Hi Gurmit, If you're not already familiar with theories of cultural factors/dimensions such as Hofstede or Hall, then my recommendation is to read up on them a bit before reading specific advice on usability testing, since most of the literature on the subject is based on them. Here are some good links:
Hofstede's site: http://www.geert-hofstede.com/ de Mooij's site - she's taken Hofstede's dimensions and analysed how they affect consumer behaviour: http://www.mariekedemooij.com/ Summary of Hall's cultural factors: http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/hall_culture.htm The basic premise is that there are certain differences between cultures (such as individualism vs collectivism or high-context vs low-context) and that cultures can be compared/measured based on these differences. These factors do not predict user behaviour, so you can't base design directly on them (despite some people's claims to the contrary). They can, however, be used to analyse and explain observed user behaviour, which means they can be really good for analysing results of testing. As for more practical considerations for cross-cultural testing, the standard recommendation is to use local testers/facilitators due to cultural differences, plus because of status issues in some countries. In collectivist or high-context culture, the status of different users is much more important than in individualist or low-context cultures. Think aloud can be especially problematic in high-context cultures, since the tester may be seen as higher status, and people are less likely to voice criticism of them. I've read that for testing in these kinds of countries (think it was Japan, but I'm not 100% at the moment), it can work better for the user to be asked what they think others will think of about the system being tested as opposed to asking what they themselves think. There are some academics doing research into the whole area of effective cross-cultural testing here: http://culturalusability.cbs.dk/ I think some of their publications are on the web. Sorry for the more theoretical nature of this post, but I think it's good to have a solid theoretical approach before going into developing a test plan. I've worked on the design and development of sites with localised versions, but I haven't conducted tests across them, though I have built prototypes to be used in tests conducted in multiple countries. I also did my MSc project on the cross-culture uses of social networking services. Hope this helps, and let me know if you want more clarification or details on what I wrote. Renée On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 10:05 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi ALL, > I am building a research strategy for a client who wishes torun multiple > user testing streams across different countries. Does anyone haveany advice > or methods that would help to extrapolate information from the usersin a > fair and unbiased way? > My concerns are mainly around:Native language testing and localised test > material. > Thanks > Gurmit Singh Shakhon... > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Renée Rosen-Wakeford [EMAIL PROTECTED] Twitter: @lilitu93 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
