Lean translation management for better results

MANAGEMENT
https://lingohub.com MADE WITH BY LINGOHUB
LEAN TRANSLATION

LEAN MANAGEMENT
− A holistic take on principles,methods and processes for effective design of value
creation
− A leadership philosophythat translates down to organizational processes and principles
with the aim of avoidingunnecessary waste, mistakes and costs in all areas while seeking
the best result

AND LOCALIZATION
INTERNATIONALIZTION

INTERNATIONALIZATION (i18n)
− The process of preparinga software application or website for localization
− It involves separating all content from the structure of the application,so the text (in a
given language) can be easily changed
− All text in an application is replaced with variables that are assigned string values
An example: The help button in your software shows a text. In the code there’ll be a key for that
(‘help.button.label’) and in the resource file there’ll be an entry (‘help.button.label = Help’) for the English
language. When the software interface is set to English, the button will say Help.

LOCALIZATION (l10n)
− All processes required to adapt a product for a certain location
− Localization is more than simple text translation
− Components of localization:
− Text translation, adapting colors, symbols, tonality of text, prices, measures, aspects of user interface to
accommodate right-to-left or vertical communication …
− Localization starts where internationalization ends

UNDERSTANDING WHY THE TRANSLATION MANAGEMENT PROCESS MIGHT NOT BE LEAN
− Organizing the translators (hiring, quality check,
…)
− Making sure translators know how to use the tool
(coaching, writing how-tos, …)
− Ensuring the quality of the translation (Are
independent reviewers hired?)
− Organizing payment of delivered translation
services
− Communicating with translators for various
reasons (context information is required,
disputes over payment, problems with source
text, …)
− Re-import of the resource file into the
development environment (proper format,
additional work, …)
− What if there are changes in the original text
during the translation process?
Think about who might be in charge of the following tasks and how much time they might consume

WHY LOCALIZATION IS IMPORTANT
− Localization opens new markets
− It’s more convenient for customers to try your product in their native language. Translated content also
affects SEO positively. Hence, early localization of a product makes market entry easier.
− The exception proves the rule. Some products require not just electronic distribution, but also additional
investment per new market (e.g. customer service in each market). Careful planning can decrease some of
these hurdles.
− Localization prevents imitators
− One major reason why business ideas are copied by others is that the innovator leaves market uncovered.
− Well executed localization can help companies tor prevent copycats abroad.

WHY LOCALIZATION IS IMPORTANT
− Localization creates competitive advantage
− Achieve an competitive advantage by making your product suitable for various customer segments early
on and don’t limit it to the English-proficient segment.
− You can be a step ahead of your competition if expanding to the next country for you is just a matter of
switching on that additional language option.
− Localization creates multicultural product character
− Localizing your products properly can emphasize the multicultural character of your company/product.
− A multilingual product does not discriminate certain languages or markets, it contributes to a multilingual
Internet. You contribute to something greater, to intercultural understanding.

BEST PRACTICES
LOCALIZATION

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF LOCALIZATION
World-readiness
− World-readinessdescribes whether or not your app or website is ready to be localized (from a
technical standpoint).
− Careful code documentation and clean resource files can prevent lots of headacheslater and
reduce the amount of preparatory work.
Translation management
− Compatibility and efficiency are 2 crucial aspects in pickingthe right tool to manage translations.
− Consider lean translation management. Don’t lose agility with media breaks or conversions.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF LOCALIZATION
Language choice
− Most productsare released in the lingua franca of the web, English. It allows you to cover the core
markets in the western world, still you’re missing out on billions of potential customers focusing
exclusively on English.
− Consider that offering your product in a new language may come alongwith customer service in
that language as well. It’s important to consider expectationsof your target audience.
Quality control
− Quality control is a make or break aspect of any product cycle and crucial to integrate in it.
− Carefully planning when, who and how is just as important as the execution itself.

LEAN LOCALIZATION WORKFLOWS
− Having linguistic expertise on hand, translation could begin the minute certain pars of
the software are mostly complete.
− Translation should be able to begin in one or any number of additional languages.
− Updates in the product should not impede the overall development.
− There needs to be a fluiditybetween the software development and translation side.
− A developer’s work should not be interrupted by something happening on the
translation side, and vice versa.

FOR TRANSLATION MANAGEMENT
AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES

RESOURCE FILES
− Resource files are used to separate text content form code.
− All the text content is taken out the code and just referenced by it.
− Translators have hard times to handle such files.
⟶ The best way to handle resource files is to abstract them to the translators and leave them to the developers.
LingoHub takes it even a step further. Developers can add comments, quality checks and context information to
generate a collaborative and convenient environments for all parties of the translation workflow.

TEXT SEGMENT CHANGES
− A text segment is an entry in a resource file.
− As software changes, the text changes as well. Existing texts are updated, removed or
new ones are added.
− Developers normallydon’t track these changes, but they’re crucial for translators.
− Resource files are not suited for keeping track of changes.
⟶ Translation tools perfectly handle these requirements. Some great collaboration and translation services and
integrated features make translation even more simple.

INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT (IDE)
− Git(Hub) took branchingand code sharing to a new level.
− A software project normallyhas many branches (10, 20 or more) where each branch
reflects an issue (feature/bug fix).
− Feature branchesare fluent, as the text in it, so it wouldn’t make sense to translate these
texts. When code goes in the release branch,the translationsshould already be done.
⟶ The solution: Introduce a state between – a translation branch. When a developer knowsthat a text
doesn’t change anymore, the code is pushed to this translation branch and the translatorsare notified
that a text needs to be translated.

INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT (IDE)
GIT workflow with i18n

CONTINUOUS DEPLOYMENTS
− Nowadays software is released 2-3 times a week. Translationsare needed fast and more
often.
− This creates challenges for both developers and translators.
− While translatorswere used to work on 2-3 big projects, this shifted working on 15-20
projectsin parallel and work on each just a little bit each week.
− Tools like Translation Memory, Machine Translation and Term Base help translatorsto
stay consistent while working on different projects.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY LINGOHUB
ANJA OBERMÜLLER
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT& MARKETING AT
LINGOHUB
anja.obermueller@lingohub.com
@LingoHub
@anjaobermueller
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Lean translation management for better results

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