INTERNATIONALIZATION OF USER INTERFACES

© 1997 by Walter Maner (unless otherwise noted)
May be reproduced only for non-commercial educational purposes.

The outline below requires Netscape/Microsoft browsers, version 3.x or later, for correct viewing.

Based largely on Tony Fernandes,
GLOBAL INTERFACE DESIGN:
A GUIDE TO DESIGNING INTERNATIONAL USER INTERFACES
(c) 1995 by Academic Press
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    FIRST, A LITTLE HUMOR -- AND SOME THINGS NOT SO FUNNY
    1. "French" toast is only available in North America.
    2. "Danish" pastry is called "Viennese" pastry in Denmark.
    3. The "American" cookie is widely available in Europe but not in the
      US.
    4. Mexican food was actually invented in San Antonio, Texas.
    5. Mitsubishi called their new 4-wheel drive vehicle Pajero until
      they discovered that the word meant masturbator in Spanish.
    6. Coco, one of Chanel's new perfumes, means "crap" in Portuguese.
    7. When Coca Cola is written out phonetically in Kanji, the
      characters spell "bite the wax tadpole."
    8. One of the companies that manufactures toilet paper in Sweden is
      named Krapp.
    9. A man in LA was murdered because his shoe was pointing at a singer
      during a performance and it was considered insulting.
    10. A computer user in Hiroshima was offended because the button used
      to perform a secure erase of files was named "nuke."
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    THE GREAT USA --> JAPAN AUTO EXPORT FIASCO
    1. The steering wheel was on the wrong side.
    2. The outside mirrors didn't fold up close to the car, which made it
      impossible for cars to squeeze down narrow streets and into little
      garages.
    3. Seat sizes and adjustments didn't match the Japanese's build.
      People could barely see over the dashboard.
    4. Engines weren't designed to run on Japan's lower octane fuel and
      performed poorly.
    5. The letters "R", "D", and "L" on the transmission shift level had
      no meaning to people who could only read Japanese. Even the
      owner's manual was in English!
    6. Repair required hard-to-find English-based tools, not the
      metric-based tools common throughout the world.
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    AMERICANS ARE ETHNOCENTRIC
    1. Most parts of the world have maps that show their local region as
      the center of the entire planet. We are no different. We even
      use a map projection (Mercatur) that makes the US look bigger
      relative to countries nearer the equator.
    2. What is different about us, compared to most peoples of the world,
      is that the average American can only identify about 5 countries
      of the face of the globe.
    3. Most UIs designed by Americans are unusable or at least confusing
      when used outside the borders of the US.
    4. This is because our software exploits metaphors and values that
      are specific to our culture and to the culture of western
      Europeans.
    5. We just assume people of the world will do whatever is necessary
      to adapt themselves to American software, which is an arrogant, or
      at least ignorant, form of cultural imperialism.
    6. But people would have to adapt to too many differences:
      1. addresses and postal codes
      2. calendar representations
      3. character encoding
      4. character fonts
      5. character sets
      6. collating sequence
      7. currency values and format
      8. date formats
      9. gender identification
      10. keyboard keys and layout
      11. measurements
      12. number format
      13. pagination
      14. paper sizes
      15. personal names
      16. punctuation
      17. scan order for page layout
      18. semantics of auditory icons
      19. semantics of color
      20. semantics of visual icons
      21. semantics of visual metaphors
      22. sort order
      23. symbols
      24. time formats
      25. titles
      26. word and sentence delimiters
      27. word order
      28. and, most obviously, language
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    HOW SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS BECAME ETHNOCENTRIC
    1. THE GENERAL PICTURE
      1. Computer technology is essentially foreign to human beings.
      2. So, UI designers borrow ideas from the real world to bridge the
        gap.
      3. Problem is, the "real world" differs from culture to culture.
      4. Problem is, designers are ignorant of their own biases, so they
        are unable to avoid designs that offend other cultures.
      5. Perhaps the greatest American bias is the widespread use of
        English text, rather than language-free icons, to communicate.
        Example: public signage.
        1. This is peculiar to American culture, where English has had
          little competition.
        2. Most other parts of the world use visual language as a
          matter of routine.
    2. INTERNATIONALIZATION AS AN AFTER THOUGHT
      1. THE PROCESS
        1. Developers must produce a version for domestic consumption
          ASAP.
        2. Once that is done, they return to the task of adding the
          technical "hooks" that make localization possible.
        3. Once that is done, the company throws the product "over the
          wall" to another company to provide the actual translation
          and localization. [WEB PAGES]
      2. THE PROBLEMS
        1. Expensive. The code has to be rewritten.
        2. The primary creators have no international expertise.
        3. The third-party company does not understand the designers
          full intent, so the result is not as usable as it could be.
        4. So the product doesn't sell well in international markets.
    3. INTERNATIONALIZATION WITH FORETHOUGHT
      1. Identify all target cultures.
      2. Design and develop a "global base" (set of core functionality)
        that takes common designs into account.
