Interaction design for countries with a traditional culture: A comparative study of income levels and cultural values

Abstract

It is often necessary to take differences in cultural values and ways of thinking into account when doing interaction design for use in other countries. This paper presents an empirical study of cultural differences between a low-income traditional country and a high-income developed country, and how these differences are reflected in design decisions made in the two countries. The study identifies differences in design decisions and possible consequences of them. The results indicate that the attitudes to reliability are the same in the two countries. The study identifies differences between the two countries as regards attitudes to privacy and honesty and describes how they can be taken into account when doing interaction design for use in other low-income countries.