Toward accommodating gender differences in multimedia communication

While there have been measurable improvements in the technical development of multimedia, research from a socio-technical viewpoint suggests that the benefits of multimedia technology, especially in fulfilling user requirements, do not always live up to initial promises. This paper aims to address one of the fundamental but often neglected areas in user requirements, i.e., gender-related issues. The paper identifies and discusses gender differences in multimedia communication and recommends how the differences can be addressed. It proposes a model for accommodating gender differences in multimedia communication.