It is fact that cultural diversity has become a new challenge in Human-Computer Interaction. Today users can navigate almost anywhere on the Web, with no cultural and/or national boundaries, having intentional or unintentional contact with foreign cultural elements (languages, practices etc.). Therefore, the Web became a privileged place for intercultural encounters, i.e., a place where users have the opportunity to be in contact with cultural diversity directly (when interacting with other users using social networks, for example) or indirectly (when interacting with applications, which have foreign cultural features). This scenario indicates the need for an investigation about how the intercultural metacommunication (communication about communication) of designers to users is noticed by users. Hereupon, we intend to understand how users perceive the opportunities to make contact with cultural diversity when interacting with cross-cultural applications and how these perceptions can contribute in the HCI Evaluation activities of these systems. Thus, in order to investigate whether and how users express their perceptions and reactions over opportunities promoted by indirect intercultural encounters, we conducted empirical studies in which we offered a specific vocabulary (Cultural Viewpoint Metaphors). We also conducted other studies without offering any vocabulary, that is, we let users speak freely about the opportunities to make contact with cultural diversity in Human-Computer Interaction. These studies were conducted in the context of two cross-cultural applications (one in a linguistic domain and one in a non-linguistic domain). Among the results obtained, it was highlighted the potential of the specific vocabulary in the interaction design cycle of cross-cultural systems, revealing that Cultural Viewpoint Metaphors are a promising supporting tool for participatory design practices, i.e., a medium of expression and communication for users to qualify their real or potential interaction experiences.