A Universal Localization Brief
Make your localization handoffs meaningful
What is a localization brief
: a document that provides the necessary context to translate and adapt content successfully.
A good brief answers the questions of who, what, where, when and why, as well as provide reference material or any special instructions.
Why you need a good brief
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Context is king in localization. A thoughtful brief is the difference between a mediocre translation and nailing the brand voice, connecting with your target audience, and providing translations that are loyal to the source content’s message.
Localization requests, regardless of if they comes from marketing, product, design, legal, HR, or developers, should be accompanied by localization briefs. For people new to localization, knowing which information to include is not intuitive… and that is what I want to help with.
The benefits of a brief
Translators better understand linguistic goals. Localization project managers can adapt workflows to the project’s requirements and select the right vendors. If the translations are provided by an LSP, the project managers will be prepared to answer potential questions from linguists, meaning less time spent communicating reactively with the content owners.
Overall, the #1 benefit is improved quality and loyalty to the source content’s message and purpose.
When to use briefs
A brief should be provided to the localization owner with each new translation/localization request. Even if a brief was provided for a previous translation request of content for the same product/project, that doesn’t mean the localization team knows that, or that the same linguists will be contracted.
My Localization Brief Template
How to use it
Below you’ll find my universal localization brief in paragraph form. Answers to the prompts can be written to replace the prompt descriptions or beneath them.
My goal for the template is that it be usable in project management platforms so that sharing the brief is easy. I imagine would be effective in popular project management tools like Monday, Jira, Notion, Dooly, or email templates.
Here is a link to my localization brief in Notion: https://www.notion.so/Universal-Localization-Brief-95d1a1af2002433bb58dec201d1c9742?pvs=4
The Universal Localization Brief
About [product]
Provide a brief high-level overview of the product. What is it, what does it do, and who uses it? EX: Lokalise is a translation management system that helps tech companies localize their digital products by providing teams with a platform to organize and control the localization process.
About this project
Describe the part of the product or feature to be localized EX: This project is to localize the help center where our customers go for tech support and documentation because our customer base in Latin America is growing and we’ve received feedback that they want to consume this content in Spanish.
The target audience
Describe the target audience’s demographic and the user persona that will consume the content. Consider sharing relevant information regarding sex, age, profession, level of education, audience location, etc.
The product voice
Describe the language register for the product or brand voice. Describe the purpose of the content; if it is to persuade, inform, convince, etc. Share how much freedom the linguists have to adapt the localized copy for their target markets. Provide specific examples that showcase the product voice in source and target languages if possible.
Reference material
Share where the linguists can review source and target content that showcases the product voice and translation style.
Special instructions
Share information pertinent to special requests and instructions. Is there any text that has a character limit, are there slogans or emphasized copy that will require extra communication to get right, etc. Only add special instructions for specific requests or preferences.
A Special thanks
to Michal Kessel Shitrit for validating my ideas and sharing her own localization brief with me. You can find her brief here: