Design

As we've already discussed in our previous post, localizing at the design stage is crucial for companies working for a global audience. In many industries like SaaS, e-commerce, and mobile app development, products frequently need updates. Design-stage localization helps prevent design issues caused by varying text lengths and different language structures. With Crowdin for Figma, automated synchronization between the designers, developers and translators means faster time to market, as well as fewer bugs. Teams can ensure that translations are accurate and fit within the localized design. Want to try it out for yourself? Let's take a look at how everything works. We're not yet diving into the technical details -- you'll find them here. For now, let's give you a high-level overview.

Design and development teams working on global products face the challenge of localizing content for different markets while keeping the workflow smooth and efficient. Here's where Crowdin, a Figma translation plugin, comes into play. It empowers designers to work hand-in-hand with translators, smoothly integrating localization into the design and development process – no need to wait until a translator gets back to you. With the ability to send texts for translation directly from Figma and review translations in context, Crowdin for Figma makes localized design faster, more accurate, and less prone to errors.

Design for internationalization is essential for any business wanting to reach a global market. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of design for internationalization and how to best prepare the design for internationalization to make your product or service attractive to people worldwide.

If you're already a pro at localization, you probably think that localization is an excellent way to reach target audiences from a specific region. If you're starting out, localization means the whole process of adapting content to suit a different regional audience. Today, we'll talk about the place of localization in UX and translation in design. In the past, localization may have been considered separate from the entire web design process. Maybe even an afterthought. But in the current, more vastly globalized web development scene, that mindset can lead companies dangerously closer to irrelevance. UX Localization first, not last — this is one of my team's common mantras at Tomedes, a localization services provider, believes in and applies in our customer projects. We're adapting the client's content from one region to another. We'll tell you more about our experience of putting localization first and how Crowdin helps us with this approach.

Until recently, UI localization and design were two independent processes. Moreover, usually, localization was initiated after the product succeeded and was about to scale. The growing customer demand to use products in their native languages, though, makes teams release multilingual products right from the start. Localization becomes an ongoing process for most companies. To empower design teams to participate in the company's localization initiatives more actively, we've launched plugins for Adobe XD, Figma, and Sketch. This post will embrace user interface localization best practices and showcase how you can use the plugins to adapt them to your localization workflows.

From the initial step of copy creation to the final tests of the translated mockups before release. We understand how important it is for design teams to be involved in the localization cycle on each step. We’re excited to launch Crowdin plugin for Adobe XD that connects the two systems and will help designers play an active part throughout the localization process. With the new Crowdin plugin for Adobe XD, designers can upload production-ready texts from Crowdin and use them in their XD designs. Designers add new source strings when working in Adobe XD and send them to Crowdin for translation, along with the context for translators. The plugin also helps to create multilingual marketing visuals like brochures and banners faster.

Designing for the global audience might get tricky. Especially if you deal with multiple languages, handle the updates all by yourself or can't test translated mockups before the development starts. Any manual work you do is a waste of time and the last-minute fixes only slow down the release. With Crowdin for Figma, design teams can now build an efficient localization workflow. Automate routine processes, keep texts in sync, and make sure the translators have the necessary context. Crowdin launches a plugin for Figma to help you add and edit multi-language versions of a prototype. With little less effort and more focus on the work you do best – creating beautiful designs.

How much time your team would save if you could customize translated mockups before passing them to developers? You probably know the answer – enough to speed up the release and save up energy for more exciting tasks. Install Crowdin for Sketch plugin to send text for translation to Crowdin from Sketch in a click and pull translations back. Preview and customize the translated copies before turning them into code. Synchronize texts between Crowdin and Sketch any time you want and test translated copies inside your favorite tool. Get faster iterations and clear design across multiple languages.

When the localization is completed all the imperfections are polished and every single text fits to the space it belongs to, it frequently appears that it is not really the end.  In fact, screenshots, logos and other non-textual materials with text on them remain untranslated. To reduce the pain the one is feeling thinking about those graphics localization, we developed the solution to organize the process.