{"id":1838,"date":"2021-09-02T17:08:39","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T20:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stillmantranslations.com\/?p=1838"},"modified":"2021-09-02T17:10:55","modified_gmt":"2021-09-02T20:10:55","slug":"creating-cultural-resonance-in-software-products-and-mobile-applications-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillmantranslations.com\/fr\/creating-cultural-resonance-in-software-products-and-mobile-applications-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating cultural resonance in software products and mobile applications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Software localization may be\u00a0one of\u00a0the best tools\u00a0to adapt products into different markets, it goes further than translation: translators, most often in conjunction with software localization engineers,\u00a0must be accurate\u00a0both linguistically and culturally\u00a0in order to engage with the end customer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boundaries are no longer a hindrance for the growth and expansion of software. Instead crossing these boundaries has become vital to success. Companies are more than welcoming of new revenue opportunities in markets abroad. As a consequence, language and cultural diversity are a fundamental element of software and mobile app development and subsequent updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The industries of software, mobile applications and associated services have a lot to learn from manufacturers of sofas: good design does not always translate to the best quality for everyone and, more importantly, comfort. Some companies began to understand this and increase their budgets accordingly to create more flexible and adaptable products, thinking about customers\u2019 different needs and how to create products that are easy and pleasant to use regardless of market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the main difficulties of introducing software to a global audience is the need for adaptation to different languages and cultures. The process of software localization<\/a> brings the importance of the end customer into the equation. It is not so much what is said, but the way it is said\u00a0and how it is designed to be utilized.\u00a0How we interact with software, mobile apps, and websites is very cultural in nature. For example,\u00a0Arabic, as a written language, is read from right to left. In English we read from left to right.\u00a0Arabic releases must read from right to left\u00a0as well and\u00a0this\u00a0normally\u00a0requires the inversion of the interface to meet\u00a0cultural\u00a0expectations.\u00a0Text expansion can also be a challenge as translation between certain language pairs can result in increased word length (German) and word counts (Spanish)\u00a0resulting in truncation and lack of space. Context is also incredibly important for translators involved in localization because units of meaning or single words without their visual context can be difficult to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, different cultures use different kinds of measuring units, date and time formats and other conventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Software is increasingly more specific in terms of its functions, and it is designed for customers to get the most out of each tool. For that reason, it is more common to find companies that are designing their software with localization in mind, and outsourcing translation services to adapt their tools to the language of their target audience. In the end, it benefits both users and software developers, maximizing the use of their time and effort. For successful localization, translators should be as precise as possible with the local environment, language, culture and other legal aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wide open window<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

#Windows11<\/a> is about to hit the market and it sounds like a perfect moment for developers to put into practice some of the recommendations that Microsoft has for them, if they want to avoid problems with end customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAsk yourself what needs to change if your app is to be localized for other markets<\/em>\u201d, says Windows in their\u00a0guidelines<\/a>\u00a0for new applications. They\u00a0also\u00a0 suggest\u00a0avoiding colloquialisms and metaphors in the default language: \u201cLanguage that’s specific to a demographic group, such as culture and age, can be hard to understand or translate because only people in that demographic group use that language<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To explain some of the problems that customers can find, Windows provides some very enlightening examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsider the sentence\u00a0\u2018Remind me in {0} minute(s)<\/em><\/strong>\u2019. Using \u2018minute(s)\u2019 works for the English language, but other languages might use different terms. For example, the Polish language uses \u2018minuta\u2019, \u2018minuty\u2019, or \u2018minut\u2019, depending on the context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To solve this problem,\u00a0localize the entire sentence<\/strong>, rather than a single word. Doing this may seem like extra work and an inelegant solution, but it is the best solution because:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n