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Introduction
Close your eyes. Envision a succulent two-inch slab of dripping-rare prime rib. Is your stomach rumbling, your appetite peaked, or are you offended since your fundamental belief system precludes harming animals? A single image or idea can create many different feelings or interpretations. Consider the diversity within your own organization, campus, or community. Does everyone agree on what is appropriate, acceptable, appetizing, or attractive? An image pleasing to one group of people may alienate or even seriously offend many others. Something as simple as color may elicit dramatically different mental images. For example, in the U.S., white is generally associated with purity, but in Japan it represents death (Chau et al, 2002).
Herein lays the danger inherent in crosscultural Web site design: the audience must be considered. Good designers know that ascertaining the needs and preferences of people who are or will be the users of a Web site, database, or fishing pole, is critical to success. The apparent simplicity of this task belies its daunting nature. The complexity of defining user preferences can be appreciated by considering the vast number of sub-groups composing the global community, each with its unique array of tastes, preferences, and mores. Failure at this rudimentary level will nullify even the boldest and brightest design ideas.
In 2005, roughly 75% of the Internet population is estimated to be non-English speaking (Marcus, 2003). Nevertheless, language differences are not the real challenge, as spoken language is an easy hurdle to overcome. No imagination or deep intellectual discovery is necessary for linguistic translations. Most Web browsers are equipped with multi-lingual support. A more vital and infinitely more delicate task is to understand the unspoken language of a culture, which is deeply rooted in a system of values, beliefs, and expectations that ultimately shapes a users' preferences.
Culture is not defined merely by ethnicity and geographic locale. In truth, most nation-states consist of many different cultures. Imagine how a native of rural Louisiana perceives the fastpaced atmosphere of Manhattan or the grid locked freeways of Los Angeles. Audiences may be similar in age, location, gender, and other demographics, but their preferences and predilections can be drastically different (Calongne, 2001). These observations only begin to demonstrate the conundrum underlying the design of an appealing...