Culture Sensitive Design: A Guide to Culture in Practice

By Annemiek van Boeijen and Yvo Zijlstra Our globalizing world, with interconnected societies and worldwide cooperation, with migration and ever-increasing digitization brings together a complexity of cultural groups that need to live together. Consequently, designers are confronted with the challenge of gaining a clear understanding of this cultural diversity. Culture is a complex phenomenon defined by an ongoing process of shifts in human interactions and experiences. In addition to functional, technical and economic requirements, it is primarily culture that defines how any designed object and service will perform and prove itself: a process that largely takes place outside the domain and control of the designer. This book offers a detailed overview of both theory and practical methods to become culturally sensitive in the 21st century. Richly illustrated by anecdotes, examples and cases, this book motivates design students, practitioners and educators to reflect on their own cultu