National Cultural Interpretations of Mobile Phone Design and Usage and Development of Cultural Design Framework: A Cross-Cultural Survey among Korea, China, and Japan

Abstract

A comparison of different cultural system is difficult to interpret without a specific cultural criterion. While there are many well-known cultural models such as Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions (HCD), there is none that can be specifically applied to design. Moreover, even though the comparison between the East and the West is often made, a research which focuses on globally spotlighted Asian region is rare. Therefore, this research is to build Cultural Design Framework (CDF) mobile phones based on cultural research and surveys among the 3 countries. This research defines cultural commonalities and differences in the mobile phone usage among Korea, China, and Japan. Furthermore, this study focuses on identifying a relationship between cultural characteristics and mobile phone usage, and on distinguishing cultural discrepancies reflected in the use of mobile phones. In addition, this research provides cultural insights into other cultures and proposes a guideline that meets the needs of mobile industry players that require a fast and inexpensive design and evaluation process within each respective target market.