I spent a couple of years wondering why I met resistance whenever I suggested black-and-white “Our Team” bio headshots to Chinese clients. Someone finally spilled the beans: black-and-white personal headshots are typically displayed at funerals, the black-and-white color indicating the subject of the image

No one likes over-complexity. So why does it seem to abound on the Chinese web? I think the main problems here are low awareness of web usability and a culture of duplication. There is an incredible amount of copy-catting that goes on between Chinese websites. One guy does a text-heavy design on a site that become popular, the next guy is

In terms of real UX preference differences, I can say that the Bootstrap-3 big-grid-spacing revolution has not hit here yet, and many Chinese feel like a 30 px margin is too loose, that it leaves the webpage feeling too disconnected. The local eye seems a little more tuned into smaller grid spacing

Many major non-Chinese sites are completely inaccessible. Trying to load up a blocked site usually gets you a good ol’  Page Cannot be Displayed  message, and for reasons seemingly unknown to anyone, also seems to crash your browser’s ability to load anything at all for thirty seconds or so.

Only businesses with a valid Chinese business license are legally allowed to host websites on a Chinese server; individuals may not own commercial websites hosted within the mainland. This is controlled at the hosting level: every website on a Chinese host must register for an  ICP number , which the host will ask for and verify before you’re

“Who are ‘Chinese audiences’?” Most big-city, 35-and-younger Chinese and college students are well aware that they can’t access major western networks, and it’s a common talking point on the internet. There’s a lot of low-level grumbling about it, but it’s an atmosphere of annoyance rather than outrage. Part of the reason for this is that there