Global Web and Mobile User Experience: Designing for Localization UX

Many software localizations efforts over the years have failed due to the strong ethno-centric bias we bring to design, development and business decisions. Further failures have come from stopping at translation or using automated translation. To truly succeed in localization efforts requires a dedicated focus on localizing your UI and addressing your users cultural filters. Localization of a user experience requires a strategic approach beyond translation. Localizing a UI means the UI feels truly local, as if it was designed in that country, city or region. Designing for localization means avoiding assumptions based on language, location or culture. In this training we will leverage global design principles including internationalization and Universal Design rules. We will start with optimizing content for translatability then go beyond to learn how to intimately design for localized audiences so your app or website feels real, feels sensible and ‘blends in’. Good localization involves a focused approach to understanding the social and emotional landscape of the culture you intend to design for. This training will provide you with tools and processes for identify and defining culturally sensitive interface requirements, and then we will show you how to validate and vet your interface design with your local audiences. We will learn how to optimize for five key areas of localization: Accessibility, Cultural Sensitivity, Relevancy, Readability and Authenticity. We will learn how to uncover cultural mental models and apply them to User Interface requirements. This includes understanding how to validate Localized Personas; How to design culturally streamlined interface flows and how to test with users to gain validation feedback from users in the regions your design serves.