Beyond Translation: Localization Sprints for Sustainable Tech Adoption (Part I)
This is the first in a two-part post about integrating localized training, user feedback, and developing outreach strategy into localization sprints — events that bring individuals together to localize (adapt and translate) technologies and resources for their communities. Read Part II of this post.
“I wish to see [human rights defenders who] are at risk, especially in rural areas, using these tools as efficiently as urban-based activists. Thanks for making these apps more accessible.”
— Thai Localization Sprint Participant
By Erin McConnell
In June 2019, Localization Lab facilitated a digital security workshop in Thailand with Internews and a number of amazing, local civil society groups. The main goal was to collaboratively localize and provide user feedback for four digital security tools that the Thai participants had identified: Mailvelope, Tor Browser, TunnelBear and KeePassXC.
With only 5 days, the localization sprint had lofty goals:
- Support freedom of speech online;
- Collect qualitative feedback on the tools from the community;
- Give Thai users ownership over digital security tools to ensure sustained use and engagement; and
- Strengthen the existing network of Thai localizers and users of digital security tools.
Participants joined from a diverse set of backgrounds and several had never heard of these tools before. A localization sprint is inherently collaborative. People with more technical experience helped those with less, and everyone put forth their best effort. It takes considerable work for a small group to translate and review four different applications in five days. And yet the feeling in the room was upbeat — people played their favorite music and felt empowered to use and contribute to these technologies. The process also challenged everyone in the room to think about how normal Thai people could use digital security tools to protect themselves online.
“I really liked this workshop, especially the tool training parts which helped me understand the tools more clearly and understand how — and in which situations — I should use these tools, which I never knew before. These tools are very useful for Thai people and we should help spread their use.”
— Thai Localization Sprint Participant
Localization and User Feedback: A match made in Pattaya
Incorporating user feedback into the localization process is the perfect opportunity to gain insight into the needs and preferences of users from a diversity of backgrounds.
The sprint participants came with varied technical backgrounds. Some attendees had trained others on several of the tools that were being localized, and others had never used them before. This provided a valuable chance to better understand the user experiences of absolute beginners and more seasoned users of each tool.
To capture some of this feedback, attendees were asked to follow and fill out USABLE Tool Task Ranking forms, customized for both Mailvelope and KeePassXC. Participants rated the difficulty and commented on tasks as they walked through steps like creating a keypair and sending encrypted email with Mailvelope, or creating an encrypted password database in KeePassXC.
At the end of each day, after participants had gone through training and localization of the tools, they were given a One Liners form developed by Okthanks to capture concise feedback about the user experience. The One Liners forms glean meaningful information from users about their first impressions of an app and their understanding of its function.
Integrating both of these feedback activities into the localization process — in addition to observations from throughout the day — the sprint documented valuable information about Thai user needs and preferences for all of the projects localized.
Localization as a Tool for Education, Feedback and Outreach
Localization sprints are not only a way to efficiently localize technologies. They are an opportunity to introduce new technologies and technical concepts, provide culturally & regionally specific feedback for developers, create stronger regional networks, and devise outreach and localized marketing strategies for sharing localized tools with the community. Together these elements can lead to more informed and sustained adoption of technologies as sprint participants better understand the tools they are using, have them available in their preferred language, identify clearer lines of communication with developers, and have more ownership over the tools as contributors to them themselves.
“I have more understanding of the concepts behind the tools. I’ve also learned that these tools are important in daily life and we can use them in real life.”
— Thai Localization Sprint Participant
If you are interested in learning more about localization sprints or would like to coordinate one, you can connect with Localization Lab via localizationlab.org or Twitter.
