About site: Internet/Web Design and Development/Web Usability - Szuc, Daniel: Usability in Hong Kong

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Title: Internet/Web Design and Development/Web Usability - Szuc, Daniel: Usability in Hong Kong Interview detailing the approach to web usability in Hong Kong.

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WebWord Interview > Usability in Hong Kong WebWord.com > Interviews > Usability in Hong Kong (4-Feb-2002)

Usability in Hong Kong

An interview with Daniel Szuc, a usability professional in Hong Kong. Conducted via email by John S. Rhodes (4-February-2002)

Quick Introduction

Who are you? What is your background? My name is Daniel (Dano) Szuc and I am originally from Melbourne, Australia - now living in Hong Kong. My first job was a windows programmer at Telstra Australia developing GUI applications in MS Access. After working 1-2 years in development with some very talented programmers (i.e. people who without any prior knowledge of a programming language, could read the manual before lunch and start coding after lunch), I promptly decided that programming was not the game for me. However during my early project involvement I took a natural liking for how screens were designed and trying to make an application as 'user friendly' as I could with the customer in the forefront of my thinking. Initially I thought user friendly was simply about good screen design and naming of screen objects. However, I discovered, after meeting some Telstra members of the 'Human Factors Group' at the Telstra Research Labs that there was a wider field of research called HCI, usability etc and that screen design was only one part of this larger usability world. At the same time a "usability team" was being formed in the IT Group of Telstra so I applied thinking this would be a good opportunity to learn more about usability and implement this in projects across Telstra. After 3-4 years working in a usability team, I traveled the world, last stop Hong Kong. Where do you work? What is your role? Currently working at Apogee Communications as a usability consultant; building the buzz around usability and customer centered thinking.

