How to Localize Your Design Software

Software development companies that want to sell and market their products in other countries face the challenge of ensuring their products are relevant and useful to all of their customers. That takes more than translation. It means creating software that meets the unique needs of the target customer. When it comes to design software, there are unique goals and needs to be considered. Below are some points to be considered.

First Consider The Types of Design Software in Your Package

The first step you’ll want to take is to inventory the type or types of software that you are offering. Are you solely focused on a single type of software? Is your package more of a ‘suite’ that offers multiple functionalities, and is marketed to people in multiple fields?

Next, will you be offering the entire suite to your new market, or will you cherry pick based upon market research and consumer demands? Once you know if you’re going to be marketing Autocad, prototyping, modeling, or other types of design software, you can begin to do a bit of research and competitive analysis. What are the trends in these niches? What kind of content are your competitors sharing that is getting good engagement.

Keep in mind that localization also means ensuring that your software meets regulatory standards, and that your technical and support materials are easy for your target audience to understand. By knowing exactly what you plan to offer your new audience, you can plan to localize all documentation.

Finally, don’t forget that design software also includes complementary software that is marketed to design professionals. This includes:

  • Financial Software
  • Contract Management and Legal Software
  • Document Management Apps and Software
  • Payroll and Accounting

Anything that you market will need to be localized. Know what is involved so that you can best manage the scope of this project.

Identify The Unique Concerns and Goals Regarding Design Software Localization

When you localize any software packages, there are essentially two layers of concerns you have to deal with. The first relates to the tasks that are common in every localization project. This includes ensuring that content is culturally sensitive, and that cultural references are edited, so they are meaningful to the target audience.

The second layer deals with the unique concerns and goals that relate specifically to software design localization. This includes:

Gaining an Understanding of Local Design Trends, Tastes, and History

Local culture and history can have a big impact on design trends. The designers you are marketing to may have clients with completely different tastes than your current market. History in a region, especially as it relates to art and architecture can impact tastes and expectations. It’s imperative that the localization process includes conducting research to gain sufficient understanding of these things.

Localizing User Interfaces, Manuals and Online Help

Consider apps and websites that are popular in the region you are considering. This can give you some valuable information regarding user expectation of interfaces, as well as online help resources.

Changing Units of Measure and Currencies Where Needed

If currencies and other symbols are prominent in your content, these will need to be localized. Depending on the amount of content that you plan to localize, this process can be pretty time-consuming. 

Taking DBCS and Bi-Directional Language Requirements into Consideration

This can be a very complicated undertaking. If you’re expanding into countries such as China or Japan, your products will need to be able to handle double byte character sets, and bi-directional language requirements. 

Including Localization Planning in Maintenance and Updates

Just like you update documentation and inline content, you will need to update localized content whenever your design software is updated.

Adhering to Local Customs Regulations and Standards

Designers frequently have to adhere to certain standards and regulations. Some of these are driven by the specific industry they are in. Others are set by local and national governments. Design software has to be modified to ensure that they are able to operate within these standards. Again, significant research is required to accommodate this.

Finding Help from Qualified Experts

Localization pros who are qualified to help you with your design software will have a combination of skills that you need. First, they will have language mastery and cultural understand. They should also have software development and design expertise in order to successfully bring a project like this to completion. To outsource something of this magnitude, and get results you can trust, consider a company like The Word Point that offers translation and localization services for software companies.

Remember that this is an emerging field. To source qualified help, you will need to do some due diligence as you research professionals. In addition to this, keep in mind that this isn’t work that you can simply pass along the outside contractor. You’ll need to be an active participant in the process. There is a significant amount of work that goes into preparing software for localization. You’ll need to edit your existing documentation and other content, for example. You’ll also have to select which pieces you want to focus on. In many instances, you may not want to localize all content at first.

Finally, this isn’t a static process. Localization is something that is ongoing. With future updates and modifications, you will want to revisit this process. It’s also something that needs to be considered when you expand into new markets in the future. Also, just as you consider local changes in tastes, cultural events, and emerging consumer demands, you have to track these in your new markets as well.

Concluding Thoughts

In addition to the usual localization tasks, design software producers have very specific items they need to consider when preparing their products for localization. The same is true for any supplemental content such as documentation, ad content, and social media content. Ideally, the localization process begins in the early stages of product design and development. The steps outlined above should help developers navigate this complex process a bit more easily.

Pauline speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian. She travelled the world to immerse herself in the new cultures and learn languages. Today she is proud to be a voting member of the American Translators Association and an active participant of the Leadership Council of its Portuguese Language Division.

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