A qualitative cross-national study of cultural influences on mobile data service design

As the use of mobile data services has spread across the globe, the effect of cultural differences on user requirements has become important issue. To date, however, little research has been conducted on the role cultural factors play in the design of mobile data services. This paper proposes a set of critical design attributes for mobile data services that takes cross-cultural differences into account. To determine these attributes, we devised a qualitative method and conducted in-depth long interviews in Korea, Japan, and Finland. We found 52 attributes considered important by mobile data service users, and 11 critical attributes that showed a clear correlation with characteristics of the user's culture. The paper concludes with a discussion of limitations and of implications for developers of mobile data services.