Building Global Web Sites for Global Enterprises:

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• Building Global Web Sites for Global
  Enterprises
  
• Web Technologies and User Interfaces Design

Minder Chen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Decisi
on Sciences and MIS George Mason University Fair
fax, VA 22030
mchen_at_gmu.edu
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Outline

• Web Technology and Web Site Development
• Global Web Site Design Issues
• Web Site Globalization Process
• Conclusions

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Client-Server Model of WWW
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• Requesting a document via a URL address
• Connection open

helper app
helper app
helper app
helper app
helper app
Web Site
Web Server
Internet or Intranet
Web Client

• Web contents
• HTML documents
• Graphics
• Flash
• Video clips
• Sound bites
• Java applets
• JavaScripts
• CGI scripts
• JSP, ASP.NET

Plug-In
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Static

• Returning MIME-compliance document
• Connection close

Dynamic
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Forms

• Support interactive applications Guest Books,
  User Survey, Online Shopping, etc.
  
• Need to use server-side scripts / programs to
  process form data
  
• Client-side scripting using JavaScript allows you
  to perform local input data validation

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Web Server Extensibility
CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
The CGI scripts usually are on the same computer
where the web server is or can be located on a
different computer across the network.
Process
Process
Web server
Perl
Perl scripts
CGI
Simple applications
Any EXEcutable
HTTP
Web browserclient
Reference http//hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/cgi/
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3-tier Web Applications
(Web browser)
Server-Side Script
Web server
Business Object
ASP.NET
File Systems SMTP Server (send email)
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Where Is the Web Going?
Static Content Web

• HTML
• Dynamic HTML (JavaScript)

• CGI (using Perl, etc.)
• ColdFusion, ASP, Java Servlet, JSP
• ASP.NET
• XML (Document interchange)

Dynamic Interactive Web
Integrated Programmable Web

• Web Services (SOAP, WSDL, UDDI)
• Semantic Web

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Web Applications
Web sites (Content-oriented)
C/S Applications (Transaction-oriented)
Web-based Applications
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Comparison of Business Software and Web Site
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http//www.jjg.net/elements/elements_ch02.pdf
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User Experience Development Team Composition




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User Experience Modeling Process
Source Dr. Zhang, QuadraMed
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News on Globalization eBay

• eBay president Meg Whitman recently announced
  that her company would produce a full-scale
  Chinese Web site staffed by employees in China.
  
• She said she believes that China could eclipse
  Germany and England and become eBay's second
  largest market within 10 to 15 years.

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Amazon

• Amazon reported that Q1 2004 revenue in the US
  rose 20 percent to 847 million while revenue
  from its international stores (United Kingdom,
  Germany, France, and Japan) jumped 80 percent to
  684 million. At this rate, Amazon could be
  generating the majority of its revenues from
  outside the US by the end of 2005.

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Coca-Cola

• Coca-Cola, which already brings in more than
  two-thirds of its sales and four-fifths of its
  profits from overseas markets, is pressing ahead
  with its global expansion. Management stressed
  last month that Asia and Europe are the two
  markets it is most focused on these days.

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IDCs Four Stages of Web-Site Globalization

• Tin Company does nothing to localize. All
  international visitors must use the original home
  site and be proficient in that countrys
  language.
• Bronze Web site contains basic information about
  the companys operations in foreign countries.
  Foreign language versions of the site exist, but
  theyre only mirrors or copies.
• Silver Company allows each branch office to
  tailor its version of the site to the local
  marketplace. A great deal of independent local
  development occurs.
• Gold Company provides common global platform for
  all local sites. Branch offices may tailor local
  site to the local market within global
  guidelines.

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I18n?

• "I18n" is an abbreviation for the word
  "internationalization". The term "i18n" is
  derived from its spelling as the letter "i" plus
  18 letters plus the letter "n".
• This type of abbreviation is numeronym- a number
  based word. Examples include "K9" for canine, and
  the French "K7", pronounced "K-sept" for the word
  cassette. Another example is "411" for the
  concept of "information".

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Story

• There was a fortune 500 company that build a
  large and successful business. the company
  made several foreign acquisitions Acquisitions
  usually mean leveraging the company's existing
  infrastructure so manager wanted to immediately
  Globalize (whatever that means) there current web
  site.
• What they found was the no one had any experience
  in "globalizing" and that there had never been
  any consideration for making this site global.
  
• In fact the programming practices being used made
  globalizing expensive, required substantial
  rework of existing code and require a large QA
  effort.

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Key Leaning

• Different and conflict definitions for I18N,
  G11N, and L10N exists
  
• Most IT staffers have no experience (or first
  hand knowledge) of I18N activities
  
• No grads have no course related education
  relating to I18N activities
  
• It is harder and takes longer then expected
• Testing of I18N projects is critical
• Staff worked extensive training
• Hiring someone with real experience helps
• Good partners are important (check references)

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Developers and their managers often grossly
underestimate the level of effort and attention
to detail required to create a world ready
application

• Source Developing International Software

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Software Globalization

• The process of creating globalize software has
  two facets
  
• "internationalization," which covers generic
  coding and design issues, and
  
• "localization," which involves translating and
  customizing a product for a specific market.

