UX
Some differences between Japanese and English websites.
Since arriving in Japan, I felt that some regional websites were challenging to navigate around. I initially thought it was purely from a lack of language understanding. However, having learnt and studied Japanese further, i felt that I was able to adapt to and recognise certain patterns they all display.
In an effort to better understand Japanese online service experiences, I aim to try and identify possible reasons for the design choices made on Japanese websites and apps. I’ve split this article in the following parts:
A brief history highlighting similarities in application.
Modern-day examples of ‘busy-ness’ on Japanese websites.
A possible solution to how western users may design for Japanese web platforms.
A brief history
Generally speaking, I believe Japan is one of the best when it comes to customer service and etiquette in the day to day shopping and service experience. It’s efficient, most of the time, and the energy that goes into caring for details is somewhat unmatched. From well-designed packaging and gifting to clearly layed out floor plans and information help desks, shopping or even browsing around the various malls and department stores can be a delight. When it comes to digital services, however, whilst many companies have undertaken radical changes to appeal to a more broader customer base, a majority of companies often opt to make little to no changes in layout and composition to their web services from those of almost a decade ago. But let’s explore further to see if this is a new trend or not.
Comics
Around 1954 for example, Osamu Tezuka created a comic titled ‘manga university.’
Compared to modern forms of comics, there was visibly a lot more text to accommodate the dialogue and gave an early indication and impression of the page feeling ‘busy’ as compared to today. Having said that, there are not many differences when we look at earlier non-Japanese publications as well. Take for instance earlier published comics such as ‘Superman’. There also appears to be a lot of dialogue on each accompanying panel.
Newspapers
Likewise, early broadsheet newspapers from Japan, the US or the UK typically display
an information heavy body of text accompanied by little to no images. The convenience and overall appeal of having the content displayed upfront may well have been carried over onto early website designs and encouraged users to stay on the site. Nowadays however, there is certainly more emphasis on a story and journey to accompany the digital experience and a clear difference in design choices made by Western design sites as opposed to Japanese ones.
Modern day examples
If we take for example the ‘Jorudan’ website, as soon as it’s open, it’s easy to see an array of services available upon entering. In terms of usability, it was somewhat difficult in accomplishing tasks quickly and lacked consistency in clickable features on the site. This included tabs that would open browser tabs/pages, design inconsistencies with the pages and navigation hurdles when changing languages. What it does do well however, is highlight the importance that Jorudan felt in terms of offering all options on a single platform. Perhaps this abundance of choice is in fact the very reason why non-Japanese users may
be reluctant to use such similar sites too. The very fact they have decided to have language options, shows a clear indication that Jorudan is in fact trying to open its services to a wider market. Where it falls a little short is what I will term as ‘over-empathy’ for the user. The story-telling elements of the site and journey for the user are somewhat hidden and feel assumed. To compensate perhaps, or due to budget constraints, personnel decisions etc, the user is presented
with everything. Too much choice. Perhaps in kindness or perhaps with a similar approach that other Japanese websites have taken. Either way, there is a clear disconnect from what foreigners may be used to viewing as opposed to what Japanese companies think foreigners want. Exploring further, I thought it might be worth considering what changes could be made.
Solution - Let it breathe
In researching for this article, I came across Japanese websites that were user-friendly towards non-Japanese speakers, as recommended by foreigners themselves, such as Muji and Uniqlo. The common denominator I found being, the utilization of space. This ranged from omitting features or ‘extra’ information as opposed to its Japanese-language counterpart. The Y3 website in particular was interesting as the Japanese and English language options switched seamlessly by hovering
above certain text fields.
Looking deeper, I felt that not only was the language being used more sparingly, but even the text was translated from English to Japanese to appeal to the intended user. This included subtle changes in translation and careful hierarchy consideration for Hiragana, Katakana
and Kanji.
In accordance to this I have termed ‘ULX’; user language experience to further my research. The main principle being that as UX designers, we continue to help information breathe better on a page by considering alphabet consistency use for Japanese. For example, if a heading has a mix of Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji, it could be better to try to stick to 1 or 2 of the alphabets to lessen the
feeling of ‘busy-ness’ on the page. This is not always possible as the 3 alphabets are so inter-woven and create the backbone of the language. In such cases, it would be useful to consider gap distances between each character whilst surrounded by more clear space.
As I delve further into the idea of ULX, I will continue to add more of my findings moving forward.