Historically, graphical images have been used in
software since the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s. Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) pioneered this concept and Apple commercialized it. IBM, Microsoft, and others followed their lead. Until now, most of the graphical images in the product user interface
(UI) have been simple navigational icons. The graphical images in books were primarily screen shots. The explosion of the Internet and video games has increased the public’s expectation level for interesting visual and audio interfaces.
Graphical interfaces and, to a lesser extent, audio visual interfaces are already in existence today in software. Cultural norms influence almost every aspect of a graphical image from color, to shape, to image content elements. Such an interface, when designed with strictly a U.S.audience in mind whether intentionally or unintentionally, will work very poorly with customers in other countries. The nature of the Internet makes it is easy for non-U.S.audiences to view graphical images intended for the U.S.
Thierry Mayeur
IBM Globalization Team
|
