For nearly six years, I’ve held positions in software globalization, global marketing, and global program management. Throughout my experience, one of the most critical lessons I've learned about global business is
the importance of localized content.
the importance of localized content.
Localization > Transliteration
At SDL International, I once inherited a software insurance client looking to localize their software from English to Japanese. I had managed projects with over 60 target languages requiring 24 hour turn around, yet this would be my greatest challenge to date. The previous year, the client had paid for an unintelligible transliteration and it was my job to correct the error. After investigating the issue, I identified two major oversights. First, the product needed considerable adaption to meet the requirements for the Japanese insurance market before we even considered translation. Second, as is often the case the software strings appeared out of context to the linguists, leading to substantial errors in accuracy.
This project highlighted the marked difference between linguistic translation and product localization, the latter requiring that legal and cultural considerations be made in addition to linguistic adaptation. After a year of intense negotiations, tight deadlines, and countless rounds of quality assurance testing, my client and I were relieved to see the product launch in Japan on schedule.
It’s been over three years since I left SDL and I still incorporate localization into my role today. The Google's Developers Experts program relies heavily on crowd sourced localization. Our goal is to improve the experience for Android developers around the world and we do this by trusting our community to deliver a more accurate and impactful message. Each year, I train select members on Google’s unique approach to product design and collaboration and, in spite of the successes we’ve had employing these techniques within the context of our own teams, substantial adaptations are often needed in other cultural contexts.
I am extremely excited by the insights we gain from one another as the methodology continues to evolve and this is all possible through our ability to inject localization into our process.
This project highlighted the marked difference between linguistic translation and product localization, the latter requiring that legal and cultural considerations be made in addition to linguistic adaptation. After a year of intense negotiations, tight deadlines, and countless rounds of quality assurance testing, my client and I were relieved to see the product launch in Japan on schedule.
It’s been over three years since I left SDL and I still incorporate localization into my role today. The Google's Developers Experts program relies heavily on crowd sourced localization. Our goal is to improve the experience for Android developers around the world and we do this by trusting our community to deliver a more accurate and impactful message. Each year, I train select members on Google’s unique approach to product design and collaboration and, in spite of the successes we’ve had employing these techniques within the context of our own teams, substantial adaptations are often needed in other cultural contexts.
I am extremely excited by the insights we gain from one another as the methodology continues to evolve and this is all possible through our ability to inject localization into our process.
