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Read: [Good design should be inclusive and accessible but whats the difference?]
Your core value creation might still be relevant, yet other parts of the business have to change drastically.
We call this China Business as the local operations will be very dissimilar for your other operations in aChina-focusedapproach.
That trade-off and the decision is by no means trivial.
Cultural Differences That Matter
Some of the preferences in design and interaction are rooted in Chinese culture.
There are few things to be aware of that make a big difference:
1.
Similarly, group approval and high degrees of communication and social context are important.
High-Context Culture
The Chinese culture, and also language, are very high-context.
In a low-context culture, a no is a no.
The context of when it is said, how and by whom matters to understand the answer.
There are over 20,000 characters in use and different combinations mean different things.
These are substantial differences from the West and also from some other Asian cultures.
And they invariably manifest in specific preferences from social interaction to communication styles and UX design.
While they often have Western inspirations or counterparts, they work differently in some key aspects.
Respect them, and do not take a stab at enlighten them.
Social anywhere
Everything lives within a social context and the group is more important than the individual.
Hence everyone is always connected and sharing.
Wangwang is hugely important for Alibaba, because users dont trust the information on the website.
They want to speak to people.
Similarly, reviews are more trusted than in the West.
Do not save on customer service.
Always have ways of direct contact and chat available.
O2O is a very important trend that has taken over in much of the physical space in China.
These are a few guiding principles to consider when redesigning your digital experience for China.
Driven by cultural differences, these are expectations that exist with consumers today towards any product or service.
Therefore, creating larger and larger kingdoms that lock in consumers.
They are therefore a great distribution channel and are very open to partner with and enable new entrants.
It also means that without them, you are facing a heavy up-hill battle.
Of course, there aretrade-offsto be aware of.
In terms of platforms, probably everyone is more or less familiar with WeChat and Alipay.
Some of the key ecosystems that are open to a degree to integrate with.
The way to get in there, except for acquisition, are mini-programs.
This is a rising trend of apps-in-apps that are becoming very important for business.
Mini programs account for the majority of customer interaction already in all major consumers verticals.
Mini programs are thenew beachhead to customer interaction.
They are not great for retention.
Tencent has invested a lot of effort to make them stickier and they are improving already.
Mini programs are ideal for simple and low-frequency use cases.
Entry is easy, retention is low.
Yet they are powerful at mitigating media breaks and reducing friction.
So, identifying the right use case is key.
Like order to the table at a restaurant.
The Epitome Of VUCA
In China, customer preferences pivot quickly, and markets move fast.
Competition is happening at a breakneck pace, with todays lauded innovation being the next spectacular failure tomorrow.
