How to Perform Localization Testing?

Introduction: 

The issue of marketing a software product in areas and nations with various market systems, multiple languages, and different regional settings is one that businesses, from large corporations to small startups, must overcome. Businesses must adapt their application's User Interface (UI), language, alphabet, and content to the intended location if they want to attract the local population in their target market. This is why, the question of how to perform localization testing is becoming more and more commonly asked one.

What is Game Localization？

The behavior of a piece of software is evaluated for a particular area, culture, or region using a technique called localization testing. To verify language and cultural features that are appropriate for a specific area, localization testing is done for software. It involves adapting the software to the desired language and location.

The practice of testing your application or website to see if it can be read and understood in other languages is known as localization testing. This kind of testing can assist make sure that your product is used by as many people as possible, increasing the likelihood of its success on a global scale. Content and UI are two primary areas that are impacted by localization testing.

Why Localizing a Game or an APP after all?

Checking acceptable language and cultural elements for a certain area is the goal of localization testing. It entails modifying the user interface or even the default settings per the needs.

The identical functions will be repeated by numerous testers throughout this form of testing. They check for things like grammatical mistakes, cultural appropriateness of the user interface, typographical issues, etc. For the target customer to receive a high-quality product, this testing is essential. It also aids in finding new flaws and faults that may be introduced into the system as a result of localizing the content and user interface to a different language and area. This helps to increase the product's quality.

Localization testing makes that these aspects are included in the application. These include dates, holidays, numbers, currencies, and language that would adapt to the location-specific characters. A dedicated localization team can assist us in capturing the cultural aspects of our target audience, such as colors and ethnicity, to deliver a more tailored user experience than a generic one.

How to perform localization testing?

Typical localization testing can involve these steps in any software project:

Software Build Validation:

A small part of functional testing known as build verification testing is carried out before QA starts any extensive testing. To conduct high-quality testing, a testing environment is constructed. This makes it easier to create effective methods for testing software. Creating a testing environment for software will promote frequent and early testing.

Functional Testing:

Initial functional localization testing aims to achieve the same goal as normal functional testing, which verifies the product is operating as intended. However, localization functionality testing seeks to confirm that the software's localized version functions identically to its original version. These crucial issues are the subject of localization testing: Have the language resources have they loaded properly? Does the software correctly display each region's language, alphabet, and number system? Are the target audience's expectations met in terms of the UI's speed and smoothness? Is the software capable enough or configured to work with the technological infrastructure in the area?

Regional localization

The fact that localization testing attempts to adapt the product with localization that is culturally acceptable to the targeted audience while keeping the highest linguistic and functional quality level is one of its most crucial components. Thus, it seeks to address three important queries: Is the product suitable for the target market in terms of culture? Is the product compliant with the market's targeted region's data privacy laws? Does the product pricing take into account local taxes, exchange rates, and policies governing the going rate for comparable goods on the market?

Linguistic Localization

Translations for global software products must be precise. Linguistic testing entails assessing the accuracy of the text that has been translated for the localized version of the program. This localization testing procedure is carried out by qualified linguists who are native speakers of the target language. They concentrate on making sure that the terminology is consistent throughout the user interface, website, and any supplementary material.

Report Generation:

Once you've finished, compare the material to the anticipated modifications and indicate any issues or textual errors. You can proceed to the regression phase to check the software's various functionalities for any systemic deviations brought on by localization. You would find some flaws and opportunities for the application to enhance after comparing the scripts and running the test cases. Make a report that clearly outlines your results and includes process records. Using this report, project stakeholders would take the proper action.

You need someone knowledgeable about both the technical parts of the software and web development and cultural quirks like idioms and phrasing to achieve this effect. Your business can benefit from the high return on investment from the market by conducting adequate research and testing of the product. Customers that receive high-quality goods will have a wonderful experience and will be devoted to your brand. Invest in rigorous user experience research locally to produce a seamless user experience.

Wrap up:

Before we wrap our take on the topic of how to perform localization testing, we want to state that hiring a third party for localization testing can be a long-term investment with great results. This is where WeTest offers one of the best Localization Quality Assurance services to their clients. Here, they can expect to get localized and the point translation from professional and local teams who conduct multilingual tests to eliminate grammar and context errors, to solve problems. Clients also get modifications in their projects to avoid legal issues and efficiently lower the danger of negative public perception and product removal. Your products would be thoroughly studied by the cultures, laws, and rules of various nations.