Source Developing International Software for
Windows 95 and Windows NT
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Layout Issue
This edit control occurs in the middle of a
sentence.
In its German localization, the edit control had
to be repositioned so that what it represented
could fit syntactically in the German
translation.
When localized into German, there is no need to
reposition the edit control.
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Avoid Text In Graphics
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Earlier image used to represent mail, versus the
newer and more culturally-appropriate image.
Source http//www.microsoft.com/globaldev/getwr/s
teps/wrg_uiloc.mspx
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Which is better?
Rather than using the hand to represent the
action of stopping, use the internationally-accept
ed stop sign.
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Images
What is wrong with this picture?
Beware of Gender-Specific Roles and Ethnic
Stereotypes in Other Cultures

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We make hidden messages obvious!
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Locale/Cultural Awareness

•  Use Locale Model
•  Sorting String Comparison
•  Calendar Differences
•  Date Formatting
•  Time Formatting
•  Currency Formatting
•  Number Formatting
•  Addresses
•  Telephone Numbers
•  Paper Size
•  Units of Measurement

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Encoding
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Source http//www.xencraft.com/resources/webi18nt
utorial.pdf
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Web site localization challenges

• The information that is to be localized may be
  distributed in many places and file types such
  as in HTML, JavaScript, XML, text, graphics,
  resource files, Flash, database contents.
• Depending on how the text is fragmented and
  reconstituted, it can be problematic to translate
  and know how the text will be used. I.E. to know
  the space available, the semantic context and the
  grammatical relationship to associated text.
• Many web sites are first designed without
  planning for internationalization or
  localization. It can be difficult and expensive
  to retrofit the requirements of
  internationalization and localization into a
  system that has not planned for it.
• For example, if the text is not externalized from
  the programming, there can be a sizable effort to
  extract and separate the text from code.
  
• Depending on how the text is manipulated and
  concatenated, some reprogramming may be needed so
  that translated text is pieced together
  sensibly.

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Web Site Globalization Process
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The Benefits of Web Globalization

• Consistent brand message Here's your chance to
  achieve and increase consistent brand messaging
  around the world with your Web site.
  
• Broader corporate identity Your globalized Web
  site can position you as an international
  marketing presence, side by side with other world
  class global companies.
• New markets Globalization represents an
  attractive alternative that complements your
  traditional marketing channels and opens up a
  world of new possibilities.
• Lower sales and marketing costs Since all of
  your product and service information is readily
  available on the Web in many languages, your
  sales and marketing costs can be significantly
  lowered.
• Global markets that never close Customers in any
  time zone can have instant access to your
  products and services 24 hours a day, 365 days a
  year.
• Speed to market You can introduce new products
  and services to a global audience with lightning
  speed.

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An example of localized icons / images.
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Table 3. Locale Differences Between US and China
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Hofstede

• Hofstede identified five dimensions and rated 53
  countries on indices for each dimension,
  normalized to values (usually) of 0 to 100. His
  five dimensions of culture are the following
• Power-distance a measure of the inequality
  between bosses and inferiors
  
• Collectivism vs. individualism We vs. I
• Masculinity vs. femininity achievement- versus
  relationship-orientation
  
• Uncertainty avoidance the degree to which one
  is comfortable with ambiguous situations the
  degree to which one is comfortable with ambiguous
  situations
• Long- vs. short-term orientation Confucian
  Dynamism

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Confucian Dynamism
LTO Long Term Orientation
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Implications to Web User Interface Design

• Based on this definition, we believe power
  distance may influence the following aspects of
  user-interface and Web design
  
• Access to information highly (high PD) vs.
  less-highly (low PD) structured.
  
• Hierarchies in mental models tall vs. shallow.
• Emphasis on the social and moral order (e.g.,
  nationalism or religion) and its symbols
  significant/frequent vs. minor/infrequent use.
  
• Focus on expertise, authority, experts,
  certifications, official stamps, or logos strong
  vs. weak.
  
• Prominence given to leaders vs. citizens,
  customers, or employees.
  
• Importance of security and restrictions or
  barriers to access explicit, enforced, frequent
  restrictions on users vs. transparent,
  integrated, implicit freedom to roam.
• Social roles used to organize information (e.g.,
  a managers' section obvious to all but sealed off
  from non-managers) frequent vs. infrequent

Source A. Marcus and E. W. Gould, "Cultural
Dimensions and Global Web User-Interface Design
What? So What? Now What?" Proceedings of the 6th
Conference on Human Factors and the Web, Austin,
TX, June 19, 2000.
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IBM Taiwan
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IBM USA
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IBM Japan
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IBM Demark
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The Universiti Utara Malaysia ( www.uum.edu.my)

• is located in Malaysia, a country with a PD index
  rating of 104, the highest in Hofstede's
  analysis.

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Ichthus Hogeschool ( www.ichthus-rdam.nl)

• Netherlands, with a PD index rating of 38.

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The Universiti Utara Malaysia ( www.uum.edu.my)
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Table 4. A comparison of the links at the top of
Amazon's web pages
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eBay.com
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Selling Shoes Online

• One site with U.K. gender distinction
• Different conversions to U.S. womens
• Why have a mens-womens conversion?
• Is all of Europe the same?
• Europe includes which countries?
• Variations by shoe manufacturer?
• Mistakes by the web page author?
• What do customers from other countries do, if
  they want to purchase online?
  

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Recommendations

• Fully leverage and carefully choose your local
  partnerships
  
• Take a planned incremental approach to
  localization.
  
• Dont underestimate the importance or
  complexities of globalization.
  
• Invest in properly maintaining and managing your
  localized Web sites.
  
• Put the user experience first.

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G11N Proposed Solution

• Use Visual Studio .NET and Visual Basic .NET
• Externalize all possible text into resource
  files
  
• Allow .NETs native G11N support handle most of
  the work
  
• Define a structure and approach that will allow
  L10N with NO CODE CHANGES!!