Many software and tech companies are now including terms like diversity, and inclusivity, within their organizations statement of purpose or company goals. However, does this mean that companies are genuinely striving for these goals, or are they only accomplishing this at a superficial level in order to appease social justice-oriented individuals who advocate for them?
According to Shivers-McNair and San Diegos article, Localizing Communities, Goals, Communication, and Inclusion: A Collaborative Approach, the key to creating globalized cross-cultural work is localization, by using the four key dimensions of localization practices that the article emphasizes: localizing communities, goals, communication, and inclusion.
Developer Community Strategist San Diego remarked that simply declaring an intention to be inclusive is not enough. In order for researchers and practitioners to effectively create social justice-orientated work that caters to a cross-cultural audience, there has to be more collaborative efforts among researchers and practitioners. This type of collaboration can establish meaningful personal engagement with different local communities, resulting in effective cross-cultural communication.
When practitioners use this community strategy, it has the ability to bring people together in ways that center shared goals through localization while also being able to focus on the characteristics of a particular culture, population, or individual without stereotyping the characterizations of a culture. Therefore, it is important that technical communicators and UX researchers take on this approach that strives to balance both universal and particular needs and concerns.
In conclusion, research and theory building that aims for inclusivity and social justice along with localized community strategy must become a regular practice in order to implement genuine inclusivity and social justice. This localized community strategy approach emphasizes relationship building and a deep and more authentic understanding of communities which can result in effective communication and more responsive technology design.
Resources
Localizing Communities, Goals, Communication, and Inclusion: A Collaborative Approach, by Ann Shivers-McNair and Clarissa San Diego
Viewpoint Written byJeranda Dennis, Texas State University
Edited byJonna Sharp, Texas State University