Designing for other cultures

The next thing I would do if I were you is to remind yourself you are a professional. You should have the ability to objectively design to any market segment, from a 17-year-old Hispanic female living in a large metropolitan area to an 81-year-old Asian male living in Italy. Your subjective likes and dislikes don’t matter to the end user. This is important so I will repeat it, your subjective likes and dislikes don’t matter to the end user. Your ego should never be a part of your design, even if you are designing to your own demographic. How many of these products will you be purchasing? 1, 2? Not a whole lot of data points to base a decision. Very few organizations exist on making products for so few customers. Also, IMO, blaming making the almighty dollar is a bit cynical. I will give an example. I think all porcelain cat figurines are a waste of time and money. They are ugly, destined to a landfill and I would go as far as they are offensive to my tastes. But somebody out there gets great pleasure at viewing their porcelain cat figurine, as much as I enjoy looking at the sculptures I have acquired over the years. The person who loves the cats may very well hate my sculptures, and it really doesn’t matter either way, we are both happy. BTW, I could design the hell out of a porcelain cat figurine.