Non-Universal Usability? A Survey of How Usability Is Understood by Chinese and Danish Users

TY - GEN

T1 - Non-Universal Usability? A Survey of How Usability Is Understood by Chinese and Danish Users

AU - Frandsen-Thorlacius, Olaf

AU - Hornbæk, Kasper Anders Søren

AU - Hertzum, Morten

AU - Clemmensen, Torkil

N1 - Conference code: 27

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - Most research assumes that usability is understood similarly by users in different cultures, implying that the notion of usability, its aspects, and their interrelations are constant across cultures. The present study shows that this is not the case for a sample of 412 users from China and Denmark, who differ in how they understand and prioritize different aspects of usability. Chinese users appear to be more concerned with visual appearance, satisfaction, and fun than Danish users; Danish users prioritize effectiveness, efficiency, and lack of frustration higher than Chinese users. The results suggest that culture influences perceptions of usability. We discuss implications for usability research and for usability practice.

AB - Most research assumes that usability is understood similarly by users in different cultures, implying that the notion of usability, its aspects, and their interrelations are constant across cultures. The present study shows that this is not the case for a sample of 412 users from China and Denmark, who differ in how they understand and prioritize different aspects of usability. Chinese users appear to be more concerned with visual appearance, satisfaction, and fun than Danish users; Danish users prioritize effectiveness, efficiency, and lack of frustration higher than Chinese users. The results suggest that culture influences perceptions of usability. We discuss implications for usability research and for usability practice.

U2 - 10.1145/1518701.1518708

DO - 10.1145/1518701.1518708

M3 - Article in proceedings

SN - 978-1-60558-246-7

SP - 41

EP - 50

BT - Proceedings of the 27th international conference on Human factors in computing systems

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

T2 - Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2009)<em/>

Y2 - 4 April 2009 through 9 April 2009

ER -