Chinese web design is often a cluttered mess. However, between economic, cultural, and typographic reasons, this style is here to stay. Previously, we’ve learned why Chinese apps are weirdly cluttered. Well, websites bring this to another level. With 1.4 billion people in China, why do some of the most widely used websites still adopt this 2000s styled design? Wouldn't it lag up the PC? Yes, but that's if people use PCs… 

In this video, I cover the history, psychology, and culture of Chinese web design. I discuss the impact of internet speed limitation, mobile leapfrogging, language & typography, and how we as software/website designers, developers, and builders can create things that fit local users. Spoiler: clutter does not mean bad UX.
 
Sources (videos)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCe6xnxdN1Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KDdU0DCbJA

Source (articles)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1058070/china-sina-weibo-dau/#:~:text=As%20of%20the%20first%20quarter,582%20million%20monthly%20active%20users
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/china-website-complexity/
https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2023/09/why-are-chinese-websites-stuck-in-2003/
https://econsultancy.com/why-do-chinese-websites-look-so-busy/
https://www.thoughtworks.com/en-au/insights/blog/why-do-chinese-websites-and-apps-look-so-busy
https://style.mla.org/italics-titles-not-latin-alphabet/#:~:text=No.,instead%20of%20to%20the%20right.

You're busy, I gotchu
0:00 - So many questions
0:57 - Why is this an economic decision?
2:46 - How did mobile leapfrogging impact this?
4:15 - How does Chinese culture influence this?
5:12 - What does the science say?
5:32 - Why is clutter sometimes kinda nice?
6:14 - How does language & typography impact this?
7:19 - What can we learn?
7:40 - a message to web/software builders

Phoebe Yu

Chinese web design: cluttered, but it works. Here's why

Integrating a people’s culture and way of life into UX and UI design is the ultimate way of truly serving users. Chinese web design embraces complexity not out of necessity, but as a deliberate choice to align with user expectations. Prioritizing accessibility over industry trends demonstrates a deep understanding of the audience offering not just functionality, but familiarity. Ignoring external pressures to instead create designs that resonate with users is an admirable approach to digital craftsmanship. 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

It depends on the target market / users.
Targeting dumb people, simple UI is best.
Targeting smart people, simple UI is boring.

I believe user design and experience is highly tied to people’s psychology.