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?

互联网使世界变得更小。 通过数字产品或服务，您可以比实体业务更轻松地赚钱或吸引受众之外的用户。 但是，在每个国家/地区销售完全相同的产品或服务设计都是明智的做法吗？

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.

考虑到文化在我们日常生活中的重要性，答案是“不”。 如果一家企业计划向全球扩展，那么首先他们必须了解每个市场。 了解并尊重他们的文化和法规。 数字产品应反映其用户和客户的多样性，以便在给定的市场中取得成功。

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.

从最广泛的意义上讲，文化是一种养成的行为，包括习惯观念，传统，社会规范，社会习惯和一群人的价值观。 它反映了思考和采取行动的预期或正确方式，确定了什么是可接受的，重要的和正确的。 众所周知，文化差异给人们彼此交流的方式带来了挑战和机遇，但同时也影响着Internet的使用，电子商务的信任，信息和通信技术的采用，Internet营销以及网站的发展。 这就是为什么文化意识是设计的一个非常重要的方面，采用跨文化用户体验策略的设计师更有可能提出更多可用和有用的设计。 众所周知的事实是，用户喜欢反映其文化特征的数字产品。

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.

发现应考虑哪些因素的推荐方法是在针对特定文化设计产品之前，进行全面的用户体验研究。 您对目标客户了解的越多，您就越能理解他们对客户的看法和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为特定于文化的用户体验设计做更好的准备的一种工具。 角色应该整合您在研究阶段收集的数据中的文化维度，基于您的角色通常在这些维度上的文化表现形式，就您的角色可能彼此不同形成假说，并将其纳入其价值观，需求描述中以及行为方式。

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.

除了您的用户研究之外，还有很长一段时间以来在心理学文献中占主导地位的一些常用文化模型，我将讨论这些最佳实践。

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.

在调查文化对可用性的影响时， 霍夫斯泰德的模型被引用最多。 该模型具有良好的经验基础。 根据他的研究结果，使用相对安排可以在双极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的发现应作为一种工具来帮助设计可能的最优化的文化和特定的用户体验。

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

通过因素分析，他确定了以下六个文化方面：

1.功率距离 (1. Power Distance)

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

这个方面的中心问题是社会如何处理个人之间的不平等。

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.

较高的权力距离意味着社会中的人们已经接受了一定的等级秩序及其随之而来的不平等，而较低的权力距离意味着人们正在不断努力使权力分配平均化，特别是那些权力较少的人。

Translating that into your UX strategy, it means that:

将其转换为您的UX策略，意味着：

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.

小型权力距离文化不喜欢被控制，只有在真正的专业知识基础上，他们才会接受领导。 一个好的方法是在您的网站上提供足够客观和详细的信息，以使人们下定决心。 与您的网站访问者见面一致，以尊重的态度对待他们，并对他们的需求表现出兴趣。

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

如果您想获得他们的信任并让他们参与，那么沟通方式应该是非正式和直接的。

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.

大权力距离文化习惯于权威和牢固的结构。 他们将带您成为专家，并相信您是权威人物。 确保向他们提供事实和明确的陈述，不要给他们太多责任。

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

属于该组的用户没有那么严格，也没有那么多的动力去搜索详细信息以下定决心。

2.个人主义与集体主义 (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”.

第二个维度描述了小组中有多少人专注于自己以及整个小组。 社会在这一维度上的地位体现在人们称自己为“我”还是“我们”。

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.

个人主义文化会主动采取行动，根据自己的需要和愿望采取行动，并做出自己的决定。 他们关心自己的福祉，并对自己和自己的决定负责。

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.

将其转换为您的UX策略意味着：该组中的用户出于自己的兴趣和目标而访问您的站点，并做出自己的决定。 您需要关注这些非常个性化的要求，才能将其转化为忠实的客户。

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.

集体主义文化的行为是出于团体的利益，而不是出于他们自身的利益。 他们根据他人的意见以及普遍或受欢迎的事物来做出决定，而不仅仅是根据他们的个人意愿来做出决定。

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.

