Culturability in Mobile Data Services: A Qualitative Study of the Relationship between Cultural Characteristics and User-Experience Attributes

Abstract

As the use of mobile data services has spread across the globe, the effect of cultural differences on user requirements has become an important issue. To date, however, little research has been conducted on the role cultural factors play in the design of mobile data services. This article proposes a set of critical design attributes for mobile data services that takes cross-cultural differences into account. To determine these attributes, a qualitative method was devised and in-depth interviews in Korea, Japan, and Finland were conducted. Twenty-one critical user-experience attributes that showed a clear correlation with characteristics of the user's culture were found. The article ends with a discussion of limitations and of implications for developers of mobile, data services.