Evaluation methods and cultural differences: studies across three continents

This paper reviews issues and problems that arise in cross-cultural usability evaluations. It reports two separate empirical studies of a number of well-known techniques with UK, African and Indian users. The studies examine the effectiveness of methods based on think-aloud protocols, including the DUCE method, to elicit users' views. The results from all the studies show that these established Western methods are less effective with users from other cultures. It suggests that the reasons for this are the consequences of deep-rooted differences in personal interactions in different cultures. This paper provides evidence to guide choices for applications involving users from India and Africa.