Background

Aktiia is a blood pressure tracking solution for customers who want to get in control of their blood pressure or manage it. It's a device you wear on your wrist (like a Fitbit) that tracks your blood pressure using light sensors rather than the traditional method using a cuff on your arm.

Aktiia has been available in 5 different countries almost since it's birth. As a result the app experience, marketing material and hardware documentation has all been translated into German, French, English and Italian. We've now reached a point of scale where the translation process has been hindering us for a while. The product team wants to be able to launch features quickly and effectively to measure success but the time it takes to translate app screens is inadequate.

Other contributors

Software team, Product designer, Product manager, Translators, QA, Marketing

Project lead

I worked with the Software and Product Team to revolutionise our translation workflow and drastically reduce the amount of time spent on localisation. This project also looked to set us up for success in the future when more countries are supported.

Optimise the end to end workflow of delivering translations

Our process of localising our products was inefficient and required some modernisation. At the time of starting this project, the software development team were solely responsible for the translation process. This meant that it added a huge amount of time to the build phase when developing a new feature or experience. Often times the translations for certain languages like German and French were far longer than English. On certain screen sizes, the translated text would struggle to fit on the screen. All of this inefficiency resulted in a lag for new app releases.

Problem statements

• The software team spent about 50% of their time creating keys and managing the translation process and implementation.

• Translations were only tested in-situ once they were implemented by code.

• German, French and Italian could often times be far larger than English, the companies default language.

• Translators had no visual queue or context of what they were translating which can make that process difficult.

• Designers didn't know how long the translations would be so it was difficult to build the UI without that knowledge.

• The end to end translation flow was difficult and time consuming meaning our new releases were often delayed by this.

Objectives

• Create, test and manage translation implementation upfront before they are required for development.

• Provide translators with context so that they can effectively translate the text.

• Find a way to visualise translations in Figma our design tool.

Stretch goals

• Find a way for external translation agencies to have access to and complete translations on our behalf.

Researched localisation best practices

Myself and the Product Manager spent a huge amount of time researching methods of managing translations and workflows. We utilised the documentation of the translation tools to better understand what industry standards existed.

We also reached out to the various stakeholders in the business to better understand their needs and how we could help. For example, the customer support team noted that none of their Help Center material had screenshots of the apps in the languages we supported. And the marketing team similarly noted that it was a real pain point to create marketing material for our various social media platforms in different languages.

We quickly realised how much impact we could have on the business by optimising our method of building translations into our products.

Choosing a new platform

Based on the requirements and best practices, we knew that our existing platform was not suitable for our needs. So we created a shortlist of the translation tools out there that could serve our needs. Based on our requirements and a budget set out to us by management, we chose Phrase.

Reasons for decision

• Integration possibilities with Figma to push and pull translations.

• Further integration possibilities to automate the translation process for other marketing material in the future like our website and emails.

• Auto translate features for translators.

• Visualise app screenshots and Figma links in-situ for translators.

• Signed off by the Software Team from a tech point of view.

Migrating to a new platform

In order to achieve the results we were looking for, we needed to switch to a more capable platform. This in itself was a significant project, especially from a technical and testing stand point. We needed to merge our 2 databases of translations for Android and iOS (these were separated before my time) and regression test the app to ensure all translations had been pulled correctly.

Defining a new workflow

There are multiple stakeholders involved in the translation process. For that reason, it took a team effort to decide on the full end to end process for the new translation workflow. We ran workshops with all key stakeholders to ensure all parts of the process were included and ideas could be shared on optimising the flow.

Implementing translation keys into Figma

One of the biggest changes all teams was excited about was the ability for translations to be pushed and pulled from Figma effortlessly. This provided a number of key benefits but most importantly allowed us to test translations in Figma before handing them over to the software team. This would drastically reduce the errors and issues occurring in the workflow which was blocking us from launching new versions of the apps.

Connecting designers, developers and translators

Our Figma integration means that as designers, we’re able to run 90% of operations without leaving our primary tool. Translation keys are pushed directly from Figma to Phrase which then creates a job for new translations to be completed. The software team is then able to pull in those new translations without any hands on effort in Phrase.

Test as you go philosophy

We tested a number of use cases when choosing the translation platform, Phrase. This enabled us to move quickly when launching and doing final checks. Because of the nature of our application in the Healthcare industry, we also have a very robust regression testing method which allowed the QA team to easily uncover any issues.

We achieved all our objectives

The project was a massive success. The feedback we received from the various stakeholders across the business was hugely possitive. The Software Team was relieved to have more time to work on the actual code rather than managing the localisation process. The Product Team was excited about the opportunity to release more regularly. And the design and translation team were collaborating better than ever with regards to creating experiences for customers that they love.

Making our knowledge accessible to the wider team

The steps in the localise workflow are extensive are require the participation of multiple stakeholders. In addition to designing and managing the implementation of our new localisation workflow, I was also responsible for documenting the process so that any team members had a guided experience. It was also available company wide for all team members to be aware of the process if they needed to implement translations into their own workflow.