BIB_14: Thacker, C., & Dayton, D. (2008). Using Web 2.0 to conduct qualitative research: A conceptual model. Technical Communication, 55(4), 383-391.

This article focuses on research methods. Specifically, the authors propose ways to take advantage of the user-generated content of Web 2.0 to conduct qualitative content and textual analysis. The authors point out the benefits of using Web-based communication in qualitative research if the website enables them to "impose some uniformity of structure on and embed metadata in the textual information as it is collected," "facilitate timely interaction to clarify and elaborate the texts first presented by informants," "provide data exploration tools built into the primary data collection platform," and "enable teams of researchers to work closely together to collect and analyze information presented over time by many informants" (p. 384). These are criteria for researchers to use to choose appropriate websites to use. The authors then point out that Web 2.0 websites generally meet these criteria. Finally, the authors discuss some issues such as confidentiality, ethical and legal requirements and expansion and transfer of websites that encounter researchers when they use Web 2.0 websites to collect data.

This article offers a convincing argument of the benefits of using Web 2.0 in research, which can be used in the method section in my dissertation to justify the online-ethnographic method I will use to collect data. It also points out important issues I need to consider when use this method.

BIB_14: Wolff, W. I., Fitzpatrick, K., & Youssef, R. (2009). Rethinking usability for Web 2.0 and beyond. Currents in Electronic Literacy, (John Slatin Memorial Issue). Retrieved from http://currents.cwrl.utexas.edu/2009WolffFitzpatrickYoussef

In this article, the authors point out the gap in web usability studies in the Web 2.0 environment. They summarize some characteristics of Web 2.0 that differ from Web 1.0 such as user-generated content, seamless interaction between websites, and transformation in software and hardware system structure. The author surveyed Web 2.0 sites and provide case studies that reveal some issues in web usability of Web 2.0 arise from the functions and terminology. The authors conclude that more research needs to be done to further our understanding of Web 2.0 usability.

This article provides a starting point for us to conceive usability in Web 2.0 and the authors have proposed some interested issues and directions of the future web usability studies. The case studies, however, only show a fraction of the issues that need to be considered. Also, the methodology employed, which is website inspection, is very limited because it only offers us insight from the site of design, but does not say anything about the user's experience. Nevertheless, since there has not been much literature focusing on Web 2.0 usability, this is a useful article for my dissertation project.

BIB_14: Dilger, B. (2010). Beyond star flashes: The elements of Web 2.0 style. Computers and Composition, 27(1), 15-26.

In this article, Dilger complicates "style" in the context of Web 2.0, and argues for a understanding of style "defined by its conceptual stand on truth, presentation, writer, reader, thought, language, and their relationships" (p. 16, quoted from Thomas and Turner's Clear and Simple as the Truth). He argues that the core value of style in Web 2.0 is function, functions are layered and never hidden, function provides identity. He further argues that the emphasis on functionality of Web 2.0 gives rise to different human and non-human writers and readers of Web 2.0, and thus is "the real engine of its much-ballyhooed participatory nature" (p. 20). Because for Web 2.0 style, "interoperation, not representation, must be transparent," Dilger argues, code has become a window that connects applications across the web required by the convention of sharing on Web 2.0, and standardization has become necessary. Moreover, Web 2.0 style welcomes a variety of conceptualization of "networking" which provokes fundamental changes on the web. As a result, users have become more important than ever, and because of the new "we" the emerged with Web 2.0, Dilger argues that a new design, "users-centered" rather than "user-centered," must be cultivated. The Web 2.0 style also recognizes the weak ties that link the applications and users, namely, low-risk, low-effect networking. Finally, Dilger revisits the problem of the style vs. substance question of Web 2.0, and call for critical apparatus to understand the new changes on the web, including in educational contexts.

This is a great article that puts some important issues on the table for us to understand the new changes on the web called by some, not unproblematically, Web 2.0. Many of Dilger's observations are useful for me to formulate a model to examine Web 2.0 sites/applications, especially the arguments for function and users.

BIB_13: Shen, S.-T., Woolley, M., & Prior, S. (2006). Towards culture-centred design. Interacting with Computers, 18, 820-852.

