UX for application localization: a developer's guide

Let's dig in different definitions of UX, analyze all possible problems with UX during localization and find out how one little thing can derail the whole experience of user interaction with your application.

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If you have not yet met the term “interaction experience” or “user experience” (user experience, UX), it's time to find out about it, especially considering its enormous influence on the success of application localization.

Typically, the experience of user interaction with the application - this is what determines the success or failure of the application. It's simple. If the value of your application is not obvious to users, the use does not bring them joy, or they do not extract at least some benefit from it, they will not use it. Your program will be useless, and all the days spent writing and testing it - wasted.

To what extent does the experience of using the application depend on you? Perhaps, much more than you think, and when it comes to localizing the application, even more.

Why have you never encountered the UX

I know what you're thinking now: since the UX is so important, why is there so little attention paid to it when developing software compared to writing code? There are two main reasons:

1. Often, UX is mistakenly viewed as solely the responsibility of marketing professionals or UX , a kind of emotional zone for engaging users “on the other side of the wall. You may receive instructions or requests for designing or changing the interface in a certain way, but no one ever explains to you why.
   
2. If you dig deeper into the comprehensive concept of UX, that it is “to do everything so that the user has a good time in the application,” many have only a vague idea of ​​what UX is , and cannot explain to others even a little that they themselves understand .
   

Even large software makers have problems with UX

Here is the definition of UX from one of the largest software vendors on the planet (yes, Microsoft, I'm looking at you):

“The process of interaction of a computer user with an audiovisual representation of a set of computer programs. It is important to consider that we are talking only about what the user perceives, and not about everything that is presented to him. ”

As if in a restaurant instead of delicious gourmet sushi, cold dead fish was served. We need a better way to delight users with localized versions of your application, build solid bases of loyal users in different countries, and maintain a stream of subscriptions (if your business model implies).

Common UX problems with localization

Before moving on to a more useful definition of UX, check out a few options for how poor application localization can affect user experience:

• text in a foreign language is longer or shorter than the original one , because of which the layout looks weird or just wrong;
  
• processing variables generates grammatical errors, which is why localized strings look ridiculous for native speakers of the language to which the application is localized;
  
• the smallest font sizes are acceptable for the source language (the one on which the original version of the application was created), but make the text in other languages ​​unreadable;
  
• localization for languages ​​with different directions of writing ( from right to left and left to right ) causes dissimilar impressions among users or simply confuses them.
  

These examples of problems with UX relate to the technical aspects of localizing the application, that is, directly as a developer. However, there are much more potential UX problems (see below) that will affect you as you manage further application localization cycles, when sending text strings to translate and working with product managers or marketing colleagues to prepare your application for new markets and cultures. .

Start as you intend to continue.

If you intend to improve the experience of user interaction with localized versions of your application, you need to understand what to strive for. So let's try another definition of UX to start from the best positions. This time from Nielsen Norman Group.

“All aspects of the end-user interaction with the company, its services and products. The first requirement for an exemplary experience of interaction is to precisely satisfy the user's needs, without bothering or imposing himself. The following is the simplicity and grace with which the possession and use of the product brings joy. This experience of interaction concerns much more than meeting the needs of users or providing them with formal opportunities. In order to offer a high-quality user experience with the company's proposals, design and development, marketing, graphic and industrial design, and interface design must be perfectly integrated. ”

But this is already inspiring. Largely because one of the authors of this definition is Don Norman, who invented the term “user experience”. The second author of the pair Nielsen-Norman - Jacob Nielsen, who rethought the usability of sites in 1999 in his book Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity (the book was published in Russian under the title “Web Design: a Book by Jacob Nielsen” in the publishing house Symbol Plus, 2007).

UX, UI and usability when localizing an application

To get right to the question, let's look at the difference in interaction experience (UX), user interface (UI) and usability. Only one of these three concepts - experience of interaction - covers the whole range of impressions, sensations, acceptance or disapproval that users have in the process of using your application. But this does not mean that the other two concepts are not important.

The user interface (UI) must provide access to the functionality that is needed or interesting to the user. The application and its user interface should also be easy to use (usability) - that is, be simple and clear, pleasing to the eye, easily learned and effective (in the sense of the minimum required number of clicks, clicks and other control gestures) in providing the user with what wants. Interaction experience combines interface quality, usability level, and other aspects. In the case of localization of the application, for example, this includes the correct use of colors, symbols, backgrounds, and direction indicators (navigating the localized page).

What is your UX role as a developer when localizing an application?

