The Internet makes the world a smaller place. You can make money or gain users outside of your demographic with a digital product or service easier than a physical business. But, is selling the exact same design of the product or service in each and every country a smart approach?

互聯網使世界變得更小。 通過數字產品或服務，您可以比實體業務更輕松地賺錢或吸引受眾之外的用戶。 但是，在每個國家/地區銷售完全相同的產品或服務設計都是明智的做法嗎？

Considering the importance that culture has in our everyday lives, the answer is a resounding ‘NO’. If a business plans to expand globally, first they have to understand every market; to get to know and respect their culture and regulations. Digital products should reflect the diversity of its users and customers in order to be successful in a given market.

考慮到文化在我們日常生活中的重要性，答案是“不”。 如果一家企業計劃向全球擴展，那么首先他們必須了解每個市場。 了解并尊重他們的文化和法規。 數字產品應反映其用戶和客戶的多樣性，以便在給定的市場中取得成功。

Culture in its broadest sense is a cultivated behavior encompassing the customary beliefs, traditions, social norms, social habits, and values of a group of people. It reflects the expected or correct way to think and act, determining what is acceptable, important, and right. It is known that cultural differences pose challenges, as well as opportunities, for the way people interact with each other but also it influences Internet usage, e-commerce trust, information and communication technology adoption, Internet marketing, and website development. That is why cultural awareness is a very important aspect of design, and designers who adopt a cross-cultural user experience strategy are more likely to come up with more usable and useful designs. It is a well-known fact that users prefer digital products that reflect their cultural characteristics.

從最廣泛的意義上講，文化是一種養成的行為，包括習慣觀念，傳統，社會規范，社會習慣和一群人的價值觀。 它反映了思考和采取行動的預期或正確方式，確定了什么是可接受的，重要的和正確的。 眾所周知，文化差異給人們彼此交流的方式帶來了挑戰和機遇，但同時也影響著Internet的使用，電子商務的信任，信息和通信技術的采用，Internet營銷以及網站的發展。 這就是為什么文化意識是設計的一個非常重要的方面，采用跨文化用戶體驗策略的設計師更有可能提出更多可用和有用的設計。 眾所周知的事實是，用戶喜歡反映其文化特征的數字產品。

The recommended way of discovering what factors should be taken into consideration would be by conducting a thorough user experience research before designing a product for a specific culture. The more you know about your target customers, the more you can understand how they will perceive and react to it.

發現應考慮哪些因素的推薦方法是在針對特定文化設計產品之前，進行全面的用戶體驗研究。 您對目標客戶了解的越多，您就越能理解他們對客戶的看法和React。

One tool that can be successfully used to be better prepared for culture-specific user experience design is personas. The personas should incorporate the cultural dimensions from your data gathered in the research phase, form hypotheses about how your personas might differ from one another based on how their culture typically is represented on those dimensions, and include that into the description of their values, needs, and patterns of behavior.

角色可以成功地用于為特定于文化的用戶體驗設計做更好的準備的一種工具。 角色應該整合您在研究階段收集的數據中的文化維度，基于您的角色通常在這些維度上的文化表現形式，就您的角色可能彼此不同形成假說，并將其納入其價值觀，需求描述中以及行為方式。

In addition to your user research, there are some commonly used models of culture that have dominated the psychology literature for a very long time and I will talk about these best practices.

除了您的用戶研究之外，還有很長一段時間以來在心理學文獻中占主導地位的一些常用文化模型，我將討論這些最佳實踐。

Hofstede’s model is the most cited when it comes to investigating the impact of culture on usability. The model has a sound empirical basis. Based on his results, different cultures can be clearly represented on bipolar scales using a relative arrangement.

在調查文化對可用性的影響時， 霍夫斯泰德的模型被引用最多。 該模型具有良好的經驗基礎。 根據他的研究結果，使用相對安排可以在雙極尺度上清楚地代表不同的文化。

Hofstede’s findings ought to be used as a tool to aid in designing the most culturally optimized and specific User Experience possible.

Hofstede的發現應作為一種工具來幫助設計可能的最優化的文化和特定的用戶體驗。

Using factor analysis, he identified the following six cultural dimensions:

通過因素分析，他確定了以下六個文化方面：

1.功率距離 (1. Power Distance)

The central question in this dimension is how a society handles inequalities among individuals.

