Culture...

As we all know, culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. As people come to accept their own and others' culture,they begin to be influenced by others. Culture can also be defined as an invisible control mechanism operating in our thoughts which kicks in only when we are severlely challenged. Cultural influences interprets behaviour and one will then learn to draw the line between what group one think he or she belongs to and what one does not.

Here is something which I think is intersting to share...that is cultural infuences are not only reflected in dance, music or lifestyles of the people, but also in web design. The following examples illustrate different ways in which cultural influences are reflected in web design.
Firstly, in Animation,

Well, animated effects on websites tend to be more prominent and elaborate in high contex cultures than in low contex culture websites, where such options are reserved for emphasizing active links or drawing attention to logos. Much of the animation on high contex websites is centered on images of people.

For instance, high contex Latin American sites such as the Chilean and Brazilian ones use animation in connection with images of young people dancing or jumping. The same tendency can be found on the Chinese site, which displays the moving silhouette of a break-dancer.

This form of illustration is not seen in the North American and European countries, and in particular Scandinavia, where the McDonald's sites are completely static, or where animation is minimal and images are of individuals in relaxed situations.

This tendency can be due to importance being placed on one's health and physical condition in collectivist societies, or by the cherished nature of personal relaxation time by members of individualist cultures.

The McDonald's site from Hong Kong, which we identify as high contex culture, we are in fact presented with an image of a young person relaxing in a couch with his hat covering his eyes. According to the tendency, this image would be categorized as belonging to a low contex culture website. We can therefore consider the image of the relaxing person as an expression of British or low contex cultural influence.

In addition, one interesting use of animation on high contex culture websites is the assimilation of non-verbal, behavioral language, which is characteristic of high contex culture (face-to-face communication). An Internet function, animation, is used to communicate in alternative ways from text, by providing high context using cues that assimilate or derive from real-life conversations.

Although this practice appears to be relatively rare, the Japanese McDonald's website illustrates how animation in the form of short videos can provide an alternative to communication through text and still images, to create the impression that the visitor is virtually met by a personal representative of the company, which can be shown from the pictures below.

Figure A

Figure B

To explain further, figure A the image of a video whereby it should actually portray four men in white clothes and caps, carrying a massive "M" and placing it on the floor, after which they quickly bow and hurry behind the logo. Figure B is another image caputured from a video which actually should portray a well-dressed woman stepping out from behind the logo towards us, and then taking a long bow. The video is then replaced with a large picture of the smiling woman, with her hands in her lap, as if waiting for interaction with the visitor.

ALso, the vividness of high contec culture websites is often completed with the implementation of music and sound effects. Some sites play a limit of a couple of seconds of the "I'm lovin' it" jingle or background beat, and the Korean site has implemented the whole jingle (in Korean) to be played from beginning to end.

Whether animation is used on websites is dependent on at least two issues other than the user's belonging to high contex culture or low contex cultures. The user's patience, which perhaps can be determined by time-orientation, and the user's technological access and limitations. The designer who decides to implement animations and effects must assume that the user sees the necessity of them, and that the user is technologically able to process them to the user's satisfaction.

Yes, therefore cultural influences can be shown from websites and the idea of creating websites has also brought about benefits to Macdonals as this serves also as a kind of advertising where consumers can get to know what updates of food and services Macdonals have got for them.

What is your view on this?