The authors address issues of cultural factors in user interface design in HCI, and argue for a "cultured" and "design-based" system called "Culture-Centred Design" [sic.] (CCD) in computer interface design. The authors discuss globalization and its effects on interface design approaches such as internationalization and localization. They focus on one design element, metaphor, which is used to test the applicability of CCD to the design process. They redesigned the computer interface that is based on the "desktop" metaphor, and adapted a "garden" metaphor to the test design, which was hypothetically more usable and appealing to Chinese users. They then tested the design with international (Asian) and U.S. users through heuristic evaluation and user evaluation. Based on the results, the authors conclude that reiterative process of heuristic evaluation is appropriate for CCD process, and the use of culturally customized metaphor receive positive response from the users. 

The discussion of the importance of culturally sensitive design approach and some basic concepts expounded in the article provide situate the study nicely in a big picture of culture and design in HCI. However, the study itself is weak due to its sloppy research methods and researchers' assumptions of culture and users. For instance, the design of a test interface is a good way to investigate the process of design, but the design is not representative and thus the user evaluation should not be generalized. The authors carefully avoided generalizing the results explicitly, but a certain degree of generalization is necessary if the study is argued to be of any importance. In addition, the metaphor of garden is problematic without addressing the context of the interface use. Using the interface in a "modern" ("Western") office, which itself is an effect of globalization, will significantly affect the usability of the designs using "office" and "garden" metaphor. Globalization is a pervasive process, and investigating interface design without contextualizing the use in which globalization is an important factor is inadequate and can result in erroneous conclusions. 

BIB_13: Badre, A. N. (2000). The effects of cross cultural interface design orentation on World Wide Web user performance (Technical report). Atlanta, GA: Georgia Institute of Technology.

Badre takes a perspective of cultural usability in this article, and examines the patterns of cultural markers on websites categorized by countries/languages and genres. The cultural markers are identified from foraging study of websites around the world, including HTML specific, Icons/Metaphors, Colors, Specific Colors, Grouping, Flag, Language, Geography, Orientation, Sound, Font, Links, Regional, Shapes, and Architecture. Badre also identifies nine genres: Government, News & Media, Business, Education, Travel, Society & Culture, Health, Science, Art & Humanities. Websites of different countries of origin and genres then are examined for their patterns of cultural markers. Badre concludes that (1) patterns of cultural markers emerged "reflect cultural practices and preferences in websites, influence by country of origin and genre," and (2) "cultural markers can be cultural and/or genre specific and can be used to implement cultural usability guidelines" (p. 8).

Badre's notion of cultural usability stays within interface design and information architecture, especially the visual design of websites. The genres he identified are outdated for today's websites increasingly integrate their functions and increasingly interactive. The cultural markers, although useful in interface visual design, stay on the surface of web design. This article serves as a good example of many other studies that examines cultural factors in web design.

BIB_12: Sapienza, F. (2008). A shared meanings approach to intercultural usability: results of a user study between international and American university students. IEEE transactions on professional communication, 51(2), 215-227.

In this study, Sapienza reports the results of a user study between international students (non-native English speakers) and American students using an U.S. university website. He concludes that even among culturally heterogeneous users, there can be a space for shared meanings mediated with one shared language (in this case, English), which makes it possible for us to speak of a universal web usability. He calls this approach a "shared-meanings" or "shared-context" approach. 

Sapienza's study shows that international students can use English-based website effectively and efficiently. However, while he talks about a space for "shared-meanings," this space is mediated by a shared language, that is, in fact, a dominant language. If the international students do not have a choice, they will have to adapt to the English environment. Sapienza argues that there is no localization necessary, but this is at the cost of the international users. 

BIB_12: Zahedi, F. M., & Song, J. (2001). A conceptual framwork for international web design. IEEE transactions on professional communication, 44(3), 83-103.

In this article, Zahedi and Song develop a conceptual model for web design that address the impact of cultural and individual characteristics on users' perception and satisfaction of web documents. There are six cultural characteristics, which include power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, anxiety avoidance, long-term versus short-term orientation, and polychronic versus monochronic time orientation. There are six individual factors that include demographics (age and gender), professional knowledge, information technology knowledge, flexibility, information processing abilities, and cultural knowledge. The authors define document effectiveness as perceived usability, reliability, clarity, and comprehension.

