Human Computer Interaction (HCI), the study of interaction between people and computers, has been subjected to serious academic study in the last three decades. It can be viewed as the intersection of computer science, behavioral sciences, design and several other fields of study.
In Human Computer Interaction, the part of the computer that the human interacts with is called the interface. By user interface we mean the aggregate of means by which people interact with a machine, device, computer program, or some other complex tool.
The design concept of the interface is best explained in terms of schemata or mental models. Researchers of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) have been studying schemata and mental models as far back as the early 1980s.
A schema is a knowledge structure that represents a concept. For example, in order to recognize a landscape as a landscape, we must first cognitively create a schema of a landscape as an object that is composed of trees, hills, rocks, ground, sky, and wildlife in a particular order, and then recall the schema when we see it.
Authors and researchers point out that schemata are not limited to physical objects. Ewa Callahan (as cited by Nishida, Hammer, & Wiseman 1998) noted that schemata can be classified into knowledge about different types of people, knowledge about ourselves, knowledge about social roles, knowledge that relates to predictable sequences of events, and knowledge which contains information about processing rules.These various kinds of knowledge from different cultures show that users may have different knowledge structures for similar concepts so that different schemata may need to be constructed for each individual culture.
Just as the schemata are to be designed with awareness about the culture of the recipients, the culture of those who create them is extremely important. Computer and computer-related programs are human creations and as such will bear the imprints of the cultural nuances of those who create them. The very design of the software or the website is molded strictly in tune with the culture of the creator.
That is why researchers like Noelia Corte Fernandez (2000) say that the localization of a site is to be done by native people who have a very keen awareness about the target culture. The site should not merely use the target language; the content is to be appealing and feel local. The designers should know the culture well enough “to foresee which items may be seen as offensive or rude”
For example, in Muslim countries it is an offence to show a picture of a woman showing her arms or legs and in Greece a map showing Macedonia as an independent state may cause problems. An open palm to signal ‘stop’ may be very confusing or even offensive in certain cultures” (19). Similar is the case with colors.
The purpose of this research is to develop a culturally appropriate prototype for Wollotuka School of Indigenous Studies Website. The development of a conceptual prototype is the first major design step in website development. As this research is of an exploratory nature the research will employ the use of focus groups and interviews in order to collect design data. The research is intended to discover new ways to develop Aboriginal websites in a more culturally acceptable way.
The research will use discussion of cultural characteristics of the Wollotuka website with members of the audience to design believable representations of Aboriginal cultural practices in a digital website environment. This research will also explore whether some formats, such as such as audio, video, graphics are more suited to representing the Australian Aboriginal oral cultural tradition.
This research uses a staged process, to provide opportunities for comment and creative contribution from audience members at the beginning and in reponse to the preliminary work. The second stage of prototype development is a more conventional, professional activity but will be adapted to be more open-ended and responsive to the suggestions of individuals and the community as a whole.
The three stages also mirror a strong research design feature of qualitative research that builds in triangulation as a way to cross-validate findings and research decisions. In this case, there is also progression of the development of a cultural object- the website prototype- through the three stages.
Step #1 Exploratory Focus Group Discussion
2 x focus groups, using a small group of knowledgeable Aboriginal users and a moderator will be used to discuss the development of an interface design prototype and propose user tasks. The discussion will be loosely structured and will be focused on developing a website interface for an Aboriginal audience.
Step #2 Prototype Development
Based on the information gathered from the focus group discussions, multiple website design concepts will be prototyped in HTML on a computer screen. At this stage, the prototype is likely to include a homepage, contact and staff pages with basic graphics, colors, links and content outline.
Step #3 Community Prototype Review
In the participatory design sessions, participants will be shown the HTML prototype design concepts on screen and asked to suggest design improvements. These open, informal discussions will be used to develop and evolve design concepts. Participants will be asked what kind of information they would like displayed on the website and how they would like the information displayed. Modifications to the prototypes will be done in real time during the design sessions.
The resultls of this research will produce an effective website prototype that can then go onto validation through usability testing but this is not within the scope of this project.