将其转换为用户体验策略意味​​着：必须提供足够的参考点，例如“最受欢迎”类别，推荐书或社交媒体共享选项，以收集朋友的即时反馈和个人反馈。

3.男性气质与女性气质 (3. Masculinity versus femininity)

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

这个维度的中心问题是社会的动机和核心价值是什么。

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.

男性社会竞争激烈，并受到成就，英雄主义，果断和唯物主义的驱动。 女性社会以共识为导向，喜欢合作，谦虚，照顾弱者和生活质量等价值观。

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.

属于男性社会的用户一直在努力争取成功。 他们想通过做的最好来证明自己。 一旦获得成功，就毫不犹豫地显示出来。 这些期望不仅适用于自己，而且适用于周围的人，例如适用于他们使用的产品和服务。

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.

在为该受众群体设计数字产品时，请确保您已准备好对其进行严格的评估并为他们提供高质量的产品。 竞争或激励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.

属于女性社会的用户不想在人群中脱颖而出，而是希望避免冲突并享受生活 。

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.

请记住，对网站或产品的积极体验比技术细节，奖项或您是否是该领域的佼佼者更为重要。 这个群体喜欢参与娱乐。 只要他们喜欢您的产品，他们就愿意原谅微小的缺陷。 确保您提供联系信息，并欢迎反馈和问题。

4.避免不确定性 (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.

这个维度描述了社会中的人们如何应对不确定性和歧义。 这背后的主要思想是人们如何处理无法控制未来的事实。

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.

高度避免不确定性的文化会坚持自己所了解的内容，并避免非正统的行为或思想 。 另一方面， 避免不确定性较低的文化更喜欢实践而不是原则，并欢迎变革 。

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.

在高度避免不确定性的社会中，人们更喜欢演绎而不是归纳法。 他们喜欢思考事物，并基于对所有可用和相关方面的系统评估来制定决策和采取行动。 而且，他们喜欢并喜欢熟悉的事物，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.

转换为用户体验策略后，这意味着您应该以结构化和清晰的方式呈现尽可能多的相关信息。 为了做出可靠的决定，该群体的人们需要能够在各种选择之间取得平衡。

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.

在回避不确定性较低的社会中，人们更愿意接受新想法，愿意尝试不同的尝试并承担风险。 这群游客是自发的并且认为实用，这意味着他们可以轻松地适应新的情况。 这种类型的用户使您可以承担更多的风险，并在设计中尝试新事物。

5.长期取向与短期取向 (5. Long-term versus short-term orientation)

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

这个维度描述了一个社会对其美德的关注程度。

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.

具有短期倾向的社会在他们的思想中是规范性的 。 他们重视传统，并有兴趣建立当下的绝对真理。 他们生活在现在和现在，不必为未来担心太多。

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， 长期的定位会导致社会相信真理取决于情况，环境和时间。 人们认为，传统可以适应不断变化的条件，他们可以规划自己的生活并设定长期目标。

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

属于短期定位文化的用户对符合已知价值和传统的快速结果感兴趣。

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.

在针对此类人群进行设计时，请确保您提供捷径和选项，以便立即采取行动。 也要用他们熟悉的东西吸引人们的注意力，而不是对未来的展望。

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

属于长期定位的用户会为未来做出全面的决策。

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.

在针对此类人群进行设计时，请提供详细的信息和优势，真正使他们相信您的产品价值。 例如，您可以分期付款或长期打折。 此外，您还可以为访问者提供保存其浏览历史记录的方式，例如愿望清单或社交媒体共享选项。 这样，您就不会强迫访问者立即做出决定。

6.放纵与约束 (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.

最后一个维度描述了一个社会相对自由地满足与享受生活和娱乐有关的基本和自然人类动力的程度。

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.

用户体验设计师应牢记，放纵规模高的文化不会因应沉迷于更多文化而受到冒犯。 更多食品，更多颜色选择，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.