The cultural characteristics this model uses are widely used in studies examining cultural factors on web design. However, the propositions the authors have concluded on the basis of the cultural and individual characteristics are without any empirical or other support. It seems that the authors just assume that groups that have these characteristics will prefer certain characteristics of the documents they use. To me there is really no new well supported ideas in this article but reporting information from other sources and speculations on the authors part.

BIB_12: Vatrapu, R., & Pérez-Quiñones, M. (2006). Culture and usability evaluation: The effects of culture in structured interviews. Journal of Usability Studies, 1(4), 156-170.

This is another article examining the effects of participants' cultural backgrounds on methods of usability studies. The authors reports a controlled study comparing the results of interviews with two groups of participants, one Indian and the other Anglo-American conducted by two groups of interviewers from the corresponding cultural groups of the participants. The results led the authors to conclude that culture (both on the participants' side and the interviewers' side) is a significant variable in international user testing and usability studies.

This article echoes the work of Hall et al. (2004). These are useful finding for researchers and practitioners to design their research and minimize bias that results from the lack of consideration of the participants' and the researchers' cultural background or identification, as well as the nature of the research questions.

BIB_12: Hall, M., De Jong, M., & Steehouder, M. (2004). Cultural differences and usability evaluation: individualistic and collectivistic participants compared. Technical Communication, 51(4), 489-503.

In this article, Hall et al. concern examine the effects of the participants' cultural background characteristics on usability evaluation. The authors draw on Hofstede's cultural dimensions--masculinity vs. femininity, strong vs. weak uncertainty avoidance, high vs. low power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, and long-term vs. short-term orientation--to classify the participants' cultural characteristics. They then conducted a study comparing two groups of participants' evaluation of a website using think aloud protocol. The results led the authors to conclude that cultural background of the participants is a relevant variable that may affect the feedback from the participants collected using various usability methods. It is also a factor that affect the discrepancy between behavior and self-reported results.

This is an interesting article. Actually, it support my criticism of the article by Donker-Kuijer et al. that examines the effect of color temperature on web usability. This article should be read with Vatrapu & Pérez-Quiñones's (2006) article that also looks at the cultural factors that affect the rigor of usability studies and choice of methods.

BIB_12: Amant, K. S. (2005). A prototype theory approach to international website analysis and design. Technical Communication Quarterly, 14(1), 73-91.

In this article, Amant examines the application of prototype theory in website design targeting different cultural groups. Specifically, his discussion focuses on how prototype theory can shed light on the use of metaphors in web design that are appropriate for target users of specific cultural backgrounds. Prototype theory, a construct from cognitive psychology, explains how human beings use prototypes to classify objects. Amant argues that this theory offers a method for us to understand how users from different cultural groups interpret icons based on their culturally constructed prototypes so as to design appropriate visual presentations of information on websites.

This article is an example of the studies that have been done in technical communication that examine the cultural factors and web design and web usability. Like many other studies, this study focuses on the visual presentation of web information. Prototype theory, while useful in determining what metaphors to use when designing websites, it does not offer a method to understand deeper needs of users from different cultural groups.

BIB_11: Singh, N., & Pereira, A. (2005). The culturally customized Web site. Burlington, MA: Elsevier.

Applying Hofstede's and Hall's cultural models, Singh and Pereira examine how difference cultural dimensions or values, specifically, individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity-femininity, and high-low context, affect web design and how this understanding can be applied to website localization. Singh and Pereira report the results of a study comparing the websites and users' perceptions from five countries, Italy, India, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. The results show that users respond positively to the highly culturally adapted websites. The authors then provide guidelines for web localization according to the five cultural dimensions or values.

The book lays out the rationale for website localization, and is a pretty comprehensive application of Hofstede's and Hall's cultural models to web localization. It provides a basic framework for web localization, from which new consideration needs to be added to adapt to the new developments in Web 2.0. The authors' discussion of globalization, internationalization and localization in chapter 2 provides a theoretical ground for work in web localization.

