Listen to this articleIn the new digital age and with emerging technologies, people are increasingly installing software to many devices. Whether this software is an application or a device operator, it has become a common thing in everyday life. Therefore, many companies are investing in the software industry or launching their internal software. These companies see software localization as an excellent opportunity to tap into new markets. And although software localization can be daunting, considering the following key points will help you get your software professionally localized and launched.
What Does Software Localization Mean?
Localizing your software means translating and transforming its content to be familiar to your target users- and it’s a challenging thing to do. Even if you are not familiar with the translation industry, it is crucial to know the factors and steps that should be considered in the localization process.
Planning Your Software Localization Project
Before the software localization process kicks-off, planning, and preparing the project should be the first thing to take into consideration. It would help if you communicated with your localization services provider to discuss every step in the process. This step will give you an idea about the software localization tools they use. It is also crucial to talk about how you will want the localized version of your software to look like. Through this discussion, you will also highlight what points you would like to be focused on in this version, besides, you’ll get an idea about the entire software localization process and tools they use.
Experience is a Key Point
As your software can be mobile-based, desktop, or web-based, you need to consider the expertise that will be involved in this software localization. Your localization provider should only deal with highly selected linguists and engineers who have experience in the type of software you are localizing. It is good to make sure that the localization team members are also knowledgeable of the culture of your target users and can deliver an appropriate localized version that will be friendly to your clients.
Glossary & Keywords Translation
With every device, there is a user interface (UI) on how to operate its software. If you are localizing your software, it will be best to translate and localize its UI as well. Whether it is the UI or in-app text, the software industry has its glossary. Your software will also have some keywords that need proper translation and localization to make it easier for targeted users. For UI it is not advisable to use hard-coded texts. It is better to have complete well-structured sentences to have a clear and accurate translation.
Context Matters
Text Expansion
Some words and sentences are longer in one language compared to the other. While designing your software, it is better to leave enough space for any potential expansion in the in-app text and the UI text. Otherwise, the more extended translation may overlap with the following feature in the UI. Moreover, in the in-app text, using a long sentence with little space can make the application jammed and unfriendly to users.
Time and Date Settings
When your software is localized, it needs to adapt to the metrics of the targeted region. The localization provider will adjust measurements, time, date, time zones, and currency formatting to avoid functioning problems. It will be useful if you don’t use hard-coded strings in the software’s metrics so that the software localization will be smoothly performed.
Embedded Text to Codes
Quality Assurance
Testing
The final phase of your software localization is the testing. This phase includes linguistic sign-off as well as market testing. Your translation provider will sign-off the localized content to make sure the layout is similar to the original, and the content is well synchronized. In the end, you may launch the localized version to some selected native users to test the software engagement and how they perceive it.
Taking these points into consideration, you can rest assured that your software will be successfully localized and will achieve its goals in the target market. A professional software localization provider can help you deliver localized software in high quality, in time, and at a lower cost.
bayantech provides you with professional software localization services to help you launch your software in new markets. Moreover, we offer you our QA and testing services as a part of the localization process, or as a stand-alone service, depending on your project’s needs.
Contact us now to start your software localization journey.
