This case study illustrates some of the challenges of trying to produce learning materials that work across different cultures. This is important for two reasons. A growing number of companies and organizations are multinational. Also, any company or organization within the U.S. will probably be working with a diverse group of employes and/or customers.
The case study itself seems to imply that Iris and Jim (the American developers working with Hill Industries, an American member of a multinational consortium of companies using Lapin software) had adjusted well to the challenge of adopting American ID models and practices to European expectations.
However, in our class, Janine pointed out that the prototype Iris and Jim were proposing was still riddled with American slang and idioms and might not be received well by the European developers and members of the consortium.
That brought home the point to me that if you want a learning product to work well across cultures and nations, you will have to go over the design again and again, and be willing to listen and challenge your own assumptions.
Posted by burt0177 at February 14, 2005 11:42 AM