Cultural factors are key to product success in global marketplace, says design expert; a guide to creating truly 'globalized' products from Claris director of interface design.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 1995--Claris Corporation, a leader in personal computer software and a pioneer in global sensitivity in software, announced the release of a new book by its chief interface expert, Tony Fernandes. In his book, Global Interface Design, Fernandes creatively discusses how cultures, language and taboos influence product design and how companies can avoid serious product-design pitfalls. He is a leading proponent of global design and a recognized expert in the burgeoning user interface field.

"Lack of understanding about our world can determine whether a product will succeed in the global marketplace or fail miserably," Fernandes explained. "With this new book, I hope to help broaden the thinking of designers and promote global visibility early in the process of product development."

What's In A Name?

In Global Interface Design, Fernandes outlines some of the most common problems found with product names. He explains the potential for disaster when English words are translated in other languages and vice versa. For example, serious miscommunication would occur if the brand of toilet paper in Sweden named "Krapp" or the Japanese canned drink company and its product, "Pocari Sweat," were marketed in the United States with the same name. However, there are more subtle differences to consider such as the words to describe a dog's bark in different countries. In the United States, dogs bark, "bow, wow," in Japan they bark "wan, wan," in Portugal they bark, "beu, beu," and in Denmark they bark "vo, vo."

"Considering major issues such as language translations and cultural taboos in the planning stages of a product's development cycle is imperative if we are to move closer in creating a universal society," said Fernandes. "And from a business perspective, globalization is critical for products to be effectively competitive in today's world."

Globalization and the Worldwide Web

Fernandes noted that with the global emergence and popularity of the Worldwide Web, businesses must be more sensitive to culture and nationality. Most American software has not reflected the differences among people worldwide and has suffered because of this. Fernandes and Claris take a new approach to software design and aim to develop software solutions that satisfy a specific audience rather than a "one size fits all" approach.

Claris is known for implementing a state-of-the-art program for developing globalized software products. Although language is seen as the most common difference between countries and cultures, a truly globalized product considers the language, format, characters and punctuation as well as cultural perceptions, taboos and symbolism and how they affect the product during the designing phase of the product.

Cultural Format, Symbols and Taboos

Global Interface Design describes how cultural symbols and differences can be found in the "hands" and "cursors" commonly seen in software. The symbols are derived from the human hand; however, he noted, some hand gestures and positions can sometimes represent obscenities in countries other than the U.S. Fernandes highlights an example of how language and formatting is thoughtfully considered in Claris Organizer, a personal information manager software program. Claris recognized the differences in phone number formats from country to country by designing the phone number field without restrictions on where the parenthesis or dashes are placed.

The book further explains that although numbers seem to be universal, in other parts of the world, they can also represent and convey other meanings. In Japan and other Pacific countries, the numbers 4 and 9 symbolize death and suffering, respectively. Fernandes explains how a software company marketed a program which included one of those numbers in the product name and the resulting problems.

Summary

Global Interface Design is not a list of check-off items for each country but rather an entertaining approach to teaching people to think about globalization through examples and illustrations. Real issues are presented along with suggestions on how to approach globalized design.

About Tony Fernandes

Fernandes and his design team have played a key role in creating the celebrated "look and feel" of Claris' award-winning software. Among other functions, his department runs a state-of-the-art Product Evaluation Studio, which evaluates how "real" users interact with Claris software in order to make constant improvements in the company's design of future software products.

Prior to joining Claris Corporation, Fernandes was a senior designer at Lotus Corporation where he worked on the design of a number of key Lotus products, pioneered several R&D projects, and created Lotus' alliance with the MIT Media Lab. Prior to Lotus, he worked with ControlSoft, a company focused on the creation of PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) technology, and won a patent for one of his projects. Fernandes is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts with two degrees in engineering with an emphasis on design.

Pricing and Availability

Global Interface Design is available for a suggested retail price of $39.95 by calling AP Professional at 800/3131-APP or 407/345-2525, e-mail at [e-mail] and at participating bookstores throughout the United States.

Claris Corporation, a leading worldwide vendor of Windows and Macintosh applications for business, education and home, is a subsidiary of Apple Computer, Inc., with headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: For review copies, book photos and jackets, author interviews, call SoHanna Park at Stirling & Cohan Inc., 415/513-0976.

Claris and Claris Organizer are registered trademarks of Claris Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: SoHanna Park

Stirling & Cohan, 415/513-0976

or

Claris Corp.

Steve Ruddock, 408/987-7202