A Developer’s Guide To User Experience In App Localization
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A <strong>Developer’s</strong> <strong>Guide</strong> <strong>To</strong> <strong>User</strong> <strong>Experience</strong> <strong>In</strong> <strong>App</strong> <strong>Localization</strong><br />
Even Big Software Vendors Struggle With UX<br />
Try this definition of user experience from one of the biggest software vendors on the planet<br />
(yes, Microsoft, I’m looking at you):<br />
“An activity of encounter by a computer user with the auditory and visual presentation of a<br />
collection of computer programs. It is important to note that this includes only what the user<br />
perceives and not all that is presented.”<br />
This is akin to a restaurant offering “cold, dead fish,” instead of lip-smacking, gourmet sushi. We<br />
need a better way to delight users with localized versions of your app, build solid and loyal user<br />
bases in different countries, and keep app subscriptions rolling in (if such is your business<br />
model.)<br />
A <strong>Localization</strong> UX Issue Sampler<br />
Before getting to a more effective definition of user experience, take a look at some of the ways<br />
that poor app localization might negatively affect UX:<br />
● Foreign language text is longer or shorter than the original version, and makes the layout<br />
look strange or simply wrong<br />
● Variable handling generates grammatical errors that make localized strings look<br />
ridiculous to native speakers of the localization language<br />
● Minimum font sizes that were acceptable in the default language (the one you have been<br />
working in to build the original version of the app) make other languages unreadable<br />
● Right-to-left and left-to-right language localizations leave users with different<br />
impressions or just plain confused.<br />
These examples of UX issues concern technical aspects of app localization, and therefore they<br />
concern you as a developer directly. However, there are many more potential UX problems (see<br />
below) that will also involve you as you manage app localization cycles, sending text strings off<br />
for translation, and working with your product management or marketing colleagues to ready<br />
your app for new markets and cultures.<br />
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