Socio-Cultural Aspects in the Design of Multilingual Banking Interfaces in the Arab Region

This paper reports on insights gained from investigating multilingual user interfaces designed for banking systems in the Arab Region. In this region, Arabic is the native language; however a plethora of expatriates reside in the region who speak different languages. Three modes of banking interactions are examined in the local context; internet banking, automatic teller machines (ATMs), and mobile banking (MB). Reflections on interaction design for the three modes of banking illuminates the culture-orientated design considerations for banking interactions and demonstrates how users, in this case bank customers, shape technological changes and influence interface design. The contribution of this research is threefold. Firstly, gain an insight into socio-cultural design requirements for banking interfaces; secondly, an exploratory survey of interface design considerations in the three modes of banking with a focus on multilingual aspects of the design; and finally, distil the findings into design recommendations for socio-cultural aspects that are relevant to the context of banking interactions in the Arab Region.