Icon Interpretation and Understanding: A Cross-Cultural Case Study of Product Interface

Electronics and appliances are often designed and manufactured from all around the world, and imported to India. Hence, they are not designed considering the Indian mental model in mind. In a country where there are 22 official languages and a countless number of dialects and cultures, it is necessary to communicate through a visual language rather than words or written language. Icons and visuals on appliances become essential for comprehending the functionality of an appliance. This paper interprets a case study on one such home appliance which is widely used by Indians; it investigates the usability of icons and product interface present on washing machines. The paper also highlights cross-cultural icon design implications and understanding mental models of the users. The study has been carried out in 3 phases – questionnaire, comprehension test and ranking test. The data collected from the 3 phases have been analyzed to determine the impact on Indian audience.