Author: Tellis

How to Plan Software Localisation Without Delaying Your Next Release

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A software team decides to launch in another market. Someone exports the interface text, sends it for translation and adds a language option to the settings menu. On paper, the job looks almost finished. The first review tells a different story. Several buttons are too narrow for their new labels. An error message has no clear meaning outside the screen where it appears. The welcome email still arrives in English, and the help centre describes a feature using a different name from the app. None of these problems is especially surprising once you see it. They are simply difficult to catch when translation is handled separately from product development. For teams preparing their first multilingual release, the challenge is deciding what to include, giving translators enough context and leaving time to test the result. A workable process starts well before the final text is ready. Choose a Specific Audience and a Manageable First Release “Make the app available internationally” is too broad to guide a project. Choose the market you want to serve and identify what users there should be able to do. For a scheduling tool, the first release might cover creating an account, setting availability, booking an appointment and receiving reminders. Reporting features used by a small number of administrators could follow later, provided those limits are made clear. This approach gives the team a complete journey to work on. It also makes testing more meaningful: reviewers can check whether someone can finish an ordinary task without encountering unexplained language changes. Look at existing demand when setting priorities. Enquiries from prospective customers, requests from a distribution partner and feedback from current users can all help establish where to begin. Make sure the business can support the chosen market. A translated interface creates expectations about onboarding, billing and help after purchase. Those arrangements should be considered alongside the product work. Find the Text Outside the Main Interface The visible screens are only part of the content inventory. Software also communicates through notification emails, password resets, downloadable reports, payment messages and instructions supplied by outside services. Some of that wording may live in systems the product team rarely opens. Trace a realistic user journey and record every place where the person receives information. Include unsuccessful actions as well as successful ones. What happens when a payment fails, an invitation expires or a search returns no results? For each piece of content, identify its location and owner. This helps prevent a familiar problem: everyone assumes another team is handling the automated messages. The inventory does not have to become an elaborate database. A shared document is enough if it clearly records what needs translating, where it comes from and who approves it. The important thing is to make the scope visible before work begins. Improve Ambiguous Wording Before Translation Short interface labels can be surprisingly difficult to translate because they provide so little context. “Open” could describe the status of a request or instruct someone to open a file. “Free” might refer to price or availability. Even a familiar label such as “Clear” could mean removing a filter, deleting entered text or dismissing a notification. Review the source wording for these ambiguities. Where possible, make the action more explicit. “Clear filters” gives both users and translators more information than “Clear.” You should also look for inconsistent names. If the same feature is called a workspace on one screen and a project area elsewhere, decide whether those terms describe the same thing. Translation is much easier when the original product has settled terminology. Avoid polishing every sentence indefinitely. Focus first on wording that affects decisions, instructions and navigation. These are the places where uncertainty is most likely to interrupt a task. Give Translators Access to the Product Context A spreadsheet containing hundreds of isolated phrases is a difficult starting point, even for an experienced linguist. Provide screenshots, brief explanations and, where practical, access to a demonstration environment. Show what happens before and after the text appears. Explain whether a phrase is a button, a heading, a status or an instruction. A translation company can help organise the language work, but your team still needs to explain the product accurately. Assign someone who can answer questions about features and intended behaviour.…

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