Usability in Hong Kong

How is usability testing different in Hong Kong? Main differences include: Preparation and marketing: HK companies have heard of focus groups but not many understand the difference between a focus group and a usability test or evaluation. Because people don't really know or may not have heard about usability, we place more effort on educating and briefing all the stakeholders to ensure a clearer understanding of the objectives of the usability test. Asian Men are time, task and success focused. Men want to complete a task independent of the amount of time allocated in a usability session. Asian men consider it a failure if they are not able to complete the task. So you have to reiterate the purpose of the test and that its ok if they want to 'abandon' a task. Asian Men will also often want to know the answer or success point of a task as they do not want to be seen as failing. They try and drill down to the information they need with speed and consider this the highest priority and are not open to saying if they "don't know" something. Asian Women are more willing to abandon a task if they cannot find the information they want. They are not as concerned if they fail to complete a task. Age: Consideration is always given to asking age questions. This is especially true of Asian women who can be sensitive to this. Evaluation timings: We usually schedule at least an extra 30 minutes between each test, as users like to come "fashionably" late in HK. Reporting of results: The customer expects results to be reported much faster including recommendations for fixes. What is the state of the web industry in Hong Kong? What are your primary challenges? Overall, the HK web industry is at a point where 'cool' is seen as better and design centric sites with heavy flash, pop ups and lack of standards is an accepted norm. Senior Managers are impressed by 'cool designs' and impressing shareholders and not sites that will provide a task supportive and positive experience Understanding Users - hard to sell usability earlier in the development lifecycle (suggest this is what may usability practitioners suffer) Marketing and IT having guesses at who the target users are and sites copy functions of US sites without really thinking if there is a real use or need for the function in the first place. What value would this offer my customers? No real task analysis is completed. Educating industry as to the benefits of usability and involving users as early in the development process as possible. That "cool" is not necessarily "useful". Overuse of what I call 'flash splash' screens. Speed - quick is perceived as better, independent of quality. This can been seen in many aspects of Hong Kong life and is true of systems development. The challenge is to try and implement usability methods that can offer value as you rocket down the development path. However, some see this as 'slowing' the process. Many businesses think that - "if it looks cool, it has to be useful". This is seen through the overuse of Flash and Flash introductions, lack of white space use, overuse of advertising graphics, blinking text and non-standard link colors. Do users in Hong Kong work and interact with web sites differently than other users around the world? How? HK people get bored very quickly as its a small place with many other distractions to offer some value for your time, distractions can include shopping, seeing a movie, visiting an island or a quick trip to another close destination in Asia. Think this is true of web sites - if they don't have a quick value 'fix' - then HK users will quickly exit. Ordering online is not a high priority. This is mainly because of the ease of reach of products and services in HK and confirmed in a recent usability walkthrough of some "product and service" pages where online ordering was rated very low. More patience to put up with badly designed systems. Users appear to be more willing to accept poorly designed interfaces. Perhaps this is related to the lack of maturity in web design on some HK sites. Time is valuable. This is closely related to the business speed in HK and people asking for a real value for their time. Giving a gift at the end of an evaluation session is especially appreciated in Asia. What are the main usability issues for Hong Kong users? For example, are there serious bandwidth issues? Are there language barriers? Are there any interesting cultural issues? Are there any gender issues? See above. Would like to research this further but think that HK users have an amazing ability to put up with bad design. For example, sites that have a heavy dependence on Flash and an overuse of distracting animations, colors, lack of standards and pop-up windows. As mentioned, HK is renowned for its speed!! In this case speed of implementing broadband with the added advantage of being a small place. Companies like PCCW and i-cable have taken advantage of this rolling out broadband services to HK estates. However, there are people still using dial ups. What do users in Hong Kong think of shopping online? What are the major issues? How advanced are web sites in this respect? How advanced are web sites in this respect? Buying online. HK users are reluctant to buy or transact online due to lack of trust. HK users prefer to physically shop and browse products. Ordering online is not a high priority. This is mainly because of the ease of reach of products and services in HK and confirmed in a recent usability walkthrough of some "product and service" pages where online ordering was rated very low. Only 4 percent of Internet users in Hong Kong bought online in the past year. Security, customer service, and proximity to offline stores seem to be the main reasons that Hong Kong Internet users are not that interested in shopping online. HK was also slow to move on payments online as the banking sector is conservative which may have been a contributing factor of not wanting to shop online. What do you users in Hong Kong think of Flash? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it abused? Does it work well? HK users appear to like Flash as they are very drawn to the animations, colors and heavily designed web sites. However, I think the HK designer community misuse flash, especially with reference to the "splash flash screen" which I plan to write more on in my Feb 2002 article : "The death of the Flash splash screen" What are the best Hong Kong web sites? Why? Some of the more 'popular' HK sites are ones that work to satisfy a specific tasks and needs of its users. They have very clear, succinct and minimalist objectives and aim to do a few things well. Sites that also satisfy the 'content' requirements of local users also do fair well including www.sina.com.hk and www.yahoo.com.hk The HK sites that fail are ones that try and copy and approach (design, site structure and functions) that may work in the US but may not suit the surfing or cultural habits of the local market. This was especially true in 1999/2000 where we noticed many local portal companies launch with big campaigns and fizzle out just as quickly. Other examples of good sites include: Booking movie tickets online - www.cityline.com.hk, www.cinema.com.hk Local content - www.sina.com.hk, www.yahoo.com.hk Banking sites - checking your balance, statement of accounts, transferring funds - www.hsbc.com.hk Airlines - www.cathaypacific.com.hk Food shopping - www.parknshop.com, www.wellcome.com Note: We have not evaluated the usability of these sites, but suggest usage would be quite high as they have a clear purpose and focus on assisting the users efficiently complete tasks on the site. Do you have any final comments? Did I leave anything out? What should every person remember about this interview? The importance of "simplicity" and how getting even a small amount of "user" or "customer" input can provide incredibly valuable data that can be re-implemented to assist a product or service succeed in the marketplace. Editor's Comments Daniel, thank you for giving us the Hong Kong perspective on usability. -- John S. Rhodes

What next?

Tell a friend or colleague about this interview. If you want to know when new interviews go online, subscribe to the WebWord.com Usability Newsletter! Read another WebWord.com interview: Dave's Quick Search Deskbar an interview with Dave Bau Feel free to create a link to this interview. If you want to know when new interviews go online, subscribe to the WebWord.com Usability Newsletter! Home | Moving WebWord | Cool Books | Hot Web Sites | Reports | Newsletter Archive | Interviews | About WebWord.com Contact John S. Rhodes, WebWord.com Editor and Webmaster URL: http://webword.com/interviews/szuc.html � 2002 by WebWord.com. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce or redistribute any material from this document, in whole or in part, without explicit written permission from WebWord.com.

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