      3. Starting with the global base, build localized versions of the
        product all under the watchful eyes of the original interface
        designers.
      4. Conduct usability tests of the localized versions.
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    SOBERING FACTS
    1. International users provide at least 40% of the market for
      software.
      1. For Apple, 48% of its revenues came from outside the US in
        1995.
      2. For IBM, 50% of its revenues came from outside the US in 1995.
    2. The international market is growing many times faster than the
      domestic market.
      1. Software sales to Asia increased 90% in 1995.
      2. Software sales to India and Pakistan, New Zealand, Thailand and
        China increased by over 100% in 1995.
    3. The Windows OS and the Mac OS are already fully localized in more
      than 30 geographic markets.
    4. Translation costs between $0.25 and $0.75 per word. Average-sized
      applications contain between 50,000 and 250,000 English words.
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    BASIC TERMINOLOGY
    1. GLOBALIZATION (or Internationalization)
      the process of creating a base design that can be readily adapted
      for use in various international markets
    2. INTERNATIONALIZATION
      making the same product fit many international markets
      1. cheaper than localization if exporting to 3 or more countries
      2. more difficult than localization
      3. may result in the lowest common denominator rather than a
        robust application
    3. LOCALIZATION
      making different versions of the same product for different
      international markets
      1. cheaper than internationalization if exporting to only 1 or 2
        countries
      2. in theory, less difficult than internationalization
      3. can result in a more robust application
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    ADAPTATIONS
    1. KINDS OF ADAPTATION
      1. technical adaptations
      2. national adaptations
      3. cultural adaptations
    2. MOST IMPORTANT ADAPTATIONS
      1. communicate in the country's native language
      2. support the natural writing symbols, punctuation, and so on
      3. support native date, currency, weight scales, numbers and
        addresses
      4. support natural work habits and the work environment
      5. communicate in an inoffensive manner
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    DESIGN A GLOBAL BASE.
    1. BASIC APPROACHES
      1. Design one all-inclusive product that is shipped everywhere but
        with different defaults.
      2. Design a modular product. Plug in localization modules as
        required before shipping to specific locales.
    2. PROCEDURE
      1. Identify target locales.
      2. Gather information about target locales.
      3. Determine the target audience.
      4. Make an international impact assessment.
        1. Determine which features will function identically across
          international boundaries (e.g., open and save dialogs).
        2. Determine which features are generally OK but have to be
          implemented differently in target locales (e.g., addresses).
        3. Determine which features have to be discarded or completely
          re-engineered
    3. SPECIFIC IDEAS
      1. Use visual rather than verbal feedback. NOTE: US has very low
        visual literacy.
      2. Reduce the number of commands = Empower the mouse.
      3. Make use of multi-cultural images.
        1. arrows
        2. books, newspapers or magazines
        3. calculators, computers, monitors or keyboards
        4. cameras or movie projectors
        5. candles, flashlights or light bulbs
        6. clocks or wristwatches
        7. earth, moon, sun, stars, flowers, plantlife, weather or
          natural phenomena in general
        8. eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, binoculars or telescopes
        9. fever or air thermometers
        10. human ears, eyes, smiley face or frowny face
        11. microphones or loudspeakers
        12. pens, pencils, rulers, paper clips, scissors or other common
          desk items
        13. planes, trains, cars, boats and other transportation symbols
        14. push buttons, sliding controls or rotating controls
        15. simple handheld tools and weapons
        16. slash (\) symbol to represent interdiction
        17. smoke, flames or explosions
        18. stamped envelopes but not mailboxes
        19. syringes, stethescopes or the Red Cross symbol
        20. telephone handsets but not the whole phone
        21. umbrellas
      4. Remove text from icons and store it separately.
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    SPECIFIC DESIGN RULES
    1. PROVIDE THE CORRECT LANGUAGE OR LANGUAGES AND, WHEN NECESSARY, THE
      CORRECT DIALECT.
      1. AREAS OF CONCERN:
        Scripts, alphabet size, multiple writing systems, multiple
        languages, dialects
      2. SPECIFIC IDEAS
        1. Multi-byte characters are needed to work with large
          alphabets, like Chinese, that contain 10,000-22,000
          characters.
        2. Some countries have multiple "official" languages, so need
          multi-language support.
        3. Applications, as a minimum, should facilitate the typing of
          national characters (e.g., by providing direct character
          selection from a table of available characters).
        4. Exception: Trademarked names have to appear in their
          original language.
    2. PROVIDE FOR VARIATIONS IN PHYSICAL LAYOUT.
      1. AREAS OF CONCERN:
        Direction, insertion point, hyphenation, stressing, fonts,
        layout spacing, dialog box sentence structure, metaphors, text
        justification, tables, text sort order,
      2. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS
        1. Make sure the interface deals with all aspects of language
          direction.
        2. Don't assume that the same hyphenation rules apply to all
          languages.
