(Book Review) Cross-Cultural Design, 1st Edition

Overview

Review Published: August, 2021.

From designer, speaker, and Pixel Fable founder Senongo Akpem comes an overview of the multi-cultural design process.

From examining key aspects of peoples and cultures, to specific implementation techniques, this book serves as a comprehensive primer for understanding cultural differences that affect design decisions.

Rating:

5 / 5

(Incredible Content, Presentation is Engaging)

What does this score mean?

Difficulty:

Advanced (Requires in-depth understanding of the UX discovery process).

Length:

164 pages.

Where to Buy It:

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What's Good

A very dense primer; from the broader considerations of our research and design approach, to the specifics of internationalization and localization of a specific solution, this book packs a massive amount of content into its short length.
Exhaustively sourced and lots of further reading; both in terms of examples for points being made and further reading, this book is comprehensively sourced and is a great starting point for further inquiry into this topic.
Complex content made simple; the author breaks complex strategies and practices down into readily digestible sections, and keeps the tone-of-voice conversational and easy-to-understand.

What Can Be Improved

N/A.

The Bottom Line

An essential resource for internationally-focused design teams; if you’re a member of a product team looking to create a culturally appropriate solution (or expand an existing product internationally), this book is a surprisingly detailed primer that provides the essentials for moving forward.
For experienced professionals looking to tackle international projects; while of greatest use to experienced UX professionals with research experience (check out “Just Enough Research”, “It’s Our Research”, and “Validating Product Ideas” for more on this), this book encapsulates the challenges involved in designing across cultures that anyone can benefit from when looking to understand the scope of this type of project.
An essential resource for internationally-focused design teams; for the low price of $15 (for the eBook edition) this book offers a lot of insight for any member of a product team working in an international context.