Given that marketers and product managers usually devote more time to forming requirements for the localization of an application due to cultural differences, you will most likely also have to participate in the process outside of your development environment. For example, to supervise a translation, send content (text, graphics, audio) to translators, make editorial corrections and make ready localized versions of content available in an application.

Honestly, it doesn’t hurt to also pay attention to how not only language, but also cultural factors can affect the UX localized version of your application. In this case, you will not be surprised when marketing asks you to replace the background image in the Japanese version with something else - with brighter colors and the effect of sunlight, because taking into account cultural peculiarities this will more closely match the expectations of Japanese users (yes, this is true!).

Don't make users think about your localized application.

Steve Krug wrote his book Don't Make Me Think (“Don't make me think”) to help people think as usability experts (this is an important part of creating an interaction experience), even if they work in a different role, for example, a developer. His ideas related to web applications, but can naturally be applied to mobile applications. Here are some of his helpful recommendations:

• don't make people think. Usually people do not want to strain to get what they need from the application;
  
• applications should be clear at a glance, from the first screen and as they are used;
  
• do not waste time users. Keep your texts short and friendly, cut the path through the screens and menus;
  
• back button is good. If people act at random, do not leave them at a disadvantage. Let them go back easily.
  

If you localize the application, your constant attention is necessary. The interface and usability of your application were probably created according to your own cultural norms. However, what is natural for one culture may look strange or unacceptable for another. This may affect the experience of using a localized version of your application, for example, in such cases:

• translation of terms , especially short phrases or single words, for buttons. The shorter the phrase, the more important it is to accurately convey the intention behind it in translation or equivalent for localization;
  
• Forms to fill the user . Some cultures (for example, Anglo-Saxon) often provide three fields for entering a username: personal name, middle name and last name. In other cultures (for example, in Asian countries) the norm is two fields. If you insist on three, you “make them think,” and this is a bad tactic in terms of interaction experience.
  

Internationalization and user experience

The above ideas for improving UX are more effective when integrated into the application from the very beginning instead of embedding as it is developed. The same approach is applicable at the stage of internationalization, which predates the localization of the application into other languages.

Internationalization is the process of separating the maximum amount of user-visible content from an application, in order to ensure its independence from the language. Separated user content can be localized into different languages ​​in accordance with the requests of marketing or end users.

Internationalization can encompass graphic and audio content, as well as any other aspect of the application, not only due to language, but also culture. Platforms like Android and iOS provide fairly simple separation of content and provide convenient features for automatically processing localized formats for numbers, dates, and quantities. On the other hand, offering substantial help in building a good UX, internationalization, as well as interface, and usability, is only part of the experience of interacting with a localized application.

Practical aspects: word length and font size

Texts translated into foreign languages ​​will be shorter or longer than text in your language. In some cases, the difference can be drastic . For example, the word user from English to German is usually translated as benutzer (twice as many characters), and into French - as utilisateur (almost three times as many characters). Obviously, an attempt to squeeze all these additional letters into the space reserved for the short version of the word will cause problems with the display and layout, usability and, accordingly, UX.

The smallest font sizes that normally fit (only) for languages ​​like English can make characters in other, more complex languages ​​unreadable (漢字, for example). In addition, line heights in English or similar European languages ​​may not be sufficient for Chinese and other languages ​​that use higher lines. Whatever the font size and line height, characters in any language must be readable. To do this, you may need to increase the minimum size in all language versions, or perhaps use a different layout for different localizations (see below).

Double length, pre- and pseudolocalization: identification of problems

Problems with word length associated with an increase in volume, as in the example in English, German and French, can be monitored using the double-length version of the separated lines and its display. So too long texts will be much more noticeable. And for localizations in which the volume of texts is reduced (from English to Chinese, for example), the services of a native speaker will be absolutely necessary, who can view the screens and determine where too much empty space has formed and which fields, buttons or layout elements need to be changed.

If your application is running on a computer or via a browser using the keyboard, look for combinations of "hot keys" that may not be available on keyboards for other languages. It may be better to use the function keys (F1, F2, F3, etc.), which are usually available on all keyboards. Or avoid tying the functionality to hot keys from the beginning, starting from the design stage.

How to deal with layout problems when localizing applications

A localized version of the application can get an ugly look even when using automatic optimization (such as Auto Layout in iOS). The examples above explain how this can happen. Layout, in which everything was smooth and beautiful in the source language, can be distorted when trying to display foreign language equivalents. Attempting to standardize a set of sizes for a language with average spatial parameters may also fail, especially if it is possible to double or double the text.

