Cross-Cultural Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience Design : A Semiotic Perspective

This book describes patterns of language and culture in human-computer interaction (HCI). Through numerous examples, it shows why these patterns matter and how to exploit them to design a better user experience (UX) with computer systems. It provides scientific information on the theoretical and practical areas of the interaction and communication design for research experts and industry practitioners and covers the latest research in semiotics and cultural studies, bringing a set of tools and methods to benefit the process of designing with the cultural background in mind.

The semiotic perspective of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) can give you insight into values, beliefs, and reference systems of the users that often go unnoticed when using traditional HCI approaches. Cross-Cultural Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience Design: A Semiotic Perspective focuses on the semiotic approach in product, services, and system design, and emphasizes the semiotic and linguistic aspects in HCI and user experience (UX). The book shows you how to leverage these insights when creating useful, usable, and appealing user interfaces.

The book covers the theoretical background of HCI semiotics with emphasis on the interaction elements present in the user interface, the methodology to work with them to achieve useful insights both for design and evaluation, and the results obtained compared to traditional UX methods. It then examines a cross-cultural study presenting a semiotic method for design and evaluation in a different cultural background, and discusses the resulting insights, which are then structured as guidelines for HCI/UX design for Chinese users.

Although extensive research has been done in HCI semiotics and the cultural aspects of HCI, this book differs by exploring how these fields are informed by the linguistic perspective. It presents a novel approach to cross-cultural HCI/UX, covers the latest research in the field, and brings a set of tools and methods to benefit the design process by taking a semiotic perspective. It also supplies a set of design guidelines for developing more usable, useful, and appealing products, services, and systems.