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Ukrainian design companies are actively adapting their services for an international audience and collaborating with clients from Europe, the US, Asia, and the Middle East. This trend will continue, especially in UX/UI. Taking into account the cultural characteristics of users in this niche is critically essential.
What happens if cultural barriers are ignored? Interfaces that are familiar to Ukrainians may seem strange to users from other countries and cause mistrust. Also, the lack of localisation leads to companies losing 75% of their potential customer base. Therefore, most business owners will prefer to turn to specialists who are skilled in design adaptation.
Aleksandr Korshykov, Founder & CEO of DreamX, the Ukrainian UX/UI design company, and Anastasiia Melnychenko, Team Lead of UX/UI Designers, talk about the intricacies of creating designs for the East and West.
How design logic changes depending on the country (East vs. West)
Anastasiia Melnychenko, Lead UX/UI designer:
Users’ verbal and visual expectations will differ depending on location. The West values more minimalistic interfaces and quick decision-making, while the East emphasises thoughtful analysis and respect. It is vital to take into account cultural characteristics, the things that each user from each country will pay attention to. For example, in the West, the color red indicates danger to the user, while in the East, it is a symbol of wealth and good luck. In Japan, blue is perceived as formal and cold, while in the US, it is the color of trust.
Cultural markers in design: what are they, and why are they important?
Anastasiia Melnychenko, Lead UX/UI designer:
In general, these are elements that convey certain preferences, traditions, or meanings in culture. One such element in design is text. When working with applications and websites intended for both Western and Eastern countries, the size of the text must be taken into account. In Asia, users are more loyal to interfaces with a lot of text. We know from experience that it is important for Japanese people to read and understand information so that they receive it gradually and can confirm the decisions they make. In the West, however, people prefer to scan information rather than read text thoroughly. For example, the average American is satisfied with scanning the text and reading two testimonials.
When it comes to the English language, a certain sentence will take up much less space than in Arabic or Chinese. It is important to ensure that fonts support the writing of Arabic letters and Chinese characters. When placing characters, it is necessary to consider not only the length of the word but also the height of the symbol. Also, Western customers prefer simple sans-serif fonts, while Eastern countries choose more calligraphic fonts. Such small cultural markers are significant for a positive user experience.
What should one consider when creating interfaces for the global market?
Anastasiia Melnychenko, Lead UX/UI designer:
It is important to consider which countries will predominantly use the application or website. If it is intended for a global market, then you should not overuse images of people, for sure. For example, in Europe, users have broader horizons, and for them, an image of a woman without a headscarf is normal. But in Arab countries, this may be unacceptable. It is also important to consider color accents, because we cannot use red as an accent color for Western countries, but we can for Eastern countries. Therefore, more universal shades should be selected. In addition, you should be careful when using icons. For example, the thumbs-up icon, which is often used as a like, can be perceived as offensive in the East.
What cultural features are most often ignored by designers working for the global market?
Anastasiia Melnychenko, Lead UX/UI designer:
Navigation is perceived differently in different countries. The left-oriented or right-oriented interface is something that shouldn’t be ignored. Sometimes designers may forget to mirror navigation elements, so you have to be careful with this. For example, in Western countries, the “Back” button will be in the upper left corner, while for Arabic users, it should be completely mirrored. It is also necessary to take into account the size of the text for easier adaptation to another language, and not to forget about the peculiarities of displaying time and dates in different regions.
What is the main strength of Ukrainian UX/UI designers?
Aleksandr Korshykov, CEO:
First, it is the European vision of Ukrainian UX/UI designers. When clients tell us that they need European design, but they plan to develop on Windows, we immediately explain why this is not the best idea. The platform is not suitable for working with heavy interfaces, animations, and complex graphics.
Second, the price for our specialists’ services is significantly lower than that of others. At the same time, they have a strong technical background in IT and skills that are on par with designers from, say, San Francisco, where everything costs an arm and a leg.
Can we influence global design trends?
Aleksandr Korshykov, CEO:
High quality always contributes to the emergence of trends. In addition, Ukraine is now a digital country, and that is also a trend. When clients learn that Ukraine has digital passports, they realise that people here know what digital is and can provide high-quality digital solutions.
We often work with the UK in the FinTech sector, and we like it. Knowing what the Western world is like in banking and how convenient it is here in Ukraine, we can offer valuable solutions. This is probably the trend we can talk about. Ukraine imposes its own trends more as a country, and design companies catch up with it by providing quality solutions within their expertise.
What do Ukrainian UX/UI design companies need to be more visible in the world?
Aleksandr Korshykov, CEO:
Money, resources, professional PR, sales skills, and good packaging are necessary. For example, we spend a lot of resources on building our portfolio and getting into foreign publications. It is important to think globally and not focus on a single local market. After all, design is more about the global picture. When people ask who our client is, what niche we are in, I answer that we are more interested in the region of the world than the niche.
Has DreamX encountered cultural barriers in projects?
Aleksandr Korshykov, CEO:
Sometimes we have to change the design after receiving feedback from local users. We had a case where we were working on an online platform, a marketplace, and we added images of women’s dresses on models. The site was created for the Jewish community. In the marketplace, in addition to regular goods, you could buy various Jewish attributes. Our client asked us to remove those images of models and replace them with more conservative ones, because it is unacceptable in their culture. So, when creating a digital product, it is essential to understand the cultural values of different regions and remember the peculiarities of communicating with representatives of different cultures.