        3. Adjust the layout of the interface to accommodate different
          directions and size changes.
        4. If you are going to use N-V-O sentence patterns to organize
          dialog boxes, make sure you rework these to match patterns
          in other languages.
        5. Design for the appropriate reading direction. If you are
          creating an interface for a right-to-left audience,
          literally look at your interface in the mirror to get an
          idea of the way things should look.
    3. PROVIDE MULTI-CULTURAL OR LOCALIZED VISUAL COMPONENTS.
      1. AREAS OF CONCERN:
        Arrows, visual puns, symbolism, clip art, icons, text inside
        images
      2. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS
        1. Do not use visual puns (e.g., a picture of a key to signal
          keyword searches, a little table to represent a table of
          numbers, a wooden log to represent a log file).
        2. Use icons that look like a universally recognized object or
          represent a universally understood process.
        3. Where you cannot find culture-free icons, you will have to
          implement different icons for each culture.
        4. Do not attempt to bring expressions of humor to life
          visually.
        5. Remove text from images.
        6. When working with check boxes, consider whether an X will
          mean selection or rejection.
    4. PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR NATIVE INFORMATION FORMATS.
      1. AREAS OF CONCERN:
        Numbers, calendars, holidays, dates, time, units of measure,
        postal addresses, telephone numbers
      2. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS
        1. Make sure your interface doesn't make assumptions about the
          punctuation used with numbers.
        2. Support multiple currency formats in the interface. Most
          overseas companies need to conduct business in a variety of
          currencies.
        3. Make sure you not only support the right format for
          calendars but also support multiple sets of holidays in
          locales that have many countries close together.
        4. Inform yourself about all standards that apply to your
          design.
    5. PROVIDE ICONS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE AND FAMILIAR.
      1. AREAS OF CONCERN:
        Metaphor (mailboxes, telephones, flipbook-style calendar,
        folders with raised tabs, file cabinets, rolodex-style devices,
        yellow school bus)
      2. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS
        1. When you look for inspiration for your icons, get inspired
          in your target locales, not your office.
        2. With signs, the style says a great deal about where it is
          from and whether it belongs (e.g., a red hexagonal sign).
    6. PROVIDE AN INTERFACE FREE OF AMERICANISMS.
      1. AREAS OF CONCERN:
        1. VALUES
          Equality of the sexes, racial equality, individuality,
          private property, sexuality, abortion, animal rights, taxes,
          nudity, guns, AIDS, family values
        2. RITUALS
          Super Bowl, World Series, handshake, 9-to-5
        3. HEROES
          Superman, Martin Luther King, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, George
          Washington, Amelia Earhart, Jefferson, Lincoln
        4. CATCHY PHRASES
          Beam me up, Scotty. Take my wife, please. Raining cats and
          dogs. Where's the beef?
      2. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS
        1. Respect other people's culture in your design. You would
          demand the same.
    7. PROVIDE AN INTERFACE THAT STEERS CLEAR OF LOCAL TABOOS.
      1. AREAS OF CONCERN:
        Numerology (lucky or unlucky numbers), astrology, hand
        gestures, head gestures (nodding, shaking), greetings, facial
        expressions, animals, forbidden food, taboo words, profanity,
        references to God or to religious traditions
      2. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS
        1. Avoid using numbers except to convey numerical information.
        2. Hand gestures are notoriously different from culture to
          culture. Don't use them. For example, our symbol for "it's
          perfect," "we're number 1", and "come here" all have
          offensive sexual connotations in parts of the world.
        3. Beware of the symbolic meaning of certain animals.
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    FINAL TECHNICAL SUGGESTIONS
    1. Do not assume single-byte characters, which can represent only 256
      different ones. Prepare to work with 2-byte characters, which can
      represent 16,384 different ones.
    2. Query the OS for information. Most OSe are smart enough to be
      using country-specific drivers.
    3. Place all text in an external resource file to facilitate
      translation.
    4. Do not rely on "high ASCII" character codes to map to the same
      characters from country to country.
    5. Do not make assumptions about the availability of standard fonts
      (e.g., Times, Courier).
    6. Do not hardcode physical layout space; let it adjust dynamically.
    7. Do not rely on string concatenation to produce new strings from
      existing strings.
    8. Do not put text in icons.
    9. Do not rely on arithmetic operations on character codes to change
      case.
    10. Be prepared to support mixed (multi-national) formats.
    11. Do not hardcode keyboard commands. Example: ALT-Y won't work in
      Portugal because the Portuguese alphabet does not have a Y in it.
    12. Provide the correct sort. Example: In Spanish, "cho" comes after
      "co" because "ch" is treated as a separate character that comes
      after "c" in the alphabet.
    13. Allow the user to customize icons and other aesthetic components.
    14. Allocate enough memory to allow for text expansion.
    15. In sound tracks, make sure voice gets a separate track.
    16. Use software tools that support the Unicode standard.