[ad_1]
Did you know that the TNW Couch Conference has a track totally dedicated to exploring new design trends this year? Check out the full “Sprint” program here.
Having started MING Labs in China in 2011, we’ve seen tremendous development from the old world of Internet overlay landing pages to today’s world-class defining digital design products. In parallel, we’ve seen the shift from clunky desktop apps with small user bases to the first mobile B2C revolution for the rise of super apps that are the new all-encompassing ecosystems on the market.
Throughout these major changes in digital products and behaviors, some preferences have remained constant and differ from those in Western markets. Understanding what is really different, and what is just a different stage of development, is an important factor when launching your product on the market. From key differences in user experience requirements to a preference for larger ecosystems and a different understanding of value, China is unique in many ways (as are other markets, no doubt).
Over the years, we have helped many new companies and multinationals launch their products, built and validated in their national markets, in the Chinese market.
In doing so, we have seen many of those differences in action and come to some conclusions about what a good approach to scale to China should be.
Read: [Good design should be inclusive and accessible — but what’s the difference?]
Therefore, this article is intended primarily for those who actively think, commission, or work to expand in the Chinese market and wonder what that means for their digital products and services.
Three options in adaptation
When you launch into a new market that has some important differences from your local market, you essentially have three options in product tailoring.
1. Minimum
At a minimum, you will need to translate the interface into Mandarin to make your product accessible. Also, there may be certain legal requirements for your industry that you will have to adapt to if you want to do business in China. It may also be necessary to replace certain pieces of technology to get through the Great Firewall (many western services are blocked).
2. Located
At this stage, you may be redesigning the user experience for your product to suit local market tastes, or you may port your product to local platforms (such as WeChat and Alibaba ecosystems). In Marketing, you can also tailor your message to emphasize points that would resonate most with Chinese customers.
3. Business in China
In some cases, it may be necessary or advantageous to pivot your target audience or business model, resulting in a very different way of doing business. Your core value creation may still be relevant, however other parts of the business have to change dramatically. We call this “China Business”, as local operations will be very different for your other operations in a Focused on China Getting closer.
The downside here is that with increasing customization of China, you are reducing your economies of scale, as a highly localized company will not be scalable to other markets and will require many local and dedicated resources, the learning of which it cannot leverage in your global expansion. At the same time, a low level of customization will remain highly scalable, but may not be successful as it is a very specific market.
That compensation and the decision are not trivial at all. Finding a good answer usually requires adopting a beginner mindset (going back to the Exploration stage) and first testing your product and value proposition locally.
Suppose you have lost the product market tightening by entering China, and start again with an open mind, local research, and quick iterations towards the right approach.
In the following parts, we will assume that you have reached your conclusion and are opting for a localized approach (since Minimal is straightforward and China Business goes to Business Design). What exactly are the differences in UX design and local platforms that you need to watch out for and adapt to?
Cultural differences that matter
Some of the design and interaction preferences are rooted in Chinese culture. There are few things to keep in mind that make a big difference:
1. Collectivism
In an international score of individualistic versus collectivist cultures, China is among the highest on the collectivist scale. This means that each context is about the group, the largest unit, and it is not desirable to deviate from the group norms or stand out. Similarly, group approval and high degrees of communication and social context are important.
2. High context culture
Chinese culture, and also language, have a very high context. This means that each interaction must be viewed through countless context lenses, rather than taken literally. In a low context culture, a “no” is a “no”. In a high-context culture, it can mean “ask again,” “not yet,” “not like this,” “your boss asking me,” “let’s have a drink first,” or many other things. The context of when it is said, how and by whom it matters to understand the answer.
3. Chinese calligraphy
4. Complex language
The Chinese language is low in grammatical complexity, but very intense in vocabulary complexity. There are over 20,000 characters in use and different combinations mean different things. Not only is it very tedious to type in Chinese (which means drawing characters or typing Pinyin to find the correct characters), but it is also impossible for search engines to understand if you made a mistake in your query and suggest corrections.
These are substantial differences from the West and also from some other Asian cultures. And they invariably manifest themselves in specific preferences for social interaction to communication styles and UX design.
