HCDE 512: International Communication and User Experiences
Instructor: Zakiya Hanafi TA: Mania Orand
Quarter/Year: Autumn
Course Schedule: Mondays, 6:00 PM-9:45 PM
Location: Sav 131
Materials
Textbook: Hofstede, Geert, Hofstede, Gert Jan and Michael
Minkov. Cultures and Organizations: Intercultural Cooperation
and Its Importance for Survival (Revised and Expanded Third
Edition, McGraw Hill, 2010)
Course Description
Theory, research, and approaches for creating digital media for international audiences.
Topics include cultural schemata and contrastive rhetoric, content and text types and
corresponding translation and localization strategies, market relevance and adaptation,
international user research and usability, international policies and geopolitics, and
cross-cultural business management and team work.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students
 have foundational knowledge of culture research, cultural models and cultural
schemata
 are able to conduct basic market research including interpreting demographic
and socio economic data
 are aware of the role that history, tradition, and language play in the context of
intercultural communication
 have been exposed to applications to the above on a variety of case studies
 can discuss and analyze the impact of culture on a given user scenario, as well as
suggest solutions to address cultural conflicts in process planning, design, and
communication
Grading and Assignments
Assignment
Culture workgroup
Final paper
Description
Weight
Team report on culture, peer reviewed 30%
Choose one of the following. No longer 50%
than 5 pages:
 Summary and Critical Evaluation
of one of the class session topics
Due
Week 5
Week 9

Oral Participation
Evaluation of a product, website
or marketing campaign with
regards to its cultural relevance
and effectiveness
 Redesign of a product, web site
or marketing campaign to be
effective in another culture
Participation in discussions and class
preparation
20%
Course Schedule
Course Topics
WEEK 1 – October 3
Course Introduction
WEEK 2 – OCTOBER 10
Cultural Models & schema – overview and
introduction
WEEK 3 – OCTOBER 17
Cultural models and schema; Power
distance (PDI) and
Individualism/Collectivism (IDV)
WEEK 4 – OCTOBER 24
Masculinity and femininity (MAS) and
uncertainty avoidance (UAI); Marketing,
advertising, market segmentation
WEEK 5 – OCTOBER 31
Long-term orientation (LTO) and
Indulgence vs. Restraint (IVR); Brand
equity, consumer behavior
WEEK 6 – NOVEMBER 7
Global Design and Quality
WEEK 7 – NOVEMBER 14
Culture and language; Contrastive rhetoric
Translation
WEEK 8 – NOVEMBER 21
Culture and the web
WEEK 9 – NOVEMBER 28
Organizational cultures; Distributed
Teams; Cross-cultural communication
WEEK 10 – DECEMBER 5
Citizenship, government and culture

Set up of team project



Presentation planning
Country research discussion
Role determination

Work on culture presentations


Work on culture presentations
Peer reviews


Culture research due
Culture presentations

Term paper topics due (Web Q)

Term papers due