Culture and information architecture: A study of American and Arab academic websites
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Houda El Mimouni; Craig Macdonald
- Source
- ASIST
- Subject
- General Computer Science
business.industry
Information architecture
05 social sciences
Design elements and principles
Library and Information Sciences
050905 science studies
World Wide Web
Web design
Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory
Sociology
0509 other social sciences
050904 information & library sciences
business
- Language
- ISSN
- 2373-9231
This paper investigates the information architecture (IA) of American and Arab academic websites in light of Hofestede's theory of culture and Marcus's elements of design reflecting culture. Using 60 academic websites from American and Arab cultures, the results show that IA is influenced by the cultural dimension of Power Distance and suggest that web designers and developers should strongly consider cultural factors when making design decisions, particularly those related to IA.