A project without any limits: International Web 2.0 test on MySpace

The background

The web 2.0 features the users. Social networking sites offer a platform to present a profile of oneself and exchange oneself with others. MySpace is a website that has been growing in the Internet of the second generation. The multilingual website is one of the most used social networking sites in the world. The main challenge for the originators of MySpace is now to offer all users worldwide a similarly attractive website.

The objective

What are the cultural differences of social networking sites? How do users behave in France or in China? What are the consequences for the design of the websites? These were the questions on which the test of User Interface Design GmbH (UID) and the International Usability Partners (IUP) was based. To find out the answers, the usability experts sounded the international MySpace users out.

The procedure

• International usability tests in Great Britain, Germany, Italy and China
• Qualitative interviews
• Evaluation and comparison of the results from all countries
• Presentation on the World Usability Day 2006 in Stuttgart

The result

There are country-specific differences
„The test shows that people in different countries use social networking sites differently.“, said Usability Engineer Jakob Biesterfeldt (UD). In Germany and Great Britain, they mainly serve as a medium to maintain private or business relationships. The users publish personal information to be recognised correctly. Users in China, however, rather look for new friends or strangers in the Internet and invent a new virtual web identity for themselves for security reasons.

The content of MySpace can be improved
Even if social websites are handled differently, the results as regards the start page of the community have been the same. All test respondents had difficulties in getting an overview of the MySpace Homepage. They rated the page as badly structured and unattractive as regards the design. When the user wanted to register, the next difficulty arose. As the figure shows, it is not self-explanatory which fields must be filled and which are optional. As a consequence, no test respondent was able to register without making mistakes.

An adjusted layout is necessary
In general, the test proofed that international user experience tests are indispensable for global websites. Only if we know and understand the cultural characteristics in the different target markets, we are able to design successful websites.

Project from 2007

Links for further information

• The International Usability Partners (IUP)
• News: World Usability Day 2006
• Website: www.myspace.com