For project managers

10 software localization problems and solutions for project managers

How to avoid 10 common pitfalls in localization

10 best practices tips for project managers:● How to enhance translation quality● How to speed up localization process● How to achieve a well-managed localization process ● How to save money and administrative overhead

In this slide deck you will learn...

...

You have 4 weeks!

Localization is a multitask project:● Requires efficient monitoring of tasks and

orders, schedules and costs

● Involves many different parties

This leads to an overall complex localization process and slows down the time-to-market of a new product.

Ready to release?

Don’t

As a project manager you need to deal with ● a vast amount of documents, ● language versions, ● monitoring of tasks and orders, ● schedules and translation costs

This eats up your day with coordination efforts!

Be lost in administrative overhead#1

Do

Get the big picture right!● What responsibilities, interdependencies, costs and systems

exist?● Are there repetitive tasks or delays in the process?● Are you sending files back and forth again and again?

A management tool can help you to automate tasks

Identify repetitive tasks#1

Example

We focus on translatingproduct featureslanding pages.

We automate repetitive tasks: After extracting translatable strings, we...

automatically push them to our management platform PhraseApp

have translators notified to translate themdownload updated locales in our deployment process.

Identify repetitive tasks#1

Don’t

Project participants and processes rarely become organized without leadership and clear communication.

Communication is often the biggest challengecan strain your team’s productivity

Bad communication#2

Do #2 Embrace good communication

Good communication can ease your work and help you to be more efficient.

Evaluate your team’s communication habits:Find ways you can improve: Are roles, responsibilities and

deadlines communicated clearly?Are instructions specified completely?What kind of tools are used for communication?Are language barriers and transnational communication

causing misunderstandings?

Example

We usePivotalTracker as a planning tool for meta-tasks in development

and content productionA spreadsheet roadmap for certain publication channels that

we want to release information on on a certain scheduleSlack for team-communication. It offers great integration with

social media channels and allows team or topic chats.Automated blog deployment through a special message in our

Slack chat.

Embrace good communication#2

Don’t

Quality assurance is often an afterthought to the localization effort.

Without performing quality assurance you will: not be able to evaluate the outcome of your localization effortslack quality and consistency in your translated content.

Have no QA#3

Do #3 Take time to test your localized app

Quality assurance plays a major role:Don't forget about quality assurance when setting deadlines

and planning your next releaseTake time to test your localized applicationReview localized software, websites or documentsAsk in-country representatives or close customers to review

Example

We test our localized content througha specified editing and proof-reading workflow pre-releasing and collecting feedback from early adopters and

our closest customersreviewing bounce rates and conversion metrics in Google

Analytics

Take time to test your localized app#3

Don’t

Too strict deadlines and milestones ● increases stress level and pressure on team members● puts emphasis on ‘shipping things as early as possible’ rather

than making sure that the quality of localization is appropriate

● leads to extra charges by translation service providers

Too strict deadlines and milestones #3

Do #4 Plan ahead

Plan ahead early:to avoid rush feesto give your localization provider time to receive better

translation qualityto be able to negotiate better rates

Additionally, this will give you time for quality assurance before launching.

Example

Since we want to be able to react quickly to new developments:

we work using an agile approach (SCRUMban) on our tasks,we have a top-level roadmap of strategic goals we want to

achieve, but we do not commit to detailed planning for more than two weeks,

we have a release schedule to offer releases on certain channels like our blog or social media accounts in specific intervals.

Plan ahead#4

Don’t

Many companies keep on translating as much as possible, but...

not every bit of content needs to be translated and localized for every market

some parts of your source content might not be relevant for certain countries.

Treat everything the same#5

Do

Develop a content-tiering criteria that help you to prioritize your content:

simplify your texts before localizationprioritize content for localization.

Note: Make sure you really understand what local customers expect or require, when defining what kind of information is absolutely necessary or not.

#5 Prioritize information for localization

Example

We’ve categorized our content into three partsLanding pages, Platform interface and Documentation

Landing page: Translated into all available customer languages.Platform: Kept in English and German. Most of our customers

with a technical background are familiar with English as a working language.

Documentation: Only available in English. It’s a lot of text and we do not want to introduce confusion or errors in the technical parts due to translation of technical terminology.

