Research Catalog

Title

Cross-cultural technology design : creating culture-sensitive technology for local users / Huatong Sun.

Author

Sun, Huatong, 1973-

Publication

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2012.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxii, 320 p. : ill.; 24 cm.

Summary

The demand and opportunity for cross-cultural technology design is rapidly rising due to globalization. However, all too often resulting technologies are technically usable, yet cannot be immediately put to meaningful use by users in their local, concrete contexts. Support for concrete user activities is frequently missing in design, as support for decontextualized actions is typically the focus of design. Sun examines this disconnect between action and meaning in cross-cultural technology design and presents an innovative framework, Culturally Localized User Experience (CLUE), to tackle this problem. Incorporating key concepts and methods from activity theory, British cultural studies, and rhetorical genre theory, the CLUE approach integrates action and meaning through a dialogical, cyclical design process to design technology that engages local users within culturally meaningful social practices. Illustrated with five in-depth case studies of mobile text messaging use by college students and young professionals in American and Chinese contexts spanning years, Sun demonstrates that a technology created for culturally localized user experience mediates both instrumental practices and social meanings. She calls for a change in cross-cultural design practices from simply applying cultural conventions in design to engaging with social affordances based on a rich understanding of meaningful contextualized activity. Meanwhile, the vivid user stories at sites of technology-in-use show the power of "user localization" in connecting design and use, which Sun believes is essential for the success of an emerging technology like mobile messaging in an era of participatory culture. This book will be of interest to researchers, students, practitioners, and anyone who wants to create culture-sensitive technology in this increasingly globalized world that requires advanced strategies and techniques for culturally localized, participatory design.

Series Statement

Oxford series in human-technology interaction

Uniform Title

Oxford series in human-technology interaction.

Subjects

• Technology > Sociological aspects
• User-centered system design > Cross-cultural studies
• Information technology > Cross-cultural studies
• Human-computer interaction > Cross-cultural studies

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-303) and index.

Contents

Approaching culture in cross-cultural technology design -- User experience in global context -- Integrating action and meaning in cross-cultural design -- Clue as a framework for cross-cultural user experience research -- Sophie's story : new chocolate at work -- Lili's story : pure water in social network -- Brian's story : conversations carried through my fingers -- Mei's story : "idioms solitaire" between sports fans -- Emma's story : more than a nice gesture in a technology-mediated life -- Culturally localized user experience as situated and constructed -- Future directions.

Call Number

JFE 13-5053

ISBN

• 9780199744763 (hbk. : alk. paper)
• 0199744769 (hbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

• 2011036791
• 7366260

OCLC

751922148

Author

Sun, Huatong, 1973-

Title

Cross-cultural technology design : creating culture-sensitive technology for local users / Huatong Sun.

Imprint

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2012.

Series

Oxford series in human-technology interaction

Oxford series in human-technology interaction.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-303) and index.

Connect to:

http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744763.001.0001/acprof-9780199744763

Other Standard Identifier

7366260

Research Call Number

JFE 13-5053