Business: Localization

Today, the world of digital product design exists at the intersection of East and West, where the interplay between imitation and innovation has shaped the evolving digital landscape. As a UX designer experiencing various cultures, I want to explore how their intersections impact the user interface (UI), the user experience, and product strategy.

In this article, I’ll examine the historical trends of imitation and innovation between the West and Asia, explore how Asian user-driven approaches influence digital products in the West, and share how these insights have influenced my design choices.

However, before delving further into this topic, I must acknowledge that we sometimes overgeneralize in our discussion of cultural differences in UX design. To address this concern, I've gathered specific relevant case studies that provide holistic demonstrations of the points that I intend to explore. Read More

Loyalty can manifest across cultures in diverse ways. In an Eastern culture such as Taiwan, communities come together to honor their beliefs and loyalty has deep roots in religious and cultural traditions. On the other hand, in Western societies such as Australia, loyalty often intertwines with Western values of individualism and self-expression—for example, in the way Swifties express their loyalty and deep connections to Taylor Swift’s music and style.

This diversity carries over to the commercial world, in which loyalty programs are forming and adapting for multiple markets. Loyalty programs have become ubiquitous today. According to the data, there are more than 3.3 billion loyalty-program memberships in the United States. Even though the concept of loyalty programs has been pervasive in modern society, it resonates differently across generations, geographies, and cultures. Read More

The definition of design is continually changing and evolving—at least in the public’s perception. But design will forever remain a problem-solving process. As a design community, we have always designed for a global audience, for which English is their first language. But, today, we must think about designing for the next billion people. As we progressively focus more and more on inclusive design and diverse cultures, we must accept that 98% of the population are not native English speakers. Designing for this broader audience has become an imperative.

For designers, communication is a key facet of everything we create. The entire design process is predicated on systems requiring clear communication between clients, stakeholders, teams, and users. The language barrier seems bigger than ever when we’re designing for an audience with whom we don’t share a common language. In this column, I’ll discuss some common challenges that you’ll confront when designing for an audience of users who aren’t proficient in English. I’ll also share my tried-and-tested strategies for solving this problem. Read More