Column: UX Across Cultures

In recent years, social ecommerce has rapidly emerged across the world by leveraging social interactions to drive online sales. Examples include influencer-driven shopping on Instagram in the US, Line Shopping’s chat-based social ecommerce in Japan and Thailand, and Pinduoduo’s group-buying model in China.

What I’ve found most interesting is the group-buying model in ecommerce, which originated in the West, but has become extremely successful in the East, especially with platforms such as Pinduoduo. I’ve explored how cultural factors influence this space and why they result in such different outcomes in the ecommerce industry. In this column, I’ll examine how Pinduoduo leverages social elements to design user experiences that influence consumers’ decision-making. Read More

When thinking about digital lending, we might picture a long journey—from onboarding, verification, and underwriting to repayment. But beneath these steps lies something that is more influential in shaping the lending UX design: risk culture.

Digital lending is not just about offering money online, then running the numbers. It’s about how people feel when they borrow, what they fear might go wrong, the level of uncertainty they are willing to accept, and the reassurances they need before committing. These perceptions and behaviors vary widely across cultures, largely depending on people’s levels of risk tolerance.

In this column, I’ll explore how risk-averse and risk-tolerant cultural mindsets shape digital lending behaviors, how the differences between them influence UX design decisions, and what UX designers should consider when building lending products for different cultural contexts. Read More

Artificial intelligence (AI) has penetrated nearly every aspect of our digital lives, from personalized recommendations on ecommerce platforms to complex systems for healthcare and finance. While AI might seem universal, cultural perspectives have great influence on its adoption. Western cultures often regard AI as a tool to enhance productivity, despite accompanying fears of job replacements and ethical concerns. In contrast, many Eastern cultures view AI as an extension of human collaboration rather than competition. These cultural perceptions shape not only how people integrate AI into their daily lives and how much they trust AI, but also how humans design AI.

This column explores how different cultures perceive AI, its limitations in understanding cultural nuances, and how design can enable AI to better reflect this diversity. Read More