The best or compromise solution for each case may be different. Most likely, you will be able to pick up reasonable UI and UX solutions for different localizations, sorting out different possibilities and attracting native speakers. Among these features may be:

• use drop-down menus to hide the difference in length (this can lead to the addition of clicks or touches, which reduces usability);
  
• dynamic layout, displaying longer texts in two lines instead of one (this can lead to visual contradictions between different localizations);
  
• software differences layout, used in accordance with the localization language or locale (a combination of country and language). This may resolve the issue with a different number of fields for entering names in different locations (see “Do not make users think ...” above).
  

Right to left and left to right

For languages ​​that are read from right to left, such as Arabic and Hebrew, not only the text direction changes, for example, in English, but also the presentation of time and sequence of actions. Carriers of these languages ​​can expect to see the basket on the left side of the screen rather than the right one, because it is there that the action to remove something naturally ends. The situation is similar with the buttons “back” (located on the left for the English language) and “forward” (on the right for the English language), which should be placed opposite: on the left “on the front” and on the right “back”. The time on the screens for such languages ​​is also read from right to left. Also, pay attention to the icons to indicate functions such as text alignment. They will also need to be read from right to left, that is, instead of “ragged right edge”, “ragged left edge” should be displayed.

Application interfaces, whose logic and interaction experience in left-to-right languages ​​strongly depend on horizontal movement, may need to be rethought and redesigned for right-to-left languages ​​to provide the same UX quality. This is another aspect that is better thought out at the very beginning of the design, than to make changes to an existing application. Sometimes you won't have a choice. But, if you are lucky to create a new application design from scratch, you can consider all these aspects for different locations that you are supposed to need. You can also avoid this problem by initially setting up vertical navigation for which the direction of the text does not matter.

UX problems with incomplete localization

By this moment it’s probably already obvious to you that localizations may be partial or incomplete due to various reasons. Unfortunately, there are almost no partial localizations that provide a decent level of interaction experience.

Incomplete translation

Mixing phrases in different languages ​​goes against the prevailing preferences of native speakers who buy and use the product in their own language. When mixing languages ​​with different directions of the text, everything can turn out even worse.

Incomplete cultural localization

Inappropriate colors and symbols can also destroy the experience of interaction in a localized version, if the original elements are used without proper attention and care for users.

Incomplete localization of formats

If you have not changed the separators in numbers from points to commas, for example, making the localization of the English source code into French, this interface will look strange for a French-speaking user. And this error is difficult to forgive, since methods of automatic formatting are built in to different operating systems. However, to use some variables, a more careful approach may be needed to make sure that grammatical structures are correctly transferred to localized versions.

Perhaps the only exception for incomplete localization may be the localization of only promotional information about an application for use in an app store, such as the Apple App Store or Google Play. This trick allows marketers to track how many native speakers download an application, which helps to assess the sales potential for a specific local market. However, this approach can only be temporary; you will then have to adequately localize the product or return to the full original version so as not to disappoint users and not attract negative reviews.

Translation: context and glossaries

In Spanish, the English word run can be translated in hundreds of different ways. If we are talking about a localized application with a map, run means “run from point A to point B”, but in the case of a home automation application, run can mean “execute the program”, as when setting the alarm or switching the house to night mode. The context in such cases is decisive, especially if there is only one correct translation, and many wrong ones.

Notes and comments for translation, attached to text strings, help translators choose the right one, maintaining the UX level for the localized version. Useful information can be:

• thematic context such as characteristic features or closely related concepts;
  
• grammatical context (for example, whether a word is a noun or a verb, etc.);
  
• definition or alternative expression of the word;
  
• specific use : how exactly the word is used in this case.
  

The translation glossary can help to maintain the proper level of UX in the localized version, providing a uniform translation of certain words, using brand names without translation, etc. Such glossaries should always be read into the readings of native speakers before they can be used for general use.

Again, remember that the translation sometimes concerns more than just words, and make sure that the cultural difference is properly taken into account. On the Google homepage for English, for example, there is an option I'm feeling lucky (for Russian - “ I'm feeling lucky ”). In some cultures, luck is perceived differently, and the phrase should be replaced by “I rely on God” - to more accurately meet the expectations of native speakers.

findings

Localization is needed to provide a good interaction experience for your application in international markets. But this is not just a translation of words. One of the most important qualities that you should develop as a developer for improving UX localized versions is empathy for your users. This concerns, for example, the understanding that a minor, in your opinion, trifle can sometimes derail the whole experience of the interaction of native speakers with your application. By teaming up with marketing colleagues and product managers, you can design and develop applications with efficient code and excellent user experience that raises sales, penetration, and user loyalty wherever your localizations are implemented.


About the translator

The article is translated in Alconost.

Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and sites in 62 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.

We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.

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