LavaCon 2017 - Agile Localization: Building Bridges Between Translation Quality and Rapid Software Development
- 1. Agile Localization Building Bridges Between Translation Quality and Rapid Software Development Laura Dent Freelance Technical Writer www.linkedin.com/in/lauradentwriter @laurainspace
- 2. Overview • About Me • About You • Definitions • Agile • Localization • Software and Content • Benefits and Challenges • Agile Localization Process 2
- 3. About Me: Laura Dent • Freelance technical writer specializing in single-sourcing and localization; clients include translation agencies and product companies • Content Strategist at Rosetta Stone, language-learning software company; localize software and documentation – SimShip with Agile • Adjunct faculty at James Madison University, teaching Technical Communication for Computer Science 3
- 4. About You Poll: What is your level of experience in … • Agile? • Embedded in Software Team? • Software: • User Interface Text (UI)? • User Experience (UX)? • Content: • Single-Sourcing? • Localization? • Software? • Documentation? 4
- 5. Intersections Agile Software Development ContentLocalization 5 Agile Localization of Software and Content
- 6. Intersections • Agile Software Development • What agile is made for – rapid iterations • Empowering developers • Agile Software Development and Content Strategy • Natural combination – Software UI text is Content • Documentation Writer Content Strategist • Upstream – embedded in Agile software team(s) • Single-sourcing of documentation saves localization costs 6
- 7. Intersections • Agile Localization of Software and Content – Sweet Spot • Challenges • Benefits • Software Internationalization • Terminology: glossary and style guide – consistency of content: UI text and documentation • Hybrid: Between waterfall (handoff) and agile (incremental): Batches • Other approaches: n-1 (translating previous content); tiered languages, SLA with LSP 7
- 8. Agile Development • Agile software development • vs. Waterfall • Agile Manifesto • Methodologies • Scrum • Kanban • Test-Driven Development (TDD) • Extreme Programming (XP) Many agile environments are a blend of these • Processes • Sprint planning • User Stories • Daily meetings • Sprint review 8
- 10. Waterfall vs. Agile Waterfall: • Linear • Sequential 10 Agile: • Cyclical • Iterative © Study.com Documentation Writer: You are here Content Developer: You are here and here and here
- 11. Agile Development Process 11 By Scrum_process.svg: Lakeworksderivative work: Sebastian Wallroth (talk) - Scrum_process.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10772971
- 13. Software Internationalization • Take the text out of the code • Create external “locale” files for localization • Create file structure for software to “switch” locales • Make translatable strings • Don’t concatenate strings – make complete strings • Avoid variables if possible (within sentences) • Allow for text expansion in GUI screens • Link – Verknüpfung • Login – Anmeldung 13
- 14. Content for Localization • Glossary: consistency of terminology • Software UI text: clean and concise; allow room for expansion • English (source) content: write for translation • Single-sourcing documentation: make use of variables and conditionals – carefully 14
- 15. Content: Single-Sourcing Single-Sourcing: Use of a single document or set of files to produce multiple variations in the output. Single-Sourcing can repurpose content across the organization. 15
- 19. Localization Challenges • Linguistic – grammar differences • Formatting – screen size (software), paper size (documentation) • Quality • Linguistic QA Ideally, need in-country review • Timing • Cultural and legal issues • Process 19
- 20. Linguistic Issues Common to Software and Content • Don’t use variables for common words. • Don’t concatenate strings (using variables): • <subject> + <verb> + <object> doesn’t work in languages that have the verb at the end (German, Japanese) • <adjective> <noun> doesn’t work in Romance languages; word order, number/gender agreement Example – English: • “The <device/machine> should be plugged in. Then, turn it on.” French: • L’appareil doit être branché. Puis, allumez-le. • La machine doit être branchée. Puis, allumez-la. Example courtesy Jennifer Schudel, Advanced Language Translations 20
- 21. Benefits of Agile Localization • Rapid time to market • Continual improvements in translation quality • Cost is spread over time • Linguists become SMEs in your product 21
- 22. Agile Localization Process • Hybrid: Between Agile and Waterfall • Finalize source text • Larger batches to translate • Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Language Services Provider (LSP) for lots of quick turnarounds 22
- 23. Iterations 23 Iterations each Sprint • Source content • Translations • Review • Revisions • Localization Engineering • Release
- 24. N-1 or SimShip? 24 • N-minus-1 (or more): Localize content of previous Sprint • SimShip: Ship all languages simultaneously • Later cycles: • Documentation • Rich content (multimedia) • Tiered languages
- 25. SimShip Rosetta Stone story: • Software and documentation localized in 9 languages • Agile software development environment • Software: All languages shipped simultaneously (SimShip) • Documentation (Help and manuals) followed later • Now use Scalable Agile Framework (SAFe) to sync teams 25
- 26. n-1 (or more): Tiered Languages 26
- 27. Localization by Sprint 27 New content added (and revised) each Sprint
- 28. Scalable Agile Framework 28 SAFe® Training from Scaled Agile® http://www.scaledagileframework.com/posters/
- 29. Program Increment (PI) Planning 29
- 30. UI Content/Localizations 30 “May I take your order, please?”
- 31. Kanban Board 31
- 32. Resources Flare Webinars: • “Using MadCap Flare to Support Your International Content Strategy” https://www.madcapsoftware.com/demos/signup.aspx?id=1144010340194854916 • “A Case Study in Translation Management – How to Reduce Costs by 90% While Enabling New Markets” https://www.madcapsoftware.com/demos/signup.aspx?id=1146179877138420211 Jennifer Schudel, Advanced Language Translations: Presentation, “Five Things to Consider When Developing Multilingual Content” • http://www.madcapsoftware.com/demos/player.aspx?v=2197c5687bd28 • http://assets.madcapsoftware.com/webinar/Presentation_FiveThingsFlareTranslation.pdf Venga Global eBooks (I wrote or edited): • “Single-Sourcing to Reduce Translation Costs” http://www.vengaglobal.com/resources/ebooks/single-sourcing-to-reduce-translation-costs/ • “Software Localization in the Agile Environment” http://www.vengaglobal.com/resources/ebooks/software-localization-in-the-agile-environment/ • “5 Smart Steps for Software Internationalization” http://www.vengaglobal.com/resources/ebooks/5-smart-steps-for-software-internationalization/ Val Swisher, Content Rules http://contentrules.com/about-us/team/#val 32