Localisation and product design: one fits all

When designing a product, you might wonder if one concept fits all. If you can simply get it translated and reproduce it across markets. Today, you will see why 99% of the time, the answer is no.

Since last January, I have been working at Deliveroo as their first in-house language specialist. Our localisation team covers 12 markets and 11 variants (e.g. British and Australian English are variants of the English language).

I’m a pioneer. This was my very first impression as I started delving into various projects. There are processes to set up for future linguists and reference documentation to create for our teams. As the first language specialist, I can offer my expertise and give a new outlook on my role. I can help bring more visibility to our markets by representing them in our conversations with product managers and designers. I can make sure the products we’re developing are designed for the variety of users we have across the globe.

I’m an eagle on top of a mountain. Product, emails, social assets, brand campaigns… I come across almost all the content we produce for our hungry customers, the incredible riders and our partner restaurants and grocers. I work on projects that can impact other teams and I get to create a link across them. I’m prepared and I can anticipate — unlike Game of Thrones’ unlucky translators, who discovered slightly too late what Hodor meant.

First, what is localisation?

Localisation is not translation. At least, not always. And it’s never only translation.

Localisation is about adapting a product to the target market so it feels like it was designed for this specific market. Basically, localisation is about absorbing a concept and reshaping it to fit your target market.

Localising the concept 📐

The number one question you should ask yourself when localising content is: is this culturally relevant, i.e. does it reflect the reality of my market?

In the age of targeted advertising and data sharing, consumers expect a tailored experience. And this is what we need to deliver.

Let me give you some examples.

The Sunday Roast

Imagine Deliveroo offers a Sunday Roast to its UK customers, and decides to replicate that for the Spanish market. As a Spanish customer, would you think Deliveroo gets you and your culture?
The traditional Sunday roast is embedded in British culture: this offer would have a high value in the UK. But the Sunday traditions vary a lot in Spain, from roast chicken and paella to vermouth and olives. Show them that you know them and get them.

Solution: we could choose not to run the offer at all. Or we could decide to fully localise it — keep the skeleton of the campaign and build on it. This would mean creating a brand new copy and using traditional Spanish Sunday meals as visuals. High value guaranteed.

A Guilty Legacy

Imagine Deliveroo is running a British marketing campaign called “Too lazy to cook?”. While, in the UK, this concept is widely accepted and maybe even endearing, it will be frowned upon in France.

For our French customers, cooking their own meals is a big part of the culture. Personally, I have a French and Lebanese background. Cooking is so culturally anchored in my daily habits that for a long time, takeaways were often accompanied with an underlying guilt. As if all my ancestors were tutting at me. Obviously, a campaign calling me lazy wouldn’t help my case.

Solution: we would need to change the focus of the campaign. I’d much rather come across a campaign focusing on the idea of treating myself to a takeaway. We would need to rewrite the copy and rename the campaign for the French market.

Localising the visuals 👀

Visuals are often a localisation challenge. Across markets, we don’t interact with images the same way. Our advertising laws and policies are very different. We need to be careful about what we can and should show to each market.

Here are some examples.

The Sandwich Mishap

Imagine Deliveroo is running a Sandwich Week campaign. The main banner displays a mouth-watering ham sandwich, with layers and layers of ham skilfully placed.

As you can imagine, this picture wouldn’t be appropriate for some markets, such as the UAE and Kuwait, where the majority of the population is Muslim. Such a campaign would lead to a well-deserved outrage from our users, potential backlash on social and public media, and eventually, losing customers.

If we don’t know our consumers and their culture, if we don’t know how to talk to them, they will feel alienated from our brand.

Solution: we need to use another visual.

The Movie Night Prohibition

Let’s go back to our imaginary “Too lazy to cook?” campaign. We have agreed to replicate it for France. In the UK, the main banner shows a family enjoying their Deliveroo order in front of the TV.

If we were to show this same banner to our French consumers, we’d get ourselves in trouble. Advertising meals or snacks in front of a screen is legally prohibited in France.

Solution: we need to use another visual.

I think you got my point by now: a collaboration between product designers and the localisation team is absolutely essential. It’s only through team collaboration that we can make sure we truly understand our markets and offer a product that reflects their diversity.