WOEZOR CrossCultural Experience Information Space

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WOEZORCross-Cultural Experience Information
Space

• Isaac Aholu
• Eshita Sharmin
• Joseph Southern
• Babatunde Azeez
• Bridgette Summerfield

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Woezor

• Origin Ewe people of Southeastern Ghana
• Meaning You are welcome!
• Woezor is a greeting offered with enthusiasm by a
  host, when a guest comes to visit her/his house.
  It includes a sense of, My house is your house,
  that is, by all means, please feel welcome here.

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Goal

• Share Experiences - Culture Shock
• Individuals from different countries can share
  their experiences about the cultural differences
  between their native country and America
• User of the system will not only view the
  experiences of others but also express their own
  experience and feelings

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Motivation

• Bridge the diverse cultures
• Promote interaction between people from different
  cultures
• Help people in their cultural adaptation and
  cultural adjustment to United States
• Help people overcome the cultural shock of
  living in a foreign culture

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Data Collection

• Ethnographic Interviews
• First person perspective
• Based on individual experience, and therefore
  unique
• Data collection was iterative process
• Paper questionnaire
• Active participation by interviewer was needed

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Tools

• Greenstone - digital library
• CombinFormation - generative information space
  for browsing and collecting

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System Design

• Looked at Woezor from the users perspective
• Tried to understand why someone would like to use
  Woezor for their information needs and purposes
• Allows users to search either by countries or by
  categories
• Information design and its architecture allows
  user to move between open experiences and
  specific experiences

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Discussion Questions

• How are cultural experiences linked to hypertext
  ?
• Any ideas of better way to present the data?
• What do you think about the system?