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Practicing Usability in Hong Kong - 26 November 2005
by Eleanor Lisney
Read this article in Chinese (Proof read by Christina Li)
Here at the uiGarden, we have been having discussions on whether there are cultural differences between practicing usability in the West and the Far East. In an exploration of the theme, we interviewed Apogee’s own Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong. They give their own uptakes of the discussion and offer us their insights from their own experiences of working in Hong Kong.
uiGarden
Apogee
What are some of the differences you notice with user behaviour(s) in Hong Kong?
Daniel – We have seen users’web habits mature very quickly over the last 5 years as the web has become more main stream in Hong Kong, including banking, paying bills, broadband TV, buying tickets, blogging, shopping etc. To my surprise, the web took some time to arrive in full force in Hong Kong so we have really only been watching people use it since 1999. It will be interesting to watch the differences between not only users in Hong Kong, but users across the region including: mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan and India to name but a few.
Jo – In 1999, the web was a new medium so users were willing to put up with “more crap” including bad design, congested pages, animations, flash splash pages and company centric sites offering no real value to users. Users were more patient and willing to play with sites that looked “cool” but did not offer fast paths to get to the information they needed. Part of our challenge, and which is still our challenge now, was to get companies to understand their users and get them involved in the product development process.
Daniel – As we fast forward to 2005, we see user behavior has changed in Hong Kong. Users are not as patient anymore and are looking more to web sites that support their needs faster: pay my bill, get my balance, find a product etc. This matches with the attitude of Hong Kong people – they want things fast and they will work around anything that gets in their way. The more efficiently and conveniently it’s offered to the user the better. This would suggest that some of this behavior is crossing over onto the web. On first arriving in Hong Kong, I was amazed at how relentless the city is – very, very fast and adaptable. This suggests we are also quite spoilt in Hong Kong with high penetration rates of both broadband and access to internet so it’s easy to forget that our target users in other markets may not have the benefits of our infrastructure. We are also working with a user community who are hungry for mobile phones, music players and gadgets in general.
Jo – Users are “task focused”. When the internet was new to Hong Kong, people enjoyed surfing the web and just browsing around (and this still happens to a smaller degree). But when users become more mature and with more web sites being added every day, users want to use the internet as a channel to do things. (See: Choosing the Right Channel for Communicating with Customers)
Daniel – Perhaps the rest of the world is now catching up with the Hong Kong speed – show me what I want quickly or get out of my way.
When running Usability Testing – What cultural differences have you noticed in Hong Kong/China as opposed to testing the West?
Daniel – This is getting harder for me, as a Westerner to answer as every year passes, as I spend more time in Asia, getting more exposure in Asian countries and becoming more distanced from Usability in the West.
Some differences we have noticed in running usability tests include: Note – We understand some of these can be applicable to running usability tests in the West.
- Fast delivery – Projects can creep up on you and the time to run and report on the testing is rapid.
- Reporting – Report on the methodology as Usability is still new to many but don’t spend too long on it. Get to the results fast.
- Finding a lab – Formal usability labs are harder to source and not always in places that’s easy for people to get to. So we use conference rooms and for some projects – a café.
- Convenience first – It’s important to find facilities that are centrally located and much of our testing is done on Hong Kong island allowing people to get to the facility quickly.
- User availability – Users are generally not available during the day – most people work during the day in Hong Kong so it’s more challenging to schedule day time sessions.
- The best incentive is money – Although we have not tried offering other types of incentive
- Courtesy is the best policy – taking some lessons from the courtesy shown at the many restaurants and shops in Hong Kong, we use the same techniques when running usability sessions. When people enter a usability test, show courtesy and take time to introduce them to the environment as you would if they were visiting your home.
- Gain trust – As a facilitator it’s always important to gain trust quickly so that users feel open to giving their best feedback. However, it’s especially important as a Western facilitator to gain the trust so that Chinese users feel more open to giving feedback (remember English is not their first language). So many Westerners forget this and get frustrated if Chinese users don’t understand the meaning. Part of gaining trust is to also ensure the user that you are not part of the development team.
- Communicate clearly and clarify – When I facilitate usability tests I always remember the 3 C’s and remember that for many users, English is not their first language. Communicate instructions clearly (without dumbing it down), describe it clearly and ensure that you are ready to clarify. We also ensure that we have one Western and one Chinese facilitator in case there are any terms that need further clarification in Chinese.
- Translate Hong Kong English – You get better at understand meaning of Hong Kong English (Ch-english) and translating this into English. Many users will explain or describe experience as they would in Cantonese but say it in English. You get better at understanding the meaning of briefer statements in Hong Kong English and being able to translate this into a finding.
- Keep it brief – Users want to get into the heart of the test faster. It’s still important to have clear instructions and follow the right protocols, but you can also afford to reduce the script.
Jo – Users are normally more reserved when commenting, they sometimes will indirectly criticize the product, as a facilitator, you have to know when to explore a “subtle indicator” and ask the right questions to get the information. Users in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan communicate differently although they all speak Chinese. Speak their language and learn more about the local culture helps enormously.
What were some of the challenges you noticed in Hong Kong when selling usability?
Daniel – When we decided to focus on Usability in the Hong Kong market it presented both a challenge and opportunity. We knew we had to educate the market as to the importance of usability and we also knew we were dealing with a market that could care less. It was especially challenging in our early years as we were working in a market that was new to the web and was more open to poor design.
