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Stereotyped by Design: Pitfalls in Cross-Cultural User Research
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Monday, March 30, 2020 • Advancing Research 2020
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Stereotyped by Design: Pitfalls in Cross-Cultural User Research
Speakers: Alba Villamil
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Summary

Today, technologists design for a diverse, globalized world. To reach untapped markets at home and abroad, design researchers are increasingly examining how “culture” influences user behavior and mental models. However, common approaches to cross-cultural research can underestimate user diversity and promote stereotypes that have little explanatory power for design. Using examples from research projects with immigrant communities, this talk explores various cultural frameworks that can help product teams produce meaningful insights about users who don’t share the same background.

Key Insights

  • Design researchers often assume whiteness as the default in user segmentation.

  • Umbrella terms like 'people of color' dangerously erase important subgroup differences and privilege some over others.

  • Models based on cultural values, like Hofstede’s dimensions, oversimplify behavior and obscure underlying business and systemic factors.

  • Observable design differences across cultures may be driven by economic and organizational structures, not culture itself.

  • Users’ behaviors are shaped by their frames—how they make sense of situations—not just by surface needs or obstacles.

  • Individual behavior deemed 'unhealthy' is often the result of systemic barriers rather than personal failure.

  • Hidden curricula—unspoken rules and knowledge—function as gatekeepers that advantage some users while disadvantaging others.

  • Systemic inequality operates at macro (policy), meso (institutional), and micro (cognitive) levels, all influencing user behavior.

  • Historical research like Moynihan’s report has perpetuated damaging cultural deficit myths rather than addressing institutional racism.

  • Research teams need diverse frames and critical self-awareness to minimize stereotyping and produce credible, empathetic insights.

Notable Quotes

"The word 'requires' implies whiteness is the default unless otherwise specified."

"Using 'people of color' as an umbrella term erases the most disadvantaged and privileges the least burdened."

"Cultural values models don't actually explain why people's behavior looks the way it does."

"In Japan, constantly designing new magazine layouts responds to the business model, not just aesthetics or creativity."

"Walking a long distance was not just about getting water but about bonding and social connection."

"Culture is the means by which people understand or make sense of the world around them."

"If you frame the classroom as the teacher’s domain, parents might avoid engagement to respect authority."

"Projects that focus on encouraging low income families to cook healthy food often blame individual failure instead of systemic barriers."

"Hidden curricula are the rules and knowledge you need to know to navigate an environment successfully."

"We have to make sure the design that comes out actually represents our ideals for what we want society to look like."

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