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CALL FOR PAPERS
GLOBAL HUMAN-COMPUTER SYSTEMS: CUTURAL DETERMINANTS OF USABILITY
a special issue of Interacting with Computers.
Information and communication systems (a) cross national borders, (b) are
used by people in different cultures and (c) are applied in culturally
different contexts. A number of factors highlight the need to be acutely
aware of the role of culture as part of information systems development.
Effective strategies that address cultural issues in both the product and
the process of development now often are critical to systems success. In
relation to the product of development, cultural differences in signs,
meanings, actions, conventions, norms or values, etc., raise new research
issues ranging from technical usability to methodological and ethical issues
of culture in information systems. In relation to the process of
development, cultural differences effect the manner in which users are able
to participate in design and to act as subjects in evaluation studies.
Although IT researchers and practitioners as well as global IT suppliers
have long been aware of the challenges of the global market, nevertheless
there still are unsolved problems concerning the extent to which culture may
affect the usability of the artefacts they produce. In addition, the great
expansion in software globalisation made possible via the Internet turns the
smallest website owner into a global player. This has vastly increased the
need for understanding and exploiting global and local requirements in
software development, and has highlighted the special challenges with
respect to developing countries.
In 1998, Donald Day edited 'Shared Values and Shared Interfaces: the role of
culture in the globalisation of human-computer systems', the first special
edition in this field for Interacting with Computers (Volume 9 Nos 3 and 4).
Since then, the issues underpinning cross-cultural usability have been
explored in a number of HCI-related conferences and workshops (e.g., the
IWIPS series). This new special edition will aim to take the theory and
practice of effective design for a global market significantly further, in
both theoretical and practical respects.
Submissions are invited to cover any area relating to the development of
usable global information systems. In particular, papers that attempt to
answer one or more of the following research issues are encouraged
1 The significance of culture within usability.
Are the differences between countries / cultures greater or less than the
difference between types of user, irrespective of country / culture?
2. The role of generic cultural models in cross-cultural usability
What evidence is there that such models (e.g., that of Hofstede) are
actually significant?
How do we develop systems based on such theories?
3. Empirical studies on the use of information systems
Studies involving culturally different users, or about such systems'
application in different cultural contexts.
4. The role of the international user in the design process
How do we avoid cultural bias in requirements elicitation and usability data
collection?
User-based evaluation methods that address cultural diversity in both the
moderator and user.
Remote evaluation: does it work?
5. Web site usability - strategies for internationalisation and
globalisation
Is the web a truly global phenomenon, operating irrespective of culture? (Is
there a 'culture of the web' that affects user behaviour in special
circumstances by adapting traditional societal culture?)
What is the relationship between customer segmentation / differentiation and
'generic' culture?
How do we engender 'appeal' and develop trust across cultures?
6. Intercultural computer-mediated communication
Methods, models and tools to support intercultural cooperation, e.g.,
supporting articulation, understanding, idea generation, discussion,
decision-making, etc.
7. Software 'off-shoring' and the role of usability in developing countries
How do we ensure usability in products designed and developed by a global
community? (Do products improve or degrade when created in the 24-hour
software factory using concurrent engineering techniques?)
How appropriate are the concepts of usability and user participation in
developing countries?
8. Cognitive, social, political and legal factors
Issues such as trust, ethical issues, language barriers, national or
organizational policies, which enable or constrain intercultural
communication.
Submitted papers should be addressed in the first instance to the guest
editors Smith and Yetim.
To enable us to plan the issue, we ask that prospective authors send the
guest editors a proposed title and abstract, by 15 January 2003
GUEST EDITORS:
Dr Andy Smith
Reader in HCI, University of Luton, UK
Director, optimum.web limited
Email: [log in to unmask]
Dr Fahri Yetim,
Information Systems Dept,
New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
Email: [log in to unmask]
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