Jo – As the market has changed in Hong Kong, and as business has become savvier about IT and the true possibility of a web channel, this has helped our business. I think Usability is seen as something that’s employed when companies are looking at maturing their products or web channel. You also have to be able to clearly differentiate between more traditional”market research” activities like Focus Groups and Usability. It’s best to talk to both the benefits and limitations of each. Focus Groups are popular in Hong Kong, so presenting some alternatives can help people better understand the benefits of usability. We are learning to keep the messages and sell simple – sometimes we “usability folks” get so caught up in our own jargon, we forget how to communicate what we do simply. Finally, time – it’s important to keep the presentations brief and communicate the key points earlier, leaving more time for questions.
Daniel – It’s also important to speak directly to a decision maker who can see the benefits of usability in the long term. Because Hong Kong is a very fast paced city and can change quickly, some people see only the short term and unless there is immediate gain, they do not see the value.
How do you get businesses interested in Usability in Asia? Any tips or techniques?
Daniel – The benefit I think for many Westerners to enjoy in Hong Kong is that it’s a relatively small business community. So it’s not as challenging to speak with C-level folks in Hong Kong who perhaps are more open to listening to the Usability story, as it might be in countries like Australia or the US. Speaking to people on the “business side” of a business and strategically minded folks helps the usability cause. We rarely sell to IT as they have more of an implementation role in Hong Kong and are, therefore, less interested.
Daniel & Jo – Some tips:
- Understand their business
- Understand their products and services
- Understand who they think their customers are
- Understand any research they may have already completed
- Understand the issues they are facing and areas they want to improve
- Understand their competitors and where they could be doing better
- Start with a small win first and see if you can communicate this win to other projects
- Sell to a company you think would have budget to allocate to Usability (involved in larger developments)
- Sell to a company that has larger product teams
- Sell to teams responsible for web site (communications, design, development)
Jo – Talk to the right people and identify a champion. Show the clients that there are other ways of gathering user needs instead of just relying purely on focus groups.
Why did Apogee decide to focus on Usability in the first place?
Daniel – Like many agencies in Hong Kong in 1999 we also did our share of web development on small to medium sites. As I had some usability experience from working in a Usability Team at Telstra Australia, we used some the usability lessons learnt to implement into the development of web sites “by stealth”, but did not focus on Usability as a core service offering. As more businesses entered the market developing web sites, it was becoming harder and harder to compete on purely design. So we decided to “take the plunge”, differentiate and focus purely on Usability.
So one day standing over the white board, I explained some of what I had learnt at Telstra on usability and how I think development teams and business in Hong Kong could benefit. A business was started…
We were also fortunate early in the business to meet a strategy person at HK telecom who understood the benefits of usability and he introduced us to the team responsible for their public facing web site. This enabled us to form a solid foundation of tools and training and also use this opportunity to talk to other product teams.
Jo – We can see the needs and future of usability in Asian market as more Asian products are trying to be more competitive internationally and more international products are trying to learn and get into the Asian market. Also many companies are moving some of their R&D or product development into China and the importance of usability is already playing a role. For example, last year we helped organise a UPA event called “User Friendly 2004” and enjoyed an attendance of more than 200 people from companies like Yahoo, eBay, IBM, Huawei, Siemens to name a few. So it’s certainly a topic that is coming up on the radar. See: It’s All Happening in China – A Report from User Friendly 2004.
Is web accessibility a consideration at all in your usability testing?
Daniel – Web accessibility is an important part of simplifying a web site and a close cousin of usability. Unfortunately, we find that fewer companies are interested in it and suggest part of this relates to accessibility not getting the same amount of legal or Government support that it seems to be getting in the UK, Australia and US. Just as we needed to educate the market about Usability 5 years ago, we will probably need to do the same for accessibility. I suggest the best approach is to aim for some basic accessibility standards.
Jo – Our current usability testing scope does not included web accessibility. We advise our clients to keep the site as simple and flash free as possible which is very basic web accessibility. Unfortunately, web accessibility is not put as a high priority in companies. I’m helping with another NGO in Hong Kong promote web accessibility in companies and its extremely challenging. We don’t have the figures but as the Hong Kong population continues to age, there will be an increased older web user population coming online.
Thank you for your interesting insights, Daniel and Josephine. As you might have noticed from the added logo, Apogee is now our official sponsor. We wish them the best success in their endeavors!
Daniel Szuc
Daniel Szuc is the Principal Usability consultant with Apogee Usability Asia Ltd. – a Hong Kong-based usability company that assists companies in Asia like PCCW, HSBC, Cathay Pacific, Marriott, Yahoo and eBay make their products easier to use. He has also worked with Telstra Australia and IBM.Daniel has spoken on Usability in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Australia.
He is a founding member and President of the Usability Professionals Association chapter in Hong Kong and holds a BS in Information Management from Melbourne University Australia.
Josephine Wong
Josephine Wong is the co-founder of Apogee Communications and has been in Project Management for more than 8 years. In the past 4 years, Josephine has been practicing usability and promoting customer centred design in both HK and China.
Comments made
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Len
This is interesting. From what I see in Belgium and the rest of Europe, it is often not enough to convince the business people.
The decision to do usability testing is considered part of the development, implementation and for that matter to be decided by the IT department.
James
i like hongkong ..
i would like to visit hongkong again.