Prioritize information for localization#5

Don’t

Translators need guidance, context and most importantly need to know your brand in order to perform good quality translation and localization.

If you don't provide context information ● Translation quality may be poor● You will spend time to fix “bugs” in your localizations

Having no style guide in place#6

Do

A style guide will help you get consistent and will set the standards for content in any language.

It should include:● information about the target audience, do you require formal

address?● your brand, defined terminology and glossaries ● formatting preferences● tone of voice● style that will characterize your ideal translation.

#6 Create a style guide

Example

We provide a technical tool and its terminology is often language service or software specific.

We add a style guide to our translator briefings containing: ● a glossary of standardized names for our software’s

components and features as well as some technical terms,● a definition of our language tone, which is generally slightly

informal to communicate openness and ease to our users.

Create a style guide#6

Don’t

A translator's job is to translate and not to not to struggle with all different kind of file formats

● Many translators charge an extra fee for complex file formats

Using non-standard formats#7

Do

Provided translation files that are in a format that makes translation easy, or that can be easily converted into a translation-friendly format:● convert directly to a format suitable for translation editors,

such as XLIFF● select a format that is supported by your software or

framework.

#7 Use translation-friendly formats

Example

Our platforms localization format is the Rails i18n standard YAML. Through our platform we are able to

automatically integrate with our translators: We enable them either to work in our Translation Center or export the language files to their favorite CAD tool,

we have no format conversion issues and rely on platform and technology standards,

● avoid format errors by automatically checking for placeholder syntax and formatting, as well as not working in obscure files, but our simple web user interface.

Use translation-friendly formats#7

Don’t

Not being up-to-date about the current status of the localization project can cause tremendous extra work or delay in the process:

When sending translation files back and forth again and again, the risk of having the wrong version of a file is huge. And at some point you might even not be able to tell, which file is up-to-date and which not.

Not being up to date#8

Do

Make sure you always keep track of changes by:● having a systematic categorization of translation files,

documents or document groups to be translated● being precise and conscience about versioning of files and

documents: Delimitation and versioning can be based on product lines and releases, workflow stages, documentation types or departments,

● making sure this kind of information accompanies every translation file in the form of metadata as early as possible.

#8 Keep track of changes

Example

We strive for real-time information within our team by:● automating the process of getting new translation keys into

our platform,● having a platform, where we can get a real-time view on our

translation progress.● receiving updates on translation and content changes

through webhook notifications set up in our messenger, Slack.

Keep track of changes#8

Don’t Writing hard to localize content#9

If your source content is not localizable, it will slow down the process and cost you time and money. Period.

Do

Writing with localization in mind can reduce translation costs and can save tremendous time fixing localization bugs. Therefore..

train your content creators and software developers to write localizable code/content,

guide them on how to avoid common mistakes.

#9 Write with localization in mind

Example

We are trying to be as clear and concise as possible in our communication.

See our blog article on how to write global-ready content for more tips.

Write with localization in mind#9

Don’t

Pain points for every project manager are: ● keeping track of localized files,● managing deadlines, costs, volumes,● handling language versions

These and many more issues can be eliminated if you use a specialized localization tool.

Doing everything manually#10

Do

Speed up the localization process by using a tools like PhraseApp to allow you to:

perform tasks automatically,make collaboration of distributed team members easy,take care of language file management and generation,● accelerate the actual translation process.

Tools make it easy to streamline and speed up localization, reduce administrative overhead and improve translation quality.

Use a specialized localization tool#10

Example

At PhraseApp we eat our own dogfood - We are active users of our own platform PhraseApp:

we can release a new language version in a day or two,it saves us tons of work.

Best part: We identify possible improvements along the way and realize where we could support workflows even better.

Use a specialized localization tool#10

...

Thank you!

You are ready to release!

Your efforts towards a well-managed localization process will be rewarded by creating a better product more efficiently.

You will be able to deliver the right message to your customers, no matter where they are located.

Join hundreds of international companies at PhraseApp, our web-based translation management software that simplifies software translation for web and mobile applications.

Visit https://phraseapp.com and try PhraseApp for free or contact us at info@phraseapp.com