The Difference Between Globalization vs. Localization in Technical Writing

Technical communicators are faced with localization versus “globalization” choices when generating documents for an international audience:

1) They need to do something and change the document before the product or service can be offered to the international audience.

2) They either need to GLOBALIZE the product or LOCALIZE it.

3) The choice made in the above step will have different implications for the document and will require different changes.

Table of Contents

Important Difference

Here is one very important distinction that all technical writers should keep in mind:

GLOBALIZATION requires Cultural Sanitation.
LOCALIZATION requires Cultural Adaptation.

The main difference between globalization and localization is that globalization is about designing a product or service for an international market, while localization is about adapting a product or service to suit the needs of a specific locality.

Globalization is the process of designing a product or service for international markets in order to reduce unnecessary regionalisation. Global products are designed in such a way that they are understood in all regions. On the other hand, localization is done for a specific market by adapting the design, language, and content to suit the end-user needs and norms of that locality.

Let’s explain…

Globalization

Globalization is about making sure that your product can be easily localized in any region without having to go through any costly processes like localization or adaptations. With globalization, you just need to take care of all your translations during the initial stage itself so that when you launch your product in any region it’s already available in their language and culture

Globalization requires cleaning up your document from all cultural references so that the document in effect becomes “cultural-less”. This, for example, would be stripping away all metaphors and idiomatic expressions from your language that would not translate accurately (or at all) to another language. The purpose is to make sure any user from any cultural background would be able to understand the technical directions accurately, at the first reading.

Localization

Localization is the process of adapting a product to suit different regional or international markets. It is essentially the act of tailoring content for different regions, languages, cultures, and customs. This includes translating products to suit different languages (e.g., English to Spanish), adapting products for geographic regions (e.g., the United States versus France) and re-editing content for other cultural sensitivities (e.g., how one interacts with customers in China).

Localization means translating the original language of the document (e.g., English) to the local language in such a way that original cultural references would be replaced by local cultural references and expressions that carry the same meaning. This is a more difficult process that requires intimate knowledge of the target language and culture.

Localization is often done by copywriters who can understand cultural nuances better than someone outside of that region because they are also living within the culture. Globalization, on the other hand, can be done by an expert in any given country or region where it doesn’t have to be localized because it will have universal appeal.

Example

For example, imagine you have a BULLETED LIST of configuration items, preceded by an introductory sentence that uses the idiomatic English expression “figuring out.”

To GLOBALIZE this list, it is necessary to replace the expression “figuring out” by a more non-idiomatic expression like “discovering”, “solving” or “finding”.

However, to LOCALIZE, you need to go beyond that and remember that bulleted lists are frowned upon in some cultures. Thus in addition to simplifying the language, you also may have to re-format the whole list and use another format to gain the trust of the local users/readers.

Conclusion

Keeping in mind the substantive differences between these two approaches will help you make better project decisions in advance as technical communicators and managers, and thus save you time, effort and money in the long run.