這個方面的中心問題是社會如何處理個人之間的不平等。

A high power distance means that people within a society have accepted a certain hierarchical order and the inequalities that come with it, while a low power distance means that people are constantly trying to equalize the distribution of power, especially those who have less power.

較高的權力距離意味著社會中的人們已經接受了一定的等級秩序及其隨之而來的不平等，而較低的權力距離意味著人們正在不斷努力使權力分配平均化，特別是那些權力較少的人。

Translating that into your UX strategy, it means that:

將其轉換為您的UX策略，意味著：

Small power distance cultures don’t like to be controlled and they only accept leadership if it’s based on true expertise. A good approach is to offer enough objective and detailed information on your website to allow people to make up their own minds. Meet your website visitors on eye-level, treat them with respect, and show interest in their needs.

小型權力距離文化不喜歡被控制，只有在真正的專業知識基礎上，他們才會接受領導。 一個好的方法是在您的網站上提供足夠客觀和詳細的信息，以使人們下定決心。 與您的網站訪問者見面一致，以尊重的態度對待他們，并對他們的需求表現出興趣。

The communication style should be informal and direct if you want to gain their trust and get them engaged.

如果您想獲得他們的信任并讓他們參與，那么溝通方式應該是非正式和直接的。

Big power distance cultures are used to authority and solid structures. They will take you as an expert and trust you as an authority figure. Make sure you offer them facts and clear statements and don’t give them too much responsibility.

大權力距離文化習慣于權威和牢固的結構。 他們將帶您成為專家，并相信您是權威人物。 確保向他們提供事實和明確的陳述，不要給他們太多責任。

Users belonging to this group are less critical and less driven to search for detailed information in order to make up their own minds.

屬于該組的用戶沒有那么嚴格，也沒有那么多的動力去搜索詳細信息以下定決心。

2.個人主義與集體主義 (2. Individualism versus collectivism)

The second dimension describes how much people in a group focus on themselves and on the group as a whole. The position of society on this dimension is reflected in whether people refer to themselves as “I” or “we”.

第二個維度描述了小組中有多少人專注于自己以及整個小組。 社會在這一維度上的地位體現在人們稱自己為“我”還是“我們”。

Individualist cultures take initiative, act upon their own needs and desires, and make their own decisions. They are concerned with their own well-being and take responsibility for themselves and their decisions.

個人主義文化會主動采取行動，根據自己的需要和愿望采取行動，并做出自己的決定。 他們關心自己的福祉，并對自己和自己的決定負責。

Translating that into your UX strategy, it means that: users from this group visit your site in their own interest, with their own goal, making their own decisions. You need to focus on these very individual requirements in order to convert them into loyal customers.

將其轉換為您的UX策略意味著：該組中的用戶出于自己的興趣和目標而訪問您的站點，并做出自己的決定。 您需要關注這些非常個性化的要求，才能將其轉化為忠實的客戶。

Collectivist cultures act in the interest of the group, rather than their own interest. They make decisions based on the opinion of others and on what’s common or popular, not so much on their individual desire.

集體主義文化的行為是出于團體的利益，而不是出于他們自身的利益。 他們根據他人的意見以及普遍或受歡迎的事物來做出決定，而不僅僅是根據他們的個人意愿來做出決定。

Translating that into your UX strategy, it means that: you have to offer enough reference points, such as “most popular” categories, testimonials, or social media sharing options to gather instant and personal feedback from friends.

將其轉換為用戶體驗策略意味??著：必須提供足夠的參考點，例如“最受歡迎”類別，推薦書或社交媒體共享選項，以收集朋友的即時反饋和個人反饋。

3.男性氣質與女性氣質 (3. Masculinity versus femininity)

The central questions in this dimension are what are the motivations and core values of a society.

這個維度的中心問題是社會的動機和核心價值是什么。

Masculine societies are competitive and driven by achievement, heroism, assertiveness, and materialism. Feminine societies are consensus-oriented and prefer values, such as cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak, and quality of life.

男性社會競爭激烈，并受到成就，英雄主義，果斷和唯物主義的驅動。 女性社會以共識為導向，喜歡合作，謙虛，照顧弱者和生活質量等價值觀。

The users belonging to a masculine society are constantly striving for success. They want to prove themselves by being the best in what they do. Once success has been attained, there is no hesitation to show it. These expectations not only apply to themselves, but also to the people around them and for example to the products and services they use.

