A Shared Meanings Approach to Intercultural Usability: Results of a User Study Between International and American University Students

When developers need to make a system available for a particular culture, the specific aspects of the target group are evaluated and then the content and navigation are ldquolocalizedrdquo for it. However, there are many situations in which Web media cannot be localized and hence, culturally heterogeneous users must interact with the same interface. The emerging strategy for this kind of usability is known as the shared meaning or shared context approach. This paper presents results of a between-group study of culturally heterogeneous users who provided shared contextual meanings and performance measures from interaction with a Web interface. Results were mixed but do suggest methods for how Websites may be developed in shared situations.