How a vetted framework of translators for each language within a continuous localization workflow eliminated internal inconsistency and restored brand credibility in four markets.
The client
A developer of professional PCB and EDA design software used by electronics engineers across European markets. The platform serves engineers working across the full circuit design workflow, from schematic capture through to PCB layout and bill-of-materials generation, whose experience of the product in French, German, Spanish, and Italian needs to match the precision they rely on in English.
The challenge
For a professional software product targeting engineering audiences, terminology inconsistency isn’t just a minor quality issue. Because when the French UI uses one term for a feature, the French data sheet uses a second, and the French help article uses a third, the engineer using them begins to doubt the product itself.
The same pattern was playing out independently in German, Spanish, and Italian. Each language had developed its own internal contradictions, and the effect on client engagement was measurable: engineers in those markets were less likely to trust the localized product and more likely to revert to the English version.
The root cause was structural. UI strings, online help, product data sheets, and marketing collateral were handled by different translators at different times, without a shared terminology reference within each language. New content arrived on a continuous development cycle, meaning inconsistencies compounded with every release. By the time the scale of the problem became clear, each language had accumulated its own set of divergences.
The solution
A vetted translator framework for each language was put in place within a Smartling continuous localization workflow. Each language was assigned a dedicated team working consistently within the same platform environment, sharing a translation memory and a validated glossary.
As new strings were authored in the development process, the client’s translation management system (TMS) automatically routed them to the assigned translators. Approved translations then flowed back into the product directly, without manual handoffs or file batches.
For French, the work went beyond string-by-string translation. We developed a style guide and worked directly with the client’s in-market reviewers to build a validated glossary from the ground up.
Several features had no established French equivalent, as the software’s technical innovations sat outside the existing vocabulary of French electronics engineering. For these, new client-specific French concepts were coined, defined, and documented, then locked into the glossary as the authoritative point of reference for all content types going forward.
The results
- Terminology aligned within each language across all content types (UI strings, online help, product data sheets, and marketing collateral), restoring consistent brand positioning in four markets.
- Localized content delivered simultaneously with each new software release across all four languages, within the TMS continuous localization pipeline.
- Translation memory leverage maintained across every release cycle; previously approved strings reused automatically with no re-translation of validated content between versions.
