Technical Considerations

Internationalization involves:

• Ensuring that all localizable elements (such as text and graphics) are extracted from the source code and stored in external resources.
• Ensuring that the design of the user interface (UI) is flexible and neutral.
• Ensuring that the relevant character set is supported.
• Ensuring that regional standards are supported.
• Using locale-sensitive utilities for formatting and collation.
• Providing localized graphics or using scaleable vector graphic (SVG) formats to facilitate text replacement.

Cultural Considerations

To design a globally usable product, user experience (UX) and UI designers need to account not only for the technical rules for product internationalization, but also for the cultural differences between the markets. When designing for different cultures (Aykin, 2004):

• Design with internationalization in mind, i.e., consider and select design characteristics that would be acceptable for most countries. The more design decisions are truly global, the less the need for localization to specific markets. Such design decisions can take into consideration cultural preferences, such as learning styles and color choice; culture-specific examples, such as symbols, heroes, rituals and values; and graphic design elements, such as signs and icons.
• Perform usability evaluations with cultural differences in mind. Testing in one country does not guarantee product usability in other countries, therefore early testing of localized versions is important.
• Have local experts who will check the interface for cultural insensitivities or errors.
• Hire translators whose native language is the target language. For example, if you need to translate from Japanese to English, select a translator whose native language is English.

Roles

Team roles typically responsible for ensuring product usability internationally include Project Manger, UX/UI Designer, Software Engineer/Developer, and Technical Writer.