Localization testing is the final step in the localization process: It is vital to guarantee that products or software applications have been successfully adapted to a locale. Testing involves verifying that all localization aspects, such as translation, design, cultural sensitivity, and usability, were handled correctly.
Conducting thorough localization testing ensures your efforts meet regulatory requirements and market demands while delivering the perfect experience for your target audience. Here, we’ll discuss why you should think twice before skipping localization testing –not to be confused with linguistic testing– and some considerations for good localization testing practice.
Why Localization Testing Matters
Easy: Quality Check. As previously mentioned, it is not the same as linguistic testing, as this is directly related to the translation, while localization testing must go beyond. Imagine your e-commerce, for instance, has been localized in LATAM and your product has successfully reached your audience: They want to buy your product. However, when they try to checkout, the text doesn’t fit the buttons, and they cannot read them properly. Your consumer feels frustrated with the platform and drops the transaction. This can be avoided and will save you extra costs and avoid damage to your reputation if you test thoroughly before release.
There are many other benefits of a good localization testing effort:
Improves user experience and promotes engagement: The first goal of localization is to provide a good user experience. Testing helps you make sure you’re meeting this goal. A positive user experience with a product leads to increased customer retention and ongoing engagement.
Ensures compliance with local laws and regulations: It goes without saying, but this is extremely important to guarantee your presence in other markets and avoid sanctions or more serious legal repercussions.
Maintains consistent terminology and readability: Terminology must be consistent throughout the UI or product, and the text must read naturally and clearly to native speakers of the target language. This needs to be checked, as a lack of consistency will negatively affect the professional image of your company. You want your customers to recognize your brand, but you also want them to easily understand and navigate the product across different markets.
Checks for cultural sensitivity: Localization testing checks that images and branding are appropriate for the target market. For instance, this includes checking for the use of images, words, or expressions that may be offensive or controversial in some markets.
Common Localization Testing Blocks
Despite its importance, localization testing tends to be overlooked or left for the last minute. Moreover, doing superficial testing is as bad as not doing any, as this will often result in errors slipping through the cracks. Here are some crucial mistakes to avoid during testing (Source: POEditor Blog):
- Lack of well-organized localization planning: Not having clear goals, or not knowing your market will affect the entire process and what you need to assess.
- Not recruiting native speakers: You need SMEs (subject matter experts) and people who speak and understand the target culture so they can provide proper feedback.
- Not maintaining localized content: Failing to maintain localization with updates or new releases will affect customer retention and the brand’s image.
- Overlooking the importance of multilingual support channels: If you offer content or products in international markets you need to provide communication channels with these customers. Customer support is one of the variables that might guarantee customer satisfaction and returning business. Plan to have multilingual support systems in place to hear your customers out.
Best Practices for Localization Testing
Localization testing is the reflection of a well-thought-out localization strategy. You want the team’s work to be worth the effort and your product or website to have the effect you desire with your customers. Here are some things to consider to do localization testing right (Source: Smartling.com):
Do the Research
Research directs a localization strategy, and it determines what aspects should take more priority in testing: is it the format of the language, cultural norms, UI, or regulations? By understanding the local market and its preferences, companies can ensure that localization efforts are accurate and culturally appropriate.
Having a checklist with all the items to test and monitor is one of the most basic but effective ways to keep track of this.
Leverage Manual and Automated Testing
Yes, speed is key in localization. But you also want to avoid mistakes. Balancing manual and automated methods for testing will warrant quality, budget-friendly, and faster processes. Manual testing allows a more nuanced and comprehensive evaluation of the localized content. It is perfect for LQAs and cultural settings. Automated testing can help streamline the process and identify issues more efficiently, mainly when software, UI, or other technical aspects are involved.
Work with Specialists
Collaborating with specialists with in-depth knowledge of software localizability, tools, user experience, and local market habits is essential for successful localization testing. A team that not only speaks the target language but also knows the target culture’s trends, preferences and regulations, will give you the kind of feedback you need to adjust your localization strategy.
However, the testing teams must also have as much context as possible about your product, brand, and voice (terms, slogans, and tone). Share as much background information with them as possible so they can evaluate with this in mind.
Don’t overlook the importance of localization testing. Cutting off the budget here and there might have grave repercussions in the long term, and skipping this process might have this result. The best localization testing practice is starting as early as possible; this helps to minimize adaptations and delays at later stages (check out this article about localization testing steps for instance). Ideally, you want to start testing as the localization process starts. The reason why streamlining and automating are so important, is to keep track of items and keep communication going.
As a last recommendation, remember that this is an ongoing process, and it doesn’t end after release. Receiving feedback and attending to queries is extremely important so you can quickly adapt in case there is something not working: maybe an image didn’t have the impact you expected, the colors weren’t as appealing, or there was a particular aspect of the localized product that highly resonated with the audience. You want to know that so you can incorporate that in future releases/products.