BIB_11: Cardon, P. W. (2008). A critique of Hall's contexting model. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 22(4), 399-428.

This is a meta-analysis of 224 articles published in business and technical communication journals between 1990 and 2006 on Hall's theory of contexting, a model that has been used widely in international/cross-cultural technical and business communication. Cardon concludes that there is no empirical support for the theory, and therefore, the theory is unsubstantiated and requires further research to support it. Cardon offers five recommendations for the future research in this area:

1. Develop measures or instruments for contexting
2. Include more countries and cultures in studies of contexting model
3. Develop categories or dimensions of contexting
4. Focus on the circumstances in which various cultures use both HC and LC messages
5. Focus on areas of contexting other than directness

This is a good article that critiques the widely used contexting model. The high-context and low-context models remains problematic epistemologically and methodologically. This article mostly addresses the lack of methodological rigor in the studies of this model. The recommendations are useful, but Cardon has neither pointed out a way for technical communicators to use the model, nor argued that we should stop using contexting model (i.e., completely discredited it).

BIB_10: Hoft, N. (1999). Global issues, local concerns. [Introducation]. Technical Communication, 46(2), 145-148.

This article is the introduction to the special issue of Technical Communication on international technical communication. In this introduction, Hoft maps out the challenges globalization has posed to technical communicators. She starts with the problem of cultural categorization, critiquing three common ways of categorizing cultures in among technical communicators and in the business world in general: categories by history, markets, and languages. Acknowledging that all these ways of categorization have an impulse to generalize, on which technical communicators should reflect. She points out that the standardization of writing that has been taking place is at once useful and insensitive to cultures. After giving an overview of the articles in the issue, Hoft concludes the introduction by proposing collaboration among technical communicators with different background and experiences as a way to address the issues arise from the complexity of international technical communication. 

This article offers a critical perspective on international technical communication. Specifically, Hoft brings on the table some important issues in international/cross-cultural technical communication such as the difficulty of even beginning to define cultures in meaningful ways, and the sort of tension between the pragmatic approach to international communication in business world and the more reflective and careful views on cultures and communication most commonly found in academic community.

BIB_10: Kostelnick, C. (1995). Cultural adaptation and information design: two contrasting views. IEEE transactions on professional communication, 38(4), 182-196.

In this article, Kostelnick discusses the global and the local approach to the cultural adaptation of information design. Kostelnick argues that cultural adaptation of information design is a continuum with global (universal) on one end and cultural-focused on the other. By analyzing the assumptions about perception, aesthetics, and pragmatics of information design these two approaches reveal, the author argues that the universal modernist approach to information design is losing ground to the culture-focused postmodern approach. However, he points out that the two approaches are complimentary to each other and offer pragmatic benefits and drawbacks depending on the rhetorical situations,

This article offers a theoretical ground for the issue of globalization and localization of information design, which can be applied to web design. It seems that at the time when this article was written, globalization and localization were considered contrasting each other. This dichotic view seems less prominent now, when the processes of globalization and localization may be considered two different aspects of the same process.

BIB_10: Choong, Y.-Y., Plocher, T., & Rau, P.-L. P. (2005). Cross-cultural Web design. In R. W. Proctor & K.-P. L. Vu (Eds.), Handbook of human factors in Web design (pp. 284-300). Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.

In this chapter, the authors aim to give a comprehensive perspective on cultural effects for Web design. Drawing on the theorization of cultural dimensions, the authors organize the discussion into dimensions of web design: affective dimension (including colors and graphics), perceptual dimension, function dimension. These discussions are followed by a cross-cultural web design guidelines developed based on the understanding of these dimensions of design. The guidelines address the following topics: languages and format, presentation and layout, graphic design, cultural preferences for colors, information architecture, searching, and interaction. The chapter closes with a discussion of international usability evaluation, in which the authors discuss specifically the cultural aspects in conducting the usability testing, participant recruiting, and working with local interpreters.

The intended audience is, according to the authors, HCI researchers and Web design practitioners, but technical communicators can definitely benefit from it. The cultural dimensions used in this chapter provide a framework to categorize cultures that can be very useful when analyzing websites. However, we need to be reflective about the reductive tendency in the cultural dimension approach.

