9 Things I Learned from Working in 9 Countries

I collected a lot of air miles in 2014. It was a year full with new experiences, meeting a lot of new people, learning the basics in many languages, and of course jet lag. Yes, lots and lots of jet lag.

This post is about my learnings from a project executed in nine different countries. I won't get into the details of the actual testing task, but just to set the stage, we executed data collection and usability studies for a speech recognition application in 9 countries. In each country we worked with a local partner, and we had 500+ individuals participate in our sessions.

Embrace the Cultural Differences

What we did around the world, we have been doing in Vancouver for a long while. So we had perfected the process and knew how everything should be done. Although this helped a lot with executions around the world, we also learned to be flexible and to accommodate environmental and cultural differences. When we arrived at the location we arranged in Germany, I could not believe how hot the office was and that there was no AC. Not a single participant complained about the heat. Good luck running a session in a similar environment in North America...

Culture obviously has a big impact on the actual usability testing sessions and results, but that's a different post entirely...

Leave Additional Buffer in Your Estimates

It is typical to include miscellaneous expenses in large projects. Especially if the project is a first of it's kind with a lot of unknowns. But how do you define miscellaneous when currencies and costs differ so much between different geographies? A bacon & egg breakfast costs $7 in Canada while it costs $15 in Australia. What does bacon have to do with miscellaneous expenses? Nothing. But you got the idea...

Pack and Carry as Much as You Can

Running a business in N.America, I am spoiled with the availability of hardware. If I need an odd adapter which is hard to find in the local store, I can always get it on Amazon to be delivered tomorrow. Inventory is plenty. If I go to the local electronics store, I can probably get 5 same model laptops, no problem. This is not as true around the world. Stocks are limited (if any) and online shopping is not established in many countries. If your project is hardware-heavy, do pilot sessions diligently at home and pack everything you can with you (*also see the next item).

Check If Your Hardware Can Travel

Our project was hardware-heavy. It required specific hardware, microphones, cameras and a lot more. Carrying or shipping these items across borders works very well for some countries (see ATA carnet), but not as good for some others. If you are thinking about shipping hardware to certain countries where the carnet is not fully accepted (i.e. China) or technically accepted but practically quite challenging to use (i.e. Russia), make sure you have a back-up plan in case your items get stuck at the border (they most likely will). Make sure your shipping paperwork lists ALL items in detail on the commercial invoice to avoid delays. If there are any "optional" forms, fill them all. We had a big package which included a few computers so I thought that I didn't need to detail the smaller items. My 20 second laziness resulted in our package being stuck at the customs for 4 days because of "miscellaneous cables".

Rely on Data and Only on Data

When you ask "How is your internet connection over there?", you always get the same response - "Great, it is very fast". Let me assure you of something. The definition of "fast" is (very) different from person to person, let alone from country to country. If the connectivity is critical, always request a speed test, and request it over time. If a cable connection is available, go for it. We needed to upload large amounts of data overnight and did not have buffer to compensate for the neighborhood's YouTube consumption in the evening. Investigate the mobile internet options as a backup plan.

Our A-rated office rental in France had a failed connection due to a network problem right in the middle of our sessions. We were able to get a mobile hotspot from Orange and were only interrupted for a couple hours, but what if we were at a remote location with no stores around?

Pick Your Local Team Carefully

Your local team will make or break the success of the project. You may have years of experience and the ability to pull it off under any condition, but remember, you are in a different country where things are simply different. Language is different, expectations are different, working hours are different, heck, even the plugins are different. If you think you can learn it all and figure it out under any condition, you are wrong. How do I know? I was wrong too.

I would rank flexibility, along with relevant experience, to be the top two most important items when picking your partners. Their local knowledge, paired with your project expertise can overcome any challenge. Think of it like hiring a new employee. Culture, styles, knowledge? Whatever you value back home, you should carefully evaluate for your vendor.

Learn to live with the Jet Lag

I am not talking about your typical Jet Lag here, where you fly to Spain for a two week vacation. That one is bad too, but when you travel Canada to Germany, then to Japan, followed by Russia, Turkey, Australia and the UK, France and spend one week at each country, jet lag takes a different form. By the time you feel like you adjusted, another one hits right in.

I spent a fair amount of time reading "How to deal with Jet Lag", "7 efficient Jet Lag remedies", "Jet Lag is no longer a problem" sort of articles. Conclusion? None of it really helped. What I learned, however, is that Jet Lag is a lot easier to handle once you stop fighting with it. Went to bed at 12am and woke up at 4am like you have slept forever? The temptation is to squeeze in a few more hours before that 8am meeting, but the reality is, it rarely ever works. Just get up and treat it like an early morning, you will get some good stuff done (whether it's is a stroll in a foreign city or an early start on emails) since your brain is awake and ready.

Get a Data Plan with Global Roaming

There is nothing more comforting than to know that your Google Maps will work as soon as you land in a new country, or not having to rely on that airport wi-fi that you hope will be working so that you can check your email as soon as you land after an 11-hour flight. Gone are days of rushing to the closest cell phone store and trying to figure out which pre-paid plan works the best. I am a super happy customer of T-Mobile Global Roaming. Gives you 2G data wherever you go!

You may not be able to describe your destination to the taxi or bus driver with your lack of language skills, but showing it on a map works wherever you are. Bonus - they know you see yourself on the map so there is no worrying about being taken to a quick city tour on your way to your destination.

Bonus Tip - Travel Light:

After all this traveling, I became a Star Alliance gold member and get a second bag checked in for free. However the continuous trip also taught me to be a light traveler, so I don't think I will need a second bag ever again. Pack multipurpose. If a pair of shoes only goes with a particular pair of pants, those should stay home.

I know this will sound very geeky, but after you return from your trip, evaluate your packing. Was there any items you did not touch at all (I bet the answer is yes)? What did you seem to have used the most? Was your physical packing of the luggage efficient? Next time you pack, you will notice that there is even some empty space left in your luggage. Your wife will happily fill that empty space though, so your actual mileage on total weight will vary.

Got additional tips? Share them below and expand the list!