Localization of an application or service is not just a translation. Almost everyone knows about this, but in practice they underestimate the ambitiousness of this task.

A well-built localization process ensures that users of the application in all countries at the same time get full access to all the functionality. This means that it should be built into the development process, starting with the planning of new functions, and, in addition to the interface itself, ensure the release of all accompanying materials along with the original version (in the case of Wrike, the English version).



The main difficulties in building the localization process lie in the fact that, first, many departments and teams should be included in the interaction, and, second, they should constantly adapt the process to changing dates of product releases. This will help the correct choice and integration of the two systems - team work management ( Wrike or some other) and TMS (translation management system).
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At the moment, the project management service Wrike has been translated into 7 languages ​​(not counting the English in which it was originally published), and we managed to build a localization process in less than a year. We wanted to share our experience, to tell about what to pay attention first of all, if you localize your product from scratch.

→ Before you start
→ Who is involved in the process?
→ How to control quality?
→ How to fit localization into current workflows?
→ And finally

Before you start

Before you get down to business, you should answer a couple of questions.

How much does localization affect sales?

To answer this question, special studies are being conducted - both translation agencies and consulting companies.

For example, according to the Common Sense Advisory survey, 52.4% of respondents make purchases only on those sites where information is presented in their language. More than 60% of buyers in France and Japan say that they buy goods only in such online stores. People with elementary English or without any knowledge of the language will make a purchase on the English-language website 6 times less likely than their compatriots with fluent English.

Research also agrees that even partial and low-quality translations increase sales in many regions. Therefore, it is better to expand localization in a spiral, constantly improving the quality and volume of available translations.

Reports may sound convincing, but if you are releasing a product in a new language at the same time as an advertising campaign and support of the sales department speaking this language, it is difficult to highlight the localization value of the particular product for the final result. Indirectly, you can try to estimate it through the lifetime of accounts from a given country before and after localization.
Sometimes localization becomes an image solution that is necessary to be fully represented in the region against the background of competitors.

What languages ​​need localization?

Of course, the more markets you cover, the better. However, for a start, the process is better to roll in key and not the most expensive languages, and more rare to connect in the later stages.

If you already have English, then the following standard set is considered to be FIGS (after the first letters of its member languages): French, Italian, German, Spanish. These languages ​​will give you access to the markets of the most developed European countries (many of which are with relatively low penetration of English), as well as most of Latin America. If you want to include Brazil as well as large enough, you can add Brazilian Portuguese. But the languages ​​of Northern Europe (Dutch, Finnish, Scandinavian group) in the first stage can generally be postponed. The cost of translating them is more expensive, and the level of English penetration in the respective countries is quite high.

The inclusion of Asian languages ​​in the process, primarily the so-called CJK group, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese and Korean, is particularly important to link with the presence of a common market entry strategy. Here localization will be significantly complicated by cultural differences and marketing specifics.

Who is involved in the process?

So, let's say we decided that localization is needed, and chose which languages ​​we will do. Further questions will be more.

The next step is to determine what exactly to translate, because besides the product interface itself, user experience also includes reference materials, videos, polls, blog posts, advertising materials, and much more. The discussion will have to involve all departments of the company related to attracting and retaining customers - product managers, marketing, sales, PR, at least, because you may not even suspect the existence of many important texts.



In general, localization specialists will now have to interact on a permanent basis with all the above departments, so it is important to assign a responsible person in each of them who will determine the necessary texts and promptly assign the task of translation.

Also, the localization team will interact with direct implementers - with translators on staff, freelancers or translation agencies (this depends on your company and a set of languages). When working with translators, especially outside the company, it is worth remembering that things that are obvious to you are not necessarily clear to them.

In particular, in the heap of materials that comes from the company to transfer every day or week, it will be difficult for them to identify priority things. Of course, you can try to specify the deadline for each task, but it does not hurt to formulate some kind of common policy. For example:

1. The most important is the translation of the interface.
2. Then - emails, press releases, everything that has a hard deadline.
3. Lower priority documentation, accompanying materials.

In each case, priorities may vary, but, as a rule, they depend on two factors: a hard deadline and the complexity of publishing the content. So, in the case of the interface, the site and the letters after the translation itself, there will be a review-layout-testing, for which additional time must be allocated.

No matter how accurate the processes are, you will always need several replacement translators for urgent translation of lines, modified or added at the last moment. Contact local marketers in the relevant regions and native speakers who can help in case of force majeure will be useful. Moreover, these same colleagues can be attracted at the stage of quality control.

How to control the quality?

The verification of the localization of almost any type of content can be divided into two parts - functional and linguistic.

If your testers have not previously encountered localization, you need to agree with them on the scope of work and segregation of duties. Testers check the completeness of the translation, layout and other functional aspects, and the quality of the translation and its adequacy are the responsibility of the localization manager.

As for the quality of the translation itself, despite the hackney of such recommendations, a pre-approved glossary and a sufficient amount of context, your chances of getting an adequate and high-quality translation are incredibly improved. Context is a link to product reference information, screenshots, or even account access, where translators can play with the product themselves.

A style guide is needed to describe your audience and product features and terminology, as well as, for example, to indicate the form of addressing users in your industry. For example, in Russia in the IT industry it is customary to address users respectfully, but not as formally as, for example, in the banking sector.

After translation, texts should be checked with the help of native-speaking staff, ideally, it’s a marketer or support employee. And it is highly desirable that the review be part of their official duties. Otherwise, this stage will quickly turn into a “bottleneck”, as the employee will leave such tasks for later.

If there are no such employees in your company, you can order a review from another translator or agency.

How to fit localization in current workflows?

Preparation for localization begins with the release calendar, which (in an ideal world) is created and maintained by product managers and which is most conveniently stored in a common access in the project management system. In fact, the PM is a key person who can initially influence his team and all those associated with the release, so that the localization manager only needs to have time to accept and complete tasks from all the departments involved.

The implementation of workflows in each case is tied to the development cycle. If the text is laid out directly on the site, the question of where to embed the localization will not arise. If the cycle includes beta testing and early access for clients, it makes sense to start localizing large amounts of text (letters, help center articles) at this stage, but be ready to make edits at the last moment.

In building processes, it is important from the very beginning to minimize the work of managing, collecting and transferring information, exporting and importing files from various applications.

It is worth considering a regular workflow for getting new interface lines to translate: after release or when the feature is still in development? Do engineers need to be involved and are they willing to spend enough time?

Then you should consider integrating all text storage sites (version control system, blog, email automation system, help center, Google Adwords, landing platform) with translation management system. In the ideal case, all updates get to TMS automatically, or simply by pressing a button.

The next step is working with text from the translators. Using online translation systems such as Crowdin, Transifex, XTM, Pootle, and others, allows you to query the context, ask and answer questions, and also work on a glossary, start formal checks for translations within a single interface, which becomes a single repository contextual information to which all managers and executives have access.



If you manage to set up a convenient process, then you can localize the interface of a separate feature in 24 hours, and while it is being tested, you manage to localize other content types: press release, blog announcement, reference materials, banners, etc.

And finally

Localization is not a process that is enough to set up once, and then make cosmetic changes for a new type of content or language.

Ideally, this is an area in which it is possible and necessary to improve endlessly - speed up workflows through automation, optimize teamwork with translators, enter localizability testing into the development process, use crowdsourcing to translate into new languages, introduce additional criteria for assessing the quality of translations, including proactive customer interviews and statistics analysis.

I really want to tell all this, but for one article, perhaps, a bit too much - perhaps we will share in the future. And, of course, we will be glad to know in the comments how localization is set for you.