Go global with your mobile app or website!

1. Translate more lean.
Stop wasting people's time.
Speed up your Globalization.
Lean translation: Go global with your web-, mobile
and desktop app in 5 steps!
“Many companies now generate 30% or more of their revenue from
outside the U.S. In the high-tech sector, international sales often
account for well over 50% of the total. This trend only stands to
continue, as new and emerging markets around the world form the
growth engine for so many businesses. Research from Common Sense
Advisory 1
shows that the translation budget at most organizations is
typically less than 1% of total revenue. In other words, the cost of
translation is minuscule compared to the revenue it generates.” 2
Startups as well as established companies have to view translated websites for what they
really are – revenue enablers, not cost centers.
No matter if you have developed a great web service, a mobile- or a desktop application:
Your product works in your native language and you know in order to double, triple or
quadruple your revenue you have to offer your software in other languages. Translating your
content into other languages is a way to unlock untapped markets. And it enables you to
reach many non-native customers living in open markets around the world.
1
http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/AbstractView.aspx?ArticleID=2179
2
http://chiefmarketer.com/web-marketing/5-tips-keep-your-global-website-strategy-track

2. The research of Common Sense Advisory, Inc. shows the top reasons of the Fortune 500
companies that translate their content3
:
● 79.49% say they do it to meet local customer expectations;
● 71.43% say they do it to reach more customers in markets where they already
compete;
● 71.43% say they do it to maintain or increase the value of the brand;
● 69.39% say they do it to meet local regulatory or legal requirements.
Translating your content means increasing your revenue - this is not even questionable.
What you don’t know so far is: How do I translate my software efficiently without wasting
time and money?
At Dynport GmbH we know exactly the most reasonable steps to go global: As a team of
software engineers, located in Hamburg, we helped several companies to expand their
software service into other languages. After plenty of internationalizations we realized that
there is a too big waste of time, energy and money in translation projects. Especially the
coordination costs a lot of time and money. Emails are sent back and forth if text modules
are changed, there is a lot of communication and a high potential of misunderstandings and
errors.
Certain about the Lean Startup Methodology we created our own principal: Lean Translation.
Lean Translation is a procedure derived from the “Lean Startup Methodology” of Eric Ries and
based on the Principe “Lean Management”: Creating values without creating waste. Lean
translation provides an approach for creating and managing translations of web-, mobile and
desktop applications and get the desired product to international customers' hands faster.
The Lean Translation Method teaches you how to drive a translation project efficiently and
how to grow an international business with maximum acceleration.
As for translations this means: Creating text in different languages and implementing these in
web-, mobile and desktop-applications without wasting time in administrative expenses. It
was our goal to facilitate the collaboration of developers, translators and project managers.
We found plenty of expensive industry programs that did not fulfill our expectations. Thus we
developed our own solution: PhraseApp (https://phraseapp.com).
3
http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/AbstractView.aspx?ArticleID=2855

3. Based on our experiences in the past, today we explain you how to apply the Lean
Translation Management in 5 steps on your way to go global with your web-, mobile- and
desktop application.
1. Decide in which markets you want to expand
“Research1
shows that no single country or language accounts for more than 25% of the
total online population. That being said, you should be able to effectively communicate with
approximately 80% of your potential website visitors using just 11 languages: Arabic, Chinese
(Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and
Spanish.” 2
No matter if you are a Startup or a well established company, we always recommend: Start
small and choose 3 of these languages for your expansion. Once you finished the translation
into these languages you are able to market your multilingual product and see the increase
of your revenue through.
2. Choose a team
In order to internationalize your web-, desktop- or mobile application it is necessary to
establish a team of localization manager, translators and developers. For startups we
recommend the lean translation principle: Stick to your resources - everybody in your team
could take one of the roles in the translation team. You don’t need perfect translations from
the beginning. If you are an established company and you are willing to invest money into
the internationalization you’d better buy your translations from an agency or from
experienced translators.
In a translation team there are several roles that have to be filled.
The Localization Manager...
● conducts project meetings
1
http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/AbstractView.aspx?ArticleID=770
2
http://chiefmarketer.com/web-marketing/5-tips-keep-your-global-website-strategy-track

4. ● manages concurrent projects keeping in mind their
interdependencies;
● tracks and manages translation projects to successful
completion;
● works with external translation vendors and monitor their
progress;
● approves new translated text units;
● communicates status, issues and risks to project stakeholders;
● provides leadership to localization team members;
● maintains project documentation and implementation of process improvement
initiatives.
In established companies this position will work closely with members of the Business
Development, Product Marketing, Product Development, Marketing Communications, Online
Publishing, and the International sales teams you might have to create in the different
countries.
The Developer...
● prepares your application to work in any language;
● adjusts the code of your application
○ e.g. the order of words in a sentence is often differently arranged in other
languages: Whereas the “red pencil” has it’s description before the object, in
french the description follows after the object “crayon rouge”
○ e.g. the world is inconsistent about date and time formats, some countries put
the month first (6/21/2012), others the day first (21/6/2012)
○ e.g. “Repeat password” is over 50% wider in German than in English; if there
isn’t enough space, then your text will overlap other controls
○ and much more tricky parts have to be considered (e.g. localized date formats,
currencies, etc.)
● pushes new text units to the translation software;
● pulls translated text units from the translation software;
● releases new text translations continuously.

