Thoughts on localization

Localization isn’t about slapping translations onto text like a coat of paint. It’s about understanding the gears that make a culture tick—language, yes, but also nuance, context, and expectation.

Take a button label: "Get Started." Simple, right? In English, it’s crisp, direct, a green light for action. But slide that into Japanese, and a literal translation might feel abrupt, even rude. Politeness matters there—something like "始めましょう" (Hajimemashou), meaning "Let’s begin," softens the tone while keeping the intent. A UX writer has to weigh these shifts: tone, formality, and even word length. A tight character limit on a mobile screen can turn a German compound word into a design headache.

Then there’s the invisible stuff—idioms, humor, cultural references. A playful "Home Run!" for a success message might land in the U.S., but in France, it’s a swing and a miss. Tools help: glossaries for consistency and style guides tuned to each market. Collaboration with native speakers is another option; they catch what Google Translate fumbles.

Tackling localization means planning early. Write with flexibility baked in—short, modular phrases that bend without breaking. Test in context, too; a dashboard in Arabic flows right-to-left, flipping the whole experience. It’s less about rewriting and more about rethinking. The goal? Text that feels native, not foreign—a seamless bridge between product and person, wherever they're from.