops or Apala Chavan's UXPA sessions, but Senongo brings a lot of these examples and so much more to a new generation of practitioners. I hope this will open up awareness and discussion since it is such a rich topic that deserves to be discussed outside academia.

[Nathan Cashion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished this book. It was one of the best lessons on cultural awareness, not just for designers, but in general. I work with a small healthcare non-profit with clinics in 5 countries. I've taken both voluntary and mandated courses on cultural sensitivity, etc., and none of them have been as helpful as this book.

[Alexander Debkaliuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very basic, brief, and incomplete introduction to designing products for different cultures.

Probably not a bad book to pickup for junior designers starting in the career.

But keep looking for a better source otherwise.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book from A Book Apart. Lots of great practical advice for any designer.

[Madi Fishtrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

WEIRD - Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Developed <-- best acronym ever

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essential read for anyone designing in today's interconnected world!

[Marco Sansalone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Good examples, advice and several topics open up infinitive conversations about how design should be exhaustive when is about cultures.