5. The Translators...
● Translates your text on demand;
● Collaborates with other translators;
● Reviews translations.
3. Define a lean Workflow
In order to achieve fast results in your global project, finding a lean workflow between
project manager, developers and translators is essential. In translation projects managers
often waste a lot of time with the coordination of all translators, the on-boarding of new
translators as well as adding additional languages or updating text.
A core component of the Lean Translation Methodology is the Smart-Lean-Workflow: In a
software translation project you basically have to find the shortest way of delivering your text
units to the translators directly while all the team members are still able to focus on their
main work: The project manager should be able to control and approve, the developer
should develop and the translator should translate. And also in reverse: As soon as the
translation is done the project manager should approve the translation and the developer
should get a notification in order to implement the new translated text unit to the software.

6. In order to do so, the project manager…
● Should be able to coordinate texts, translations, translators and developers centrally in
one place.
The developer…
● Should be able to demand all text units centrally for the translators;
● Should add new text units without the need to communicate with the translator;
● Should be able to protect source code;
● Should see the status of the translation automatically;
● Should be able to deploy new translations quickly to the live systems.
The translator….
● Should be able to work online without downloading
or installing any software;
● Should be able to see the context of the text units
(WYSIWYG);
● Should be able to collaborate with other translators in
order to work on the same project;
● Should be able to work independently from any
developers;
● Should see translation demands in real time and automatically.
In conclusion every team members should be aware about the own role and developers as
well as translators ought to avoid wasting time in administrative tasks.

7. 4. Choose pragmatic Software
The next step on your way of becoming a global player and applying Lean Translation is to
choose pragmatic software that fits to your Smart-Lean-Workflow. In order to avoid an
administrative overhead the perfect solution is a central platform where all team members
get user-specified notifications as soon as there is anything new.
Thanks to cutting edge technology the workflow of the translation between developers,
translators and project is extremely optimized. Translation management software such as
PhraseApp (https://phraseapp.com) helps you to apply your Smart-Lean-Workflow. In order
to choose the best software that you ought demand, following characteristics are non-
negotiable for the software:
1. Interoperable: The software should support your programming language and
platform;
2. Collaborative: All team members should be able to work centrally online and discuss
about the work;
3. Context-based: Translators should be able to see the context of the text that they
ought to translate;
4. Transparency: The translator should see text updates, all team members should see
the translation progress, developers should get notified instantly when a translation is
finished;
5. Efficient: As soon as you release updates the software should be able to filter which
text was already translated and which text really has to be translated. Thus you avoid
redundant translation;
6. Flexible: Don’t waste your money in expensive licenses. Your software should be
affordable and based on the Software on Demand principle. That means, your
feedback counts, and you can influence the functions of the software. Moreover you
are free to quit all the time.

8. 5. Execute the project
Let’s summarize the first steps:
1. You have decided upon your first 3 languages that you want to expand your web-,
mobile- or desktop application;
2. You have chosen a translation team;
3. You have defined a Lean-Smart-Workflow;
4. You have chosen a pragmatic software that helps you execute your translation project
In order to keep your translation project lean, you ought to consider in each of these steps:
● Avoid redundant work;
● Don’t waste money in administrative expenses;
● Learn from the feedback of every team member;
● Optimize your workflow continuously;
● If possible, give feedback to your software provider.
You are now perfectly prepared to translate your web-, mobile- or desktop application and
go global within a lean process: You know how to create text in different languages and
implementing these in web- mobile- and desktop applications without wasting time in
administrative expenses. And you know that facilitating the collaboration of developers,
translators and project managers is essential. Now get started and translate your project in
the chosen 3 languages. And before you start the next 4 languages: Evaluate and challenge
your translation progress, then optimize it.
PhraseApp speeds up the translation of online content in Web-, Mobile and Desktop applications. The cloud-
service is developed by the startup entrepreneurs of Dynport GmbH, located in Hamburg, Germany and was
released in November 2012. With the Translation Management Software, companies can save up to 80 per cent of
administrative expenses for translation projects. More than 500 international companies already trust in
PhraseApp - from small businesses and agencies to well established companies such as Wimdu.com, SponsorPay
and BangTheTable.
Press Contact: Rebekka Müller; Dynport GmbH, Große Theaterstr. 39, 20354 Hamburg, Germany; phone: +49 40
357 187 74; fax: +49 40 357 187 75; email: press@phraseapp.com; web: www.phraseapp.com