In this blog post, inspired by a German blog by Christian Seifert, I shall look at some of the interface design challenges that interface designers encounter when porting a website over to its Chinese version.
One of the very first things to consider is the text. In Chinese, the text length differs dramatically. Chinese text takes up far less space than the Western script. This means you may have to rearrange parts of your interface design layout. So expect your translated text to do much more with much less on your interface design.
Furthermore, the calligraphy can be read in any direction but the familiar Western layout of horizontal rows from left to right, read from the top of the page to the bottom, has become more popular. Nevertheless, it may not suffice to translate the text of your website into one Chinese version. In order for your interface design to succeed in China, a localization and adaptation to the expectations of Chinese users is required.
The images will also have to be different to reflect the Chinese market. Websites in China tend to be more colorful than those in Europe or North America. Bright, cartoony colors abound on Chinese websites. So, be sure not to simply retain the “Western” interface design asthetics, but rather do some research on the perceptions held by Chinese users. Utilizing usability tests may be a powerful avenue.
Interface designers would do well to follow Chinese design conventions. An example of this is with Yahoo. To a European-language speaking eye, the Chinese version of Yahoo looks very noisy and busy. In addition, a European reader may find the contrast of colors within the interface design astonishing. Yet, this style is customary in Chinese websites and will have to be emulated in your interface design to appease a Chinese audience.
In addition to the purely software-related factors, you need to consider the technological environment in which your Chinese website will be used. One important example is that your interface design should be optimized for Internet Explorer which is far and away the most popular browser in China.
Besides interface design concerns, other things to consider include hosting your website on local servers in china to ensure faster access. As far as search engine optimization goes Baidu.cn’s 62% market share dwarfs Google’s so you can’t afford to overlook it. Furthermore, websites ending with a .cn domain name are ranked higher on Chinese websites.
As is true so often in multi-cultural contexts, whenever in doubt, you may consider involving experts, both in questions of porting the website into Chinese and testing its usability with Chinese users.