屬于男性社會的用戶一直在努力爭取成功。 他們想通過做的最好來證明自己。 一旦獲得成功，就毫不猶豫地顯示出來。 這些期望不僅適用于自己，而且適用于周圍的人，例如適用于他們使用的產品和服務。

While designing a digital product for this audience make sure you are prepared for their critical evaluation and offer them high quality. Competition or incentives can be used as attention grabbers.

在為該受眾群體設計數字產品時，請確保您已準備好對其進行嚴格的評估并為他們提供高質量的產品。 競爭或激勵措施可以用作注意力吸引者。

The users belonging to a feminine society don’t want to stand out from the crowd, rather than that, they want to avoid conflicts and enjoy life.

屬于女性社會的用戶不想在人群中脫穎而出，而是希望避免沖突并享受生活 。

Keep in mind that the positive experience with your website or product is more important than technical details, the prize, or whether you are the best in the field or not. This group likes to get engaged and entertained. As long as they are enjoying your product, they are willing to forgive minor flaws. Make sure you offer contact information and be open to feedback and questions.

請記住，對網站或產品的積極體驗比技術細節，獎項或您是否是該領域的佼佼者更為重要。 這個群體喜歡參與娛樂。 只要他們喜歡您的產品，他們就愿意原諒微小的缺陷。 確保您提供聯系信息，并歡迎反饋和問題。

4.避免不確定性 (4. Uncertainty avoidance)

This dimension describes how people from a society deal with uncertainty and ambiguity. The main idea behind this is how people handle the fact that they can not control the future.

這個維度描述了社會中的人們如何應對不確定性和歧義。 這背后的主要思想是人們如何處理無法控制未來的事實。

Cultures with a high uncertainty avoidance stick to what they know and avoid unorthodox behaviors or ideas. On the other hand, cultures with low uncertainty avoidance prefer practice over principles and welcome change.

高度避免不確定性的文化會堅持自己所了解的內容，并避免非正統的行為或思想 。 另一方面， 避免不確定性較低的文化更喜歡實踐而不是原則，并歡迎變革 。

In societies with high uncertainty avoidance, people prefer deductive rather than inductive approaches. They like to think things through and base their decisions and actions on a systematic evaluation of all available and relevant aspects. Also, they like and prefer the familiar over the unfamiliar.

在高度避免不確定性的社會中，人們更喜歡演繹而不是歸納法。 他們喜歡思考事物，并基于對所有可用和相關方面的系統評估來制定決策和采取行動。 而且，他們喜歡并喜歡熟悉的事物，而不是陌生的事物。

Translated into your UX strategy, this means that you should present as much relevant information as possible in a structured and clear way. People from this group need to be able to balance different options against each other in order to make a reliable decision.

轉換為用戶體驗策略后，這意味著您應該以結構化和清晰的方式呈現盡可能多的相關信息。 為了做出可靠的決定，該群體的人們需要能夠在各種選擇之間取得平衡。

In societies with low uncertainty avoidance, people are more open to new ideas, willing to try something different, and take risks. This group of visitors is spontaneous and thinks practical, which means they can easily adapt to new situations. This type of users allows you to take more risks and try new things with your designs.

在回避不確定性較低的社會中，人們更愿意接受新想法，愿意嘗試不同的嘗試并承擔風險。 這群游客是自發的并且認為實用，這意味著他們可以輕松地適應新的情況。 這種類型的用戶使您可以承擔更多的風險，并在設計中嘗試新事物。

5.長期取向與短期取向 (5. Long-term versus short-term orientation)

This dimension describes how much a society is concerned with its virtue.

這個維度描述了一個社會對其美德的關注程度。

Societies with short-term orientation are normative in their thinking. They value traditions and are interested in establishing the absolute truth of the moment. They live in the here and now and don’t worry too much about the future.

具有短期傾向的社會在他們的思想中是規范性的 。 他們重視傳統，并有興趣建立當下的絕對真理。 他們生活在現在和現在，不必為未來擔心太多。

A long-term orientation, on the other hand, results in a society that believes truth depends on the situation, context, and time. People believe that traditions can be adapted to changed conditions, they plan their lives ahead and set long-term goals.

另一方面， 長期的定位會導致社會相信真理取決于情況，環境和時間。 人們認為，傳統可以適應不斷變化的條件，他們可以規劃自己的生活并設定長期目標。

The users belonging to a short-term orientation culture are interested in quick results that are in line with known values and traditions.

