Cross cultural Web design: an experiences of developing UK and Korean cultural markers

Abstract

The international and multicultural nature of the World Wide Web positions the issues of recognizing and observing cultural differences at the forefront of considerations in the design of Web pages. We address some of these issues. Research has already identified some Web page design elements that may be culturally or genre specific, that may also be generalised as 'cultural markers', and that consequently influence Web page design and usability. These cultural markers represent a significant aspect of today's electronic environments in terms of influencing people's behaviour, changing their practices and attitudes, and affecting their learning and performance abilities. We identify general issues of cross-cultural Web page design by defining a check-list of design elements relevant for developing a Web site and investigate culturally specific design elements, on examples of South Korean and UK Web environments.