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Project Planning
The different elements of Project Planning are described in the following sections
Analysis
The first step of a localization project is the analysis of the project requirements. The following are examples of basic project requirements:
What types of content should be localized (e.g., printed manuals, web pages, graphics, etc.)?
What are the target locales (country/region and language)?
What activities does the project involve (e.g., scanning the pages, converting to PDF, etc.)?
What tools should be used? If everyone is using Word makes ure all use the same version, because especially with Chinese that’s where UNICode cones into play, and the implementation of UNICode is different between Office 200 and XP for example. (A number of you will probably object and say that 2000 is not being used extensively anymore, but I beg to differ here.)
Is a glossary available?
Is any previous translation available? If so, is it a usable translation from a quality point of view?
On a more detailed level, the analysis should also examine more specific project requirements.
Translation Requirements
These requirements might address issues such as the following:
Does the translation project require domain expertise? If so, is Domain expertise training planned for translators and other localization specialists?
Is any support provided for translators by in-country subject matter specialists?
Are there any specific style requirements besides those outlined in the style guide?
It is worth noticing that style requirements can vary, depending on the target audience. For instance, the translation of a book may need to accurately reflect the source text, whereas you may need to adapt the source content of a marketing brochure to meet the standards of the target market.
Technical Requirements
Should date, time, and calendar formats be localized?
Should decimal and thousands separators be localized?
Should currency format(s) be localized?
What about units of measurements?
Are there any special screen layout requirements (e.g., vertical text, bi¬directional text)?
Workflow Design
For the localization process to work effectively, it is important to design in advance the most critical steps of the project workflow. This involves planning when, how, and by whom the following steps will be performed:
Translation Kit: creation and maintenance
Terminology database: setup, translation, approval and updates.
Engineering: conversion and preparation of document files, validation of translated files (checking for appropriate file format, providing technical support to linguists)
Translation and Language Quality Check
Desktop Publishing: de-, recompilation and testing of Online Help, preparation of printed documentation files for translation, final page layout, etc.
Questions & Answers: designating the point of contact for questions coming from translators and language coordinators
Resource Allocation
For each phase of the translation process, it is essential to determine what resources will be required:
Internal resources (the internal project team may consist of language specialists, desktop publishing experts)
In-country resources (e.g., reviewers, technical support specialists)
External resources (e.g., freelance translators, subject matter specialists, or other external consultants).
Selection of External Resources
The following criteria might apply for the selection of an external resource:
Language combinations
Technical and domain expertise (ideally, the partner should have experience localizing similar products)
Internal organization e.g. How many translators, reviewers and language leads are available?
What is the typical project workflow?
What are the criteria for selecting translators? Use only translators that are native speakers of the target language, are trained in translation, and have up-to-date language skills).
Scheduling
Once the workflow design and the resource allocation have been finalized, it is possible to lay down a draft schedule, which will include:
A list of the main project tasks
The time slot allocated for each task
The resource(s) allocated for each task
It is important to determine in advance in what format the schedule will be published and distributed and how frequently it should be updated. In the long run, it is better to maintain a consistent scheduling format, from project planning through completion.
The schedule proposal should be submitted at the kick-off meeting and discussed with all the parties involved, particularly with the localization vendor and other concerned external parties. Before finalizing the schedule, it is essential that it be approved by every person participating in the process. The following points need to be agreed upon:
Time allocations for each task are realistic.
Information and resources needed to perform each task are available.
The schedule is in line with the project priorities and with the most critical steps of the designed project workflow.
The internal project schedule is synchronized with the schedule of any external localization partners involved.
Some “buffer†time is allocated for unforeseen issues, such as late delivery of files from a translator or others.
Next part follows tomorrow...
The different elements of Project Planning are described in the following sections
Analysis
The first step of a localization project is the analysis of the project requirements. The following are examples of basic project requirements:
What types of content should be localized (e.g., printed manuals, web pages, graphics, etc.)?
What are the target locales (country/region and language)?
What activities does the project involve (e.g., scanning the pages, converting to PDF, etc.)?
What tools should be used? If everyone is using Word makes ure all use the same version, because especially with Chinese that’s where UNICode cones into play, and the implementation of UNICode is different between Office 200 and XP for example. (A number of you will probably object and say that 2000 is not being used extensively anymore, but I beg to differ here.)
Is a glossary available?
Is any previous translation available? If so, is it a usable translation from a quality point of view?
On a more detailed level, the analysis should also examine more specific project requirements.
Translation Requirements
These requirements might address issues such as the following:
Does the translation project require domain expertise? If so, is Domain expertise training planned for translators and other localization specialists?
Is any support provided for translators by in-country subject matter specialists?
Are there any specific style requirements besides those outlined in the style guide?
It is worth noticing that style requirements can vary, depending on the target audience. For instance, the translation of a book may need to accurately reflect the source text, whereas you may need to adapt the source content of a marketing brochure to meet the standards of the target market.
Technical Requirements
Should date, time, and calendar formats be localized?
Should decimal and thousands separators be localized?
Should currency format(s) be localized?
What about units of measurements?
Are there any special screen layout requirements (e.g., vertical text, bi¬directional text)?
Workflow Design
For the localization process to work effectively, it is important to design in advance the most critical steps of the project workflow. This involves planning when, how, and by whom the following steps will be performed:
Translation Kit: creation and maintenance
Terminology database: setup, translation, approval and updates.
Engineering: conversion and preparation of document files, validation of translated files (checking for appropriate file format, providing technical support to linguists)
Translation and Language Quality Check
Desktop Publishing: de-, recompilation and testing of Online Help, preparation of printed documentation files for translation, final page layout, etc.
Questions & Answers: designating the point of contact for questions coming from translators and language coordinators
Resource Allocation
For each phase of the translation process, it is essential to determine what resources will be required:
Internal resources (the internal project team may consist of language specialists, desktop publishing experts)
In-country resources (e.g., reviewers, technical support specialists)
External resources (e.g., freelance translators, subject matter specialists, or other external consultants).
Selection of External Resources
The following criteria might apply for the selection of an external resource:
Language combinations
Technical and domain expertise (ideally, the partner should have experience localizing similar products)
Internal organization e.g. How many translators, reviewers and language leads are available?
What is the typical project workflow?
What are the criteria for selecting translators? Use only translators that are native speakers of the target language, are trained in translation, and have up-to-date language skills).
Scheduling
Once the workflow design and the resource allocation have been finalized, it is possible to lay down a draft schedule, which will include:
A list of the main project tasks
The time slot allocated for each task
The resource(s) allocated for each task
It is important to determine in advance in what format the schedule will be published and distributed and how frequently it should be updated. In the long run, it is better to maintain a consistent scheduling format, from project planning through completion.
The schedule proposal should be submitted at the kick-off meeting and discussed with all the parties involved, particularly with the localization vendor and other concerned external parties. Before finalizing the schedule, it is essential that it be approved by every person participating in the process. The following points need to be agreed upon:
Time allocations for each task are realistic.
Information and resources needed to perform each task are available.
The schedule is in line with the project priorities and with the most critical steps of the designed project workflow.
The internal project schedule is synchronized with the schedule of any external localization partners involved.
Some “buffer†time is allocated for unforeseen issues, such as late delivery of files from a translator or others.
Next part follows tomorrow...