Localization and translation are probably the two of the most important elements of the globalization process for any company. But what distinguishes localization from translation is the holistic approach that takes every aspect of a company’s product into consideration. In fact, the product development process is a time-consuming process requiring careful scrutiny to ensure it is accepted well in a target market.
Read on to find how design-stage localization is vital for the success of your firm in the global market.
How Design-Stage Localization Works:
In the process of product development, design and localization have always taken the positions of opposite ends. Usually, product teams start with a mockup and create a UI before sending it for development. From here, the product is first developed in a source language and launched in a single market. After that, the product is further translated for other foreign markets.
In contrast, design localization management involves continuing the process of localization alongside product development. In the design-stage localization, product teams start with a mockup. This is followed by finalizing the UI in the source language and the translation of the UI before the development stage. This implies that the prototypes developed are already localized before they are launched.
Reasons why Design-Stage Localization is Vital
When implemented the right way, localization at the design stage always pays off well for a firm. One vital thing to remember here is that the most important assets for your company are your customers and your team. A collaborative model that combines both localization through a professional translation management system and design aspects is bound to prove beneficial for your company in the long run.
Here are some reasons why design-stage localization is important in the early stages of your company:
- Collaborates, streamlines, and aligns stakeholders
The key to building a lasting and beneficial relationship with your stakeholders is collaboration through partnership. Design-stage localization allows communication and collaboration between your company, customers, developers, product team, and designers. This means that all these stakeholders not only work together to achieve quality localization of product, but they all are on the same page regarding your company’s vision, goals, and priorities.
- Collects valuable feedback
Since all the stakeholders working on a product are aligned at the same level, it is easy to eliminate any time delays that come in the way. This also removes the hassle of going back and forth between stakeholders, trying to bring them all on the same page. With design-stage localization, product teams collect valuable feedback from customers and users before the release of the final product in the global market.
- Allows for agile development and faster time-to-market
The term ‘localization’ is often perceived as being a slow and time-consuming process, requiring checks and assessments at multiple stages. However, design-stage localization has changed all that.
Design-stage localization ensures that the whole localization process is embedded in the product development cycle. This means that continuous development becomes easy for your company. The teams that are working on the localization workflow do not fade time delays any longer as the product teams are able to seamlessly align localization with development.
- Improves UI quality and reduces errors
If you are a company aiming to design an app for multiple regions, you may have gone through the hassle of re-adapting all your designs to fit the preferences of each market. Apart from the hassle of re-adapting, unnecessary work piles up for the developers, translators, and project managers. This has a harmful impact on the whole product cycle. This causes delays in shipping, and localized products do not make it to the customer quickly enough.
Although designers can alter the app design easily, developers of your app have to re-work the code to reflect the new design for multiple markets. This forces your team to make the hard choice. This choice is between late delivery of a localized app or a product that does not have the optimal quality.
The integration of design with product development allows linguists to work on UI effectively. Additionally, they can work with visual context and request for design amendments at the same time to fit the UI design. Consequently, UI quality improves as the linguists are able to convey the space requirements at the design stage more easily.
- Prevents extra costs
Did you know that making amendments to the UI designs of a product can have substantial costs for a firm? If a UI is translated without keeping the design in perspective, it can result in a bad translation. The hassle of matching the design with the translated versions of your app can be a big burden on your product budget. Design-stage localization removes this hassle altogether, as the linguists can collaborate with designers at the translation stage to accommodate any spaces or design elements. This reduces costs for your firm considerably, enabling you to enter the target markets without any cost constraints.
Conclusion
Localization and development of a product go hand-in-hand when it comes to going global in multiple markets. Design-stage localization is a cost-effective way by which companies can create a quality localized product through alignment, collaboration, and teamwork with development teams. Without this proper collaboration, a product cannot be adapted easily for multiple markets.