放纵程度低的文化不可能对多种选择产生良好的React，这常常令人恐惧，特别是在以社会主义为主导的社会运动的国家中。

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的发现应作为一种工具来帮助设计尽可能最受文化优化和特定的用户体验。 通过深入了解目标文化的价值观，您将能够更好地理解他们如何看待某些设计元素，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.

颜色在不同的文化中具有不同的价值，因此应注意确保设计网站时使用的颜色组合不会影响本地敏感度。 例如，黄色在西方文化(北美和欧洲)中与温暖，夏季和热情好客有关，而在拉丁美洲则恰恰相反：它与死亡和哀悼有关。

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.

符号通常用作隐喻，可帮助您的用户将熟悉的概念或想法与不熟悉的概念或想法联系起来。 但是，您可能已经知道，有些隐喻在翻译时会失去其含义。

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.

由于缺乏全面的用户研究而导致符号误用的一个例子是亚马逊在印度推出的著名案例 。 该公司无法弄清楚为什么印度的客户不使用搜索功能在移动网站的首页上购买产品。 事实证明，放大镜图标与印度的搜索无关。 在印度语中，这毫无意义，因为人们认为该图标代表乒乓球拍。

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.

特定的设计模式是设计数字产品时的另一个重要因素。 尽管越来越趋向于使外观更加简洁和简洁，并且更加注重使用显式使用排版的内容，但是这些趋势可能并不适用于所有地方。 虽然在西方国家，我们可以看到采用简约设计的趋势正在增加，但在大多数亚洲国家，情况却恰恰相反，因为设计版图的信息密度很高。

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:

在进行本地化设计时，与将产品翻译成本地语言有关的一些事项如下：

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

某些语言比其他语言更冗长，这意味着您的设计必须考虑翻译语言中的文本扩展和收缩。

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.

我估算翻译长度的一种方法是使用Google Spreadsheets。 使用Google翻译功能，我可以一次获得多种语言的机器翻译。 几秒钟之内，我就能大致了解每种语言的翻译量。

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.

设计本地化站点时要考虑的另一个方面是语言结构。 大多数语言是从左到右阅读的，但是有许多语言是从右到左阅读的。 对于这些情况，仅进行文本翻译是不够的，必须考虑诸如设计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.

确定用于数字应用程序本地化的字体时，有一点科学。 我们必须考虑我们支持的语言以及它们具有的特殊字符，例如变音标记或重音符号。 需要非拉丁字符的语言(例如俄语，希腊语等)仅在最常用的商业字体中可用。 如果您决定选择其他字体系列或特殊字体，则这些语言将不得不使用支持相应字符的其他字体，并且最终布局将看起来与英语或原始版本不同。

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点是，应谨慎处理小细节。 一个成功本地化的网站是一个似乎已经在本地开发的网站，即使它不是。 为了使您的产品成功，请不要忘记注意以下细节：

• Date format: DD/MM/YYYY vs. MM/DD/YYYY
  日期格式：DD / MM / YYYY与MM / DD / YYYY
• Units of measurement:: Be mindful of the type of measurement units being used in that country
  度量单位：：请注意该国家/地区使用的度量单位类型
• Time: 12-hours vs. 24-hours
  时间：12小时与24小时
• Currency: Pay attention to conversions and formats
  货币：注意转换和格式
• Phone numbers : Different formatting around the world
  电话号码：世界各地的格式不同
• National holidays: Holidays are country and region-specific
  国定假日：假日是特定于国家和地区的

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.

针对国际市场进行设计可能会很艰难-尤其是当您是不熟悉特定文化背景的外国人时。 有许多文化因素会影响这些看法，进而影响用户的决策。 但是，每种文化维度在多大程度上影响用户对UX的理解，都不总是恒定的。 这使得设计本地化的UX更具挑战性，并且为设计中的跨文化意识奠定了坚实的基础。 但是，通过深入的研究和可用性测试，您可以设计更好的体验并绕过我们的文化差异。