屬于短期定位文化的用戶對符合已知價值和傳統的快速結果感興趣。

When designing for this type of population, make sure you offer short cuts and options to take immediate action. Also grab people’s attention with something they are familiar with, not with an outlook to the future.

在針對此類人群進行設計時，請確保您提供捷徑和選項，以便立即采取行動。 也要用他們熟悉的東西吸引人們的注意力，而不是對未來的展望。

The users belonging to a long-term orientation make thorough decisions for the future.

屬于長期定位的用戶會為未來做出全面的決策。

When designing for this type of population, offer detailed information and advantages that truly convince them of the value of your product. You can for example work with installment-sales or a long-term discount. Also, you can offer ways for your visitors to save their browsing history, such as wish lists, or social media sharing options. This way you don’t force your visitors into an immediate decision.

在針對此類人群進行設計時，請提供詳細的信息和優勢，真正使他們相信您的產品價值。 例如，您可以分期付款或長期打折。 此外，您還可以為訪問者提供保存其瀏覽歷史記錄的方式，例如愿望清單或社交媒體共享選項。 這樣，您就不會強迫訪問者立即做出決定。

6.放縱與約束 (6. Indulgence vs. Constraint)

The last dimension describes the degree to which a society allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun.

最后一個維度描述了一個社會相對自由地滿足與享受生活和娛樂有關的基本和自然人類動力的程度。

UX Designers ought to keep in mind that cultures that rank high on the indulgence scale will not be offended by the notion that they ought to indulge in more. More food items, more color options, more modes of operation, etc.

用戶體驗設計師應牢記，放縱規模高的文化不會因應沉迷于更多文化而受到冒犯。 更多食品，更多顏色選擇，更多操作模式等。

Cultures with low indulgence are not likely to respond well to an abundance of options — this can often be perceived fearfully, especially in countries where socialism is the dominant social movement.

放縱程度低的文化不可能對多種選擇產生良好的React，這常常令人恐懼，特別是在以社會主義為主導的社會運動的國家中。

Hofstede’s findings ought to be used as a tool to aid in designing the most culturally optimized and specific User Experience possible. By gaining insight into your target culture’s values, you’re more able to understand how they perceive certain design elements such as:

Hofstede的發現應作為一種工具來幫助設計盡可能最受文化優化和特定的用戶體驗。 通過深入了解目標文化的價值觀，您將能夠更好地理解他們如何看待某些設計元素，例如 ：

Colors have different values in different cultures and care should be taken to ensure that the color combinations used while designing a website don’t affect local sensitivities. For example, yellow is associated in western cultures — North America and Europe — with warmth, summer and hospitality while, in Latin America it is quite the contrary: it is associated with death and mourning.

顏色在不同的文化中具有不同的價值，因此應注意確保設計網站時使用的顏色組合不會影響本地敏感度。 例如，黃色在西方文化(北美和歐洲)中與溫暖，夏季和熱情好客有關，而在拉丁美洲則恰恰相反：它與死亡和哀悼有關。

Symbols are often used as a metaphor, which helps your users associate familiar concepts or ideas with unfamiliar ones. But as you might be aware, there are certain metaphors that, when translated, lose their meaning.

符號通常用作隱喻，可幫助您的用戶將熟悉的概念或想法與不熟悉的概念或想法聯系起來。 但是，您可能已經知道，有些隱喻在翻譯時會失去其含義。

One example of a misused symbol due to the lack of comprehensive user research is the famous case of Amazon launch in India. The company couldn’t figure out why customers in India were not using the search feature for products to buy on the homepage of the mobile site. It turned out that the magnifying glass icon was not something people associated with search in India. It made no sense in the Indian context as people thought the icon represented a ping-pong paddle.

由于缺乏全面的用戶研究而導致符號誤用的一個例子是亞馬遜在印度推出的著名案例 。 該公司無法弄清楚為什么印度的客戶不使用搜索功能在移動網站的首頁上購買產品。 事實證明，放大鏡圖標與印度的搜索無關。 在印度語中，這毫無意義，因為人們認為該圖標代表乒乓球拍。

The specific design patterns are another important factor when designing digital products. Even though there has been an increasing trend in moving towards a cleaner and minimalistic look, with more emphasis on content with explicit use of typography, these trends might not be applicable everywhere. While for the Western countries we can see an increasing trend in the adoption of minimalist design, it seems that in most Asian countries it is the other way around, as design layouts have a high density of information.

