Entertaining or Functional: An Analysis of Visuals in Chinese and Western Household Appliance Manuals

Qian, Li; Karreman, Joyce; Jong, Menno D.T. de

doi:10.1109/procomm.2018.00029

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…While larger demand for eating outdoor is economically viable for the post-recovery phase of the outbreak, it seems that people generally prefer to recover from several months of constantly cooking and eating inside their households. The same pattern is also seen for household entertainment [72,73] that constitutes a relationship between indoor stay and activities. For instance, household entertainment was almost tripled during the lockdown period but is reduced to its normal figures after the lockdown.…”

Section: Main Impacts On Household 'Cooking' and 'Entertainment'supporting

confidence: 58%

COVID-19 and household energy implications: what are the main impacts on energy use?

Cheshmehzangi

2020

Heliyon

117

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This study explores the impacts of COVID-19 on household energy use. Some of these impacts are associated with longer-term energy demand changes and some could just be temporary. The study intends to present the results of a small pilot study conducted in China, by addressing household energy use. The samples are from 352 households and particularly focus on primary energy use in three periods of pre-pandemic (and pre-lockdown), start of COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown, and post lockdown. Each period is identified as a timeframe of 2.5 months, from November 2019 to late June 2020. The samples of this study highlight the primary implications of energy use, some that are understood as interim changes and some that may appear to be more prolonged. The results from the study highlight a variety of impacts on household energy use as well as prolonged impacts on transportation use. The primary household energy use are assessed in six fundamental elements of (1) transportation for commuting and leisure (for both private and public modes), (2) cooking, (3) entertainment, (4) heating and cooling, (5) lighting, and (6) the others. The results are summarized in three sections focused on major impacts on transportation use (comparison between private and public modes), cooking and entertainment, heating/cooling and lighting. The results could provide early suggestions for cities/regions that are experiencing longer lockdown. Furthermore, this study provides insights for larger-scale research in assessing household energy use/demand during times of health emergency and crises, such as the event of a pandemic.

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Section: Main Impacts On Household 'Cooking' and 'Entertainment'supporting

confidence: 58%

COVID-19 and household energy implications: what are the main impacts on energy use?

Cheshmehzangi

2020

Heliyon

117

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“…However, the results of the previously mentioned content analysis could not confirm these earlier results: no differences were found between the number of visuals and the extent to which visuals are integrated with the text. The results of this recent study, however, showed that different types of visuals are used in Chinese user instructions than in Western user instructions [10,12]. More cartoon-like figures are used in Chinese manuals and more detailed pictures of how a task should be performed are found in Western manuals.…”

Section: Literature Review: Differences Between Chinese and Western Umentioning

confidence: 80%

Chinese Technical Communicators' Opinions on Cultural Differences between Chinese and Western User Manuals

Qian

Karreman

Jong

2019

2019 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm)

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One of the most significant challenges that technical communicators face in today's globalizing world is how to meet the requirements of target groups from different cultures. Translation and localization of user documentation are important activities in the field of technical communication. Previous studies have shown that there are differences between content, structure and style of user manuals from different cultures. Especially the differences between Chinese and Western manuals seem to be significant. It is not known, however, if and how technical communicators take cultural differences into account when designing manuals. To explore the opinions of Chinese technical communicators, twenty of them were interviewed. The results show that the majority of the interviewees assumed that Chinese and Western manuals differ from each other in many aspects (content, structure, style, visuals) and that Chinese and Western users have a different approach to manuals. Overall, the interviewees considered it important to target manuals to the culture of the users, but they experience several obstacles to do this, such as the obligation to use Western style sheets, the costs related to localizing and a lack of knowledge. Although the results may not be generalizable, because most interviewees worked in the software and telecommunication industry, they clearly show that there is a lack of knowledge about how to localize user manuals.

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Looks matter! A Comparative Analysis of Image Use on Chinese and Western Municipal Websites

Li,

Karreman,

de Jong

2024

2024 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm)

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Entertaining or Functional: An Analysis of Visuals in Chinese and Western Household Appliance Manuals

Cited by 3 publications

References 24 publications

COVID-19 and household energy implications: what are the main impacts on energy use?

COVID-19 and household energy implications: what are the main impacts on energy use?

Chinese Technical Communicators' Opinions on Cultural Differences between Chinese and Western User Manuals

Looks matter! A Comparative Analysis of Image Use on Chinese and Western Municipal Websites

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