BIB_10: Sun, H. (2006). The triumph of users: achieving cultural usability goals with user localization. Technical Communication Quarterly, 15(4), 457-481.

In this article, Sun addresses the problem of narrow understanding of cultural localization of IT products, and proposes a new methodology of "cultural usability," which expands the scope of localization from the designer's site to the user's site. The article is based on Sun's dissertation project, a comparitive study in the users' efforts in localizing the text messaging technology in the U.S. and China. Sun bases his framework of "cultural usability" on activity theory, British cultural studies and genre theory. Sun argues for a broader approach in IT product localization that takes account in user localization in the design process of IT products.

Sun's framework of "cultural usability" addresses the usability from a much broader context. His insight in the use localization complicates our understanding on issues arise from the use of technology, and sheds light on these issues. However, the concept of "user localization" needs some lose interrogation. Since user localization is not always predictable--in fact, depending on perspectives, some may want to emphasize precisely the unpredictable aspects of user localization when they use the term--it is a question how this concept can be useful for design.

BIB_10: Bevan, N. (2009). International standards for usability should be more widely used. Journal of Usability Studies, 4(3), 106-113.

Nigel Bevan (2009) argues for the wide use of international standards in usability in the areas of user interface design, usability assurance, usability and software quality, and human centered design process. He acknowledges that “usability depends on the context of use, design environment, resources constraints, importance of usability, etc.” and argues in spite of these uncertainties, or precise because of these uncertainty, international standards that can resolve these issues should be widely used. He subsequentially explains the benefits of using corresponding ISO standards in the four areas and discusses the cost issue. In conclusion, he emphasizes the rhetorical function of international standards in business negotiations and internal design decision making.

This article is a useful guide to the international standards relating to usability. These standards ensure the most part the process rather than the actual design requirements, and thus are not contradictory to the idea of user-centered design and cultural usability. However, we need to guard against using some standards without critique and contextualization.

BIB_10: Arnold, M. D. (1998). Building a truly World Wide Web: A review of the essentials of international communication. Technical Communication, 45(2), 197-206.

This article, published in 1998, offers a glimpse into the status of the research in web design for international audiences in historical moment. Arnold argues that because of the increasingly diversified cultural backgrounds of web users, internationalization has become an important issue for web designers and usability researchers. Arnold's discussion about the web focuses on the linguistic, cultural, technological, and legal challenges at that time, and offers a basic guideline for practitioners to design internationalized websites.

This article lays out a few areas of concerns at the end of last century and provides a historical background for our understanding in the development of the research area. The author's discussions about the concerns in internationalized web design are very basic compared to the more sophisticated research more than a decade later. However, it shows how our understanding in web design and cultural concerns has evolved and involved a group of interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners.

BIB_10: Sun, H. (2004). Expanding the scope of localization: A cultural usability perspective on mobile text messaging use in American and Chinese contexts. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.

In his dissertation, Sun challenges the narrow focus on an artifact and its functionality in current localization practices, use a case study of the success of the hard-to-use text messaging technology in China to demonstrate a broader approach to usability studies and localization. Sun examines and compares multiple cases of local use of mobile messaging in the U.S. and Chinese contexts, relying on the framework of cultural usability and drawing on key concepts and methods from activity theory, genre theory, and British cultural studies. The study demonstrate how concrete use of technologies in local contexts helps us understand localization not only on the designer's site, but also on the user's site. Sun calls for a change in localization practices and move from a narrow focus on functionality to a broader socio-cultural perspective.

This dissertation serves as a great example of what's possible in research in web usability in culturally specific contexts. It brings up the problem of "culture" foremost, and invites us to consider it in a broader sense instead of conceiving it as only national cultures. The fieldwork yielded very rich data for analyses to understand complex issues such as individual user's goals of using technology in her/his social context, and how aspects of the technology afford or formulate her/his goals.

BIB_10: McCool, M. (2006). Information architecture: intercultural human factors. Technical Communication, 53(2), 167-183.

In this article, McCool seeks to converge information architecture and intercultural communication, specifically, the notion of cultural dimension, to achieve effective online localization.