Sub Cultures or Cross Cultures: Resolving Issues in the Design and Content of a Pan European Webzine Aimed at Teenagers

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Sub Cultures or Cross Cultures Resolving
Issues in the Design and Content of a Pan
European Webzine Aimed at Teenagers
Karen Gunter Dept. of Computing Mathematical SciencesGreenwich University
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The Project A Pan European Webzine for
Teenagers

• Aims
• Uniform content across websites, translations
  into host language
• Cool and universally understood topic headings
  no translation
• Acceptable across European cultures but biased
  towards Northern European

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Project Background

• Sponsored by a major car manufacturer
• Primarily aimed at German and British teenagers
• Definition of teenager was 16 to 24 !!!
• Differences between British and German Teenagers
• Problems with providing suitable editorial
  content

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Internationalization and Teen Culture

• Cross cultural problems are exaggerated when
  applied to teen markets
• Teen cultures are fragmented
• Even within the same culture and age group
• Teen cultures are tied to nationality
• Do not easily cross cultural boundaries
• Hofstedes categories do not apply

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Teen Webzine Topic Headings
Original Amended Benchmark Content
Be Life Lifestyle Lifestyle, Trends
Go Move Travel Mobility
Do Fun Entertainment Entertainment, Sport, Play
Get Start Advice Support, Guidance
Give Clan Chat Community, Sharing
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Questionnaire Example - 1
You are planning to visit New York and would like
to find out information about this city. Which of
the following categories would you be most likely
to choose?
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Questionnaire Example - 2
Your parents are going through a divorce, you
would like some guidance and support to help you
through this difficult situation. Which of the
following categories would you be most likely to
choose?
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Teen Webzine Topic Headings -2

• What the aim was
• To look cool
• Provide a cross cultural universal language
• What the audience thought
• Did not understand it
• Daft Brits more outspoken than Germans
• Young people want web content that is easy to
  navigate

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RU cool or just tragic

• Originators of website material did not
  understand diverse nature of audience
• Need to evaluate sub cultural as well as cross
  cultural needs
• Constantly changing use of language
• Teenspeak is incomprehensible
• They want to keep it that way
• Psuedo cool does not work

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Conclusions

• Fluid nature of teen culture a barrier to cross
  cultural design
• Key to designing successful websites
• An anthropological bias which considers minutiae
  of users world
• Bottom up consideration of cultural activity as
  lived experience