Critical evaluation of cross-cultural impact on usability studies: analysis and case study data collection

Usability studies have been used to evaluate many kinds of products ranging from manual products such as ladders or hammers, to semi-automatic systems such as aviation operating systems. As corporations are gaining interest in the international market, usability studies have been conducted with participants from different cultures. Those cross-cultural usability studies are often challenged by large cultural diversity. While many previous usability reports ignored the role that culture played in these studies, some researchers are becoming aware of the validity of cross-cultural usability studies. This paper focuses on two case studies that used think-aloud protocol. The think-aloud protocol requires participants to verbalize their actions and inner thoughts related to the testing product. One study was conducted in China, while the other took place in Germany. This paper compares the outcomes from these two studies; in particular, participants' behavior during the think-aloud session is observed and analyzed in the context of participants' cultural background. The results show that participants' attitudes toward thinking aloud vary from culture to culture, including what constitutes a comfortable environment for testing, and their overall understanding of the study they are participating in. At the conclusion of this paper, a few recommendations for new research areas are presented, possibly revealing the necessity of applying cultural variables in cross-cultural evaluations.