Culturally Correct Site Design
By Olin Lagon
A host of competent foreign companies are eyeing existing online business models, planning to launch their own versions, after adapting them to the cultural needs of their markets. They could be looking at yours as you read this article. The time to defend your brands and tailor your Web site for key markets is now.
A globalization manager with a very large business said his company thought it had the right approach: He translated the American-targeted copy into the local language and changed the photograph, switching to models of the targeted ethnicity. The photograph pictured a man and woman of the correct ethnicity, with the woman demonstrating to the man how to use the company's product. This was an unacceptable breach of accepted gender roles in the target country. Furthermore, even though the models were of the correct ethnicity, they had an American look. It also didn't help that the man in the picture wore a green shirt, something associated with people from a neighboring country with whom the target market had less than friendly relations. The globalization manager quickly learned that his team had made mistakes, as his foreign customer was shocked with the results. With one seemingly innocent picture, his group committed multiple cultural offenses. The content had to be totally redesigned.
You can avoid these kinds of design mistakes by being sensitive to direct and indirect meanings hidden in your localized content, and by recognizing that your overseas users have different needs, such as preferring to use their own currency. One way to develop a strategy on how you should adapt your Web site is to study great examples.
