I recently conducted a series of 10 UXR trainings for a team in Japan. Here are some takeaways that fascinated, surprised, or challenged me. They may interest and help you, especially if you lead workshops or work cross-culturally. I learned a boatload from this experience. First, I’ll cover some cultural differences and logistical aspects.

Cultural differences

• Understanding attitudes and behaviors are core to our craft however the Japanese population isn’t as expressive as more Western cultures. They generally prefer to maintain a certain level of restraint in their gestures, body language, and facial expressions. “Chit chat” is not nearly as common in professional contexts compared to the key role small talk plays in today’s professional business culture, especially in the US.

• Cultural nuances and values such as respect, hierarchy, and group harmony heavily influence Japanese communication. For example, the Japanese think before speaking. They are more deliberate in their communication and when expressing their opinions. Researchers must be aware of these cultural differences and adjust their research approach accordingly.

• This team was particularly interested in learning more about unmoderated studies as these are not popular in Japan. There are not many UXR platforms that support the Japanese language. In fact, I have heard only dScout, UX Army, and UI Scope offer Japanese versions. It’s also difficult to gather feedback from Japanese participants by asking them to talk aloud, in general, but even more so in unmoderated studies.

• The Japanese language has the verb at the end of the sentence. This means that when you are working with an interpreter or moderator they have to finish their translation first before the participant can get the gist. This has a significant impact on time and limits the use of moderation (when compared to English-speaking researchers and participants).

• Moderators in these situations follow culturally appropriate norms to build rapport with participants. This differs from the more typical American chit-chat, for example. Building rapport at the beginning of a study with Japanese participants frequently includes asking them to introduce themselves by name, age, the family they live with, their occupation, and hobbies - whether or not this pertains to the study’s goals. This was a surprising way to begin a discussion to me, but it’s commonplace in Japan (similar to exchanging business cards when meeting).

• Conducting user research usually involves offering participant incentives. I learned that Japanese incentives are lower than American tech-industry incentives. For example, my client teams usually offer $100 (or more) for each one-hour 1:1 session. This team also works in tech (as well as other many industries including gaming, beverages, hard goods, financial/insurance, and other services) however they typically offer $60-75 per hour and said this was commonplace in their region.

• I became aware and was soon constantly reminded of, what I now refer to as my “American-researcher privilege” as a result of not having to worry about any of the above.

• I developed a completely new sense of curiosity and empathy for researchers working in different cultures full-time!

Logistics:

• DeepL is the best Japanese translation software however, it is only @80% accurate. I used DeepL to translate all of my presentation decks and hands-on activities. At first, the DeepL experience was flawless. Best CX I’ve had with a new platform in years! Unfortunately, something happened, and I have no idea what. Around workshop six (out of 10), they were unable to translate the last four decks (same formats, similar content, etc.) however, my interpreter was able to upload the same exact files, at first, with the same type of account, and had no issues. Then she ran into a bunch of issues as well. I received a customer support reply 10 days after I reported the first issue, essentially saying that the platform was unable to handle these types of files. (Realllllllly bad CX at the end of the day!)

• All decks were translated by DeepL initially, then reviewed and cleaned up by Fujiko Suda, my outstanding interpretation partner. I 100% recommend her! She did the final translations and formatting manually because DeepL versions would result in line breaks in the middle of a word/character.

• Words would also run off the slide due to the differences between the English alphabet and Japanese characters, as well as the typeface.

• Zoom’s audio translation feature allows participants to choose an audio channel. The English speakers listened to my channel, and the Japanese speakers listened to Fujiko’s channel. This needs to be set up in advance. Several times we had to “reset” the translation feature because it didn’t “take.” When the setup “takes,” it works beautifully. We learned to leave ample time (30 minutes!) before each session to “set this up” and ensure it "takes." Multiple tries were necessary.

• It was key that the interpreter actually understood the subject matter and terminology, as well as the cultural differences between me/American UXR, and the audience. (Fujiko is a native Japanese speaker, a qualitative researcher, and an IDEO-trained facilitator who lived in the US for a decade. She currently resides outside of Tokyo, but she covers projects all over Japan.) I shared 10 hours of previous, similar training with her in advance to ensure we were in sync. This was super key(!) for our relationship.

• To demonstrate various unmoderated methods, I created hands-on activities in Optimal Workshop, UsabilityHub, Maze, and Miro. I used DeepL to translate the directions and content within each activity for the Japanese speakers. Then pasted the translations into the study's directions and content. We had a separate English and Japanese version, or a combined version, for these hands-on activities. Where possible, I relied on visuals instead of the written word. (E.g. for a click test, participants referred to popular images of San Francisco landmarks, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, instead of the literal names of these landmarks.) This was a big time saver I wish I learned earlier on. Next time, I will have the all of the activities, and content within them, translated by a professional.

• Digify is the platform I used to time and password-protect the shared Japanese presentation decks. Terrific platform. I 100% recommend it; however, I didn’t explore its most robust capabilities. I want to check it out more.

• I quoted the training series the same way I quote training in English. (The interpretation was paid for by the client directly.) In the future, I’ll account for all the extra time the above entailed. While the extra time was significant, it was worth it to deliver a high-quality experience. The UX of delivering UXR training may be meta however it’s paramount (to me).

• When leading workshops in such a different culture, I'll also create dedicated time to talk about cultural differences, specifically. This was not at all part of the original plan yet often yielded the most robust conversations!

In sum:

This was a truly fascinating and rewarding learning experience on multiple levels for me and the attendees. While I’ve taught user research workshops to people in 30+ countries, this was by far the most meaningful cultural teaching experience I have ever had. The team, and Fujiko, are wonderful, passionate, curious, and super talented. I think Netflix or someone should create a series about how different cultures conduct research, the constraints they face, and how they surmount them!

• Please contact Fujiko for research-related needs in Japan or with Japanese participants. I am beyond grateful for her trust and partnership. This experience would not have been nearly as impactful without her incredible contributions, expertise, and candor.

• If you seek a user research agency or facilitation partner in Japan, I’m thrilled to refer CarterJMRN, specifically to Susanne Walloscheck. They are a terrific, open-minded team.

Teaching has always been rewarding to me. I learn as much from my “students” as they glean from me. The more I teach, the better user research practitioner I become. And the more I practice, the better the teacher I am. It’s completely reciprocal. I’m so grateful to have created a professional life that combines what I love - teaching and practicing user research. It fuels my curiosity, creativity, and soul.

I’d enjoy hearing your feedback on this recap. And, of course, I’m happy to answer questions! Learn more about user research workshops and team training here.

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