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Internationalization
Global design is not targeted at a certain market, but is based on commonalities, looking for differences, and creating an inclusive design so that different users in different countries and regions can understand the same design language and ensure the basic experience of the interface.
1. WHY｜Why do we do i18n?
With the acceleration of globalization, international trade and exchanges are becoming more frequent. i18n international design is a necessary measure to adapt to this trend. Users of international products come from different countries. Therefore, when using the same product, users from different countries will have different preferences and behaviors. Through research, we learned that different regions have formed unique and diverse design rules due to the influence of culture, language, market, habits, policies, and technology:
Cultural Differences
Cultural differences between countries have a wide and profound impact on product design. Based on the six-dimensional theory of culture by Geert Hofstede, a famous Dutch social psychologist and anthropologist, we can better predict and explain people's behaviors, values, and decision-making methods in different cultural backgrounds, thereby providing an underlying methodological foundation for product design.
Language Difference
Based on the theory of Edward T. Hall, an American cross-cultural researcher, culture can be divided into high-context culture and low-context culture. We need to make targeted designs based on the characteristics and needs of users in different cultural backgrounds to improve the usability of product interaction language and information levels.
Market Differences
The economic development levels of different countries and regions vary significantly, which directly determines the consumption capacity and consumption preferences of local users; each country and region has its own specific policies, regulations and industry standards, which have strict constraints and norms on international design; the intensity and pattern of competition in different markets are different... These have brought different challenges and opportunities to international design.
Habit Differences
User interaction habits play a pivotal role in international design. For example, users in different regions have different familiarity and preferences for operation gestures; interface layout and navigation habits vary due to different cultures, etc. Combining these habits to make design decisions can create international products that better meet user needs and usage habits.
Policy Differences
The policies of various countries in terms of intellectual property protection, trade agreements, technical standards and environmental protection have an important impact on international design. For example, the intellectual property protection policies of different countries set clear innovation boundaries for international design; technical standards and regulatory policies also make clear provisions for the technical requirements of product design; trade policies can also guide the development of design styles and trends, etc.
Technology Differences
There are also large differences in the level of technological development among countries. Countries and regions with higher levels of technological development often have advanced design software and tools as well as cutting-edge design methods and concepts. In regions with slower technological development, users may pay more attention to the basic functions and practicality of products and have a lower degree of acceptance of new technologies. This requires us to make targeted design adjustments.
In the article: Root causes of i18n design differences, we have made a detailed interpretation of how the above factors affect international design. By understanding these influencing factors, we can better understand and apply international design from the essence.
2. The difference and connection between i18n and l10n
We can summarize the definition and focus of internationalization and localization as follows:
Internationalization (i18n)
Definition: Choose a design that is acceptable in all cultures, with the goal of avoiding the inability of users of a specific culture to use the design or causing a poor user experience
Focus: How to avoid negative experiences
Purpose: Internationalization is the foundation of localization, allowing localization work to be carried out efficiently without redeveloping the product.
Localization (l10n)
Definition: Deeply study a specific culture to design a design that is more in line with the habits of local users, even if this design cannot be understood by users of other cultures
Focus: How to get the best experience
Purpose: Localization is the extension of internationalization, eliminating all usage barriers for internationalized products in specific regions.
However, "internationalization" and "localization" are not mutually exclusive. Although the goal of internationalization is to "find the common denominator in each culture", in some cases, there is no "common denominator" between various cultures, so "internationalization" at this time becomes a "set of localizations", that is, take the intersection when there is an intersection, and take the union when there is no intersection. We can have a more detailed description of the two in the article "The difference and connection between i18n and l10n".
As for actual local applications, we have a detailed description in the article "locale, the bridge from internationalization to localization", which introduces how to use locale to determine the user's language, region and cultural preferences, so as to set the correct display method, date format, decimal point symbol, etc., to complete the connection from internationalization to localization.
You can also directly check our internationalization component LocaleProvider to provide multi-language support for Semi components.