UX in China – some tips
Cultural differences are manifested in different preferences regarding user experience and service design, produced by the services you see today on the Internet in China. While they often have western inspirations or counterparts, they work differently in some key ways. Even:
1. Practicality> Aesthetics
Because Chinese typing is painful and automatic correction is not an option, websites are created to allow navigation as the main behavior instead of searching. What that also means is that the aggregation functionality is popular, as the quantity and context make it seem useful rather than messy. From the early stages of the Internet and local differences, patterns have formed that are now deeply ingrained. Respect them and don’t try to “light them up.”
2. Social anywhere
Everything lives within a social context and the group is more important than the individual. Therefore, everyone is always connected and sharing. Wangwang is very important to Alibaba, because users do not trust the information on the website. They want to talk to people. Similarly, reviews are more reliable than in the West. Don’t save on customer service. Always have direct contact and chat forms available.
3. Everything connected
There is no isolated experience, it is always embedded in a context and connected to everything else. O2O is a very important trend that has taken over much of the physical space in China. The key is to eliminate media friction and disruption for consumers and connect experiences in the most direct way possible. The most popular services in China are dynamic, lively, high-context, and engaging, offering discounts, games, and other interactions.
Here are some guiding principles to keep in mind when redesigning your digital experience for China. Driven by cultural differences, these are the expectations that exist today with consumers towards any product or service.
How you incorporate them depends on your creativity, and we’d again recommend short, quick feedback / iteration cycles and a discovery mindset, rather than a big-bang design approach.
Rise of super applications
Any ideas about product adaptations for China would be incomplete without the considerations of local platforms, super apps in the first place. These are apps owned by the main ecosystem players in China (Alibaba, Meituan, Tencent), which add many different services in one point of contact, offer fundamental layers of identity and payments to link them and allow third parties to write small apps that can be dragged into that powerful context.
Since their platforms essentially monopolize the attention of consumers in vertical markets, the companies that own them generally let new trends develop, invest in them, and then buy them. Thus, creating ever larger kingdoms that enclose consumers. Therefore, they are an excellent distribution channel and are very open to associate and allow new participants. It also means that without them, you face a tough uphill battle.
Of course there is compensations to consider. Where Amazon runs the risk of the market introducing its own brand of products to put a price on it, Alibaba is essentially the owner and its data, with complete disregard for who wins the battle for their wallet. If you enter with a new product, Chinese competitors will soon copy it and there is no one to protect you from it.
In terms of platforms, everyone is probably more or less familiar with WeChat and Alipay. Some of the key ecosystems that are open to some extent to integrate. The way to get there, except for the acquisition, are mini-programs. This is an upward trend of applications in applications that are becoming very important for companies.
Mini programs represent the majority of customer interaction already in all verticals of the main consumers. They really only launched in their current form over a year ago, but they’re taking over quickly. They are becoming entry points for brand engagement, from shared content to quick entry to official accounts. Mini programs are the new interaction between the beachhead and the client.
They are not great for retention. They generally perform less well than other proprietary touchpoints, such as native apps and web apps, in terms of retention. Tencent has invested a lot of effort to make them stickier and they are already improving. However, with great barriers for people to install native applications, Mini Programs are an excellent entry point to then guide people to install native applications.
Mini programs are ideal for low frequency, simple use cases. Entry is easy, retention is low. However, they are powerful in mitigating media breaks and reducing friction. Therefore, identifying the correct use case is key. How to order at the table in a restaurant. The more complex or frequent a use case is, the greater the need for an application or web application.
The epitome of VUCA
In China, customer preferences are changing rapidly and markets are moving fast.
Competition is happening at breakneck pace, and today’s lauded innovation is tomorrow’s next spectacular failure. In order to launch successfully in this environment, it is essential to maintain a browser mindset, be aware of underlying fundamental differences, and iterate quickly. And to continue iterating and adapting even after a successful launch, as the market and customers will continue to move forward, in a country where change has been the only constant for decades.
This article was originally published on uxdesign.cc
Crown coverage
Read our daily coverage on how the tech industry is responding to coronavirus and subscribe to our weekly Coronavirus in Context newsletter.
For tips and tricks on how to work remotely, check out our Growth Quarters articles here or follow us on Twitter.
[ad_2]