特定的設計模式是設計數字產品時的另一個重要因素。 盡管越來越趨向于使外觀更加簡潔和簡潔，并且更加注重使用顯式使用排版的內容，但是這些趨勢可能并不適用于所有地方。 雖然在西方國家，我們可以看到采用簡約設計的趨勢正在增加，但在大多數亞洲國家，情況卻恰恰相反，因為設計版圖的信息密度很高。

While designing for localization, some of the things that need to be considered regarding the translation of the product to the local language are the following:

在進行本地化設計時，與將產品翻譯成本地語言有關的一些事項如下：

Some languages are more verbose than others, meaning your design must account for text expansion and contraction in translated languages.

某些語言比其他語言更冗長，這意味著您的設計必須考慮翻譯語言中的文本擴展和收縮。

One way I estimate translation lengths is by using Google Spreadsheets. Using the Google Translate function, I can get machine translations in a bunch of languages at once. Within seconds, I can get a rough idea of how long the translations might be in each language.

我估算翻譯長度的一種方法是使用Google Spreadsheets。 使用Google翻譯功能，我可以一次獲得多種語言的機器翻譯。 幾秒鐘之內，我就能大致了解每種語言的翻譯量。

Another aspect to consider while designing localized sites is the language structure. Most languages read from left to right but there are a number of languages that read from right to left. For these cases, just doing a text translation is not enough, and aspects such as placement of design elements and controls must be taken into consideration.

設計本地化站點時要考慮的另一個方面是語言結構。 大多數語言是從左到右閱讀的，但是有許多語言是從右到左閱讀的。 對于這些情況，僅進行文本翻譯是不夠的，必須考慮諸如設計元素和控件的放置等方面。

There is a bit of science when deciding on what font to use for the localization of a digital app. We have to consider the languages we’re supporting and the special characters that they have such as diacritical marks or accents. The languages that require non-Latin characters like the Russian language, Greek language, etc. are available only in the most commonly used commercial fonts. If you decide to choose other font families or special fonts, these languages will have to use other fonts that support the corresponding characters and the final layout will look different from the English or the original version.

確定用于數字應用程序本地化的字體時，有一點科學。 我們必須考慮我們支持的語言以及它們具有的特殊字符，例如變音標記或重音符號。 需要非拉丁字符的語言(例如俄語，希臘語等)僅在最常用的商業字體中可用。 如果您決定選擇其他字體系列或特殊字體，則這些語言將不得不使用支持相應字符的其他字體，并且最終布局將看起來與英語或原始版本不同。

Last but not least, a lot of care should be taken with small details. A successfully localized website is one that appears to have been developed locally, even if it wasn’t. In order to make your product successful, don’t forget to pay attention to details such as:

最后但并非最不重要的一點是，應謹慎處理小細節。 一個成功本地化的網站是一個似乎已經在本地開發的網站，即使它不是。 為了使您的產品成功，請不要忘記注意以下細節：

• Date format: DD/MM/YYYY vs. MM/DD/YYYY
  日期格式：DD / MM / YYYY與MM / DD / YYYY
• Units of measurement:: Be mindful of the type of measurement units being used in that country
  度量單位：：請注意該國家/地區使用的度量單位類型
• Time: 12-hours vs. 24-hours
  時間：12小時與24小時
• Currency: Pay attention to conversions and formats
  貨幣：注意轉換和格式
• Phone numbers : Different formatting around the world
  電話號碼：世界各地的格式不同
• National holidays: Holidays are country and region-specific
  國定假日：假日是特定于國家和地區的

Designing for international markets can be tough — especially when you’re a foreigner with no familiarity with that certain cultural background. There are many cultural dimensions that influence these perceptions, which in turn, influence your users’ decision-making as well. The extent to which each cultural dimension influences your users’ perception of your UX is not always constant though. And this makes it even more challenging to design localized UX and also, builds a stronger case for cross-cultural awareness in design. But, with intense research and usability testing, you can design better experiences and bypass our cultural nuances.

針對國際市場進行設計可能會很艱難-尤其是當您是不熟悉特定文化背景的外國人時。 有許多文化因素會影響這些看法，進而影響用戶的決策。 但是，每種文化維度在多大程度上影響用戶對UX的理解，都不總是恒定的。 這使得設計本地化的UX更具挑戰性，并且為設計中的跨文化意識奠定了堅實的基礎。 但是，通過深入的研究和可用性測試，您可以設計更好的體驗并繞過我們的文化差異。