Customer Name: booxi
Customer Sector: Software, application, online appointment scheduling and booking services for retailers
Within the scope of the project, localization of various online modules and web services of booxi appointment scheduling software, which provides retailers with a highly beneficial and comprehensive solution for efficient management of online appointments and bookings, was intended to be provided from English as the source text into Turkish. booxi software solutions, which are used by leading retailers such as L’Oréal, Sephora, Decathlon in a wide range of sectors including cosmetics and sportswear, consist of a comprehensive system composed of a wide range of modules, applications, and web services that can be used for online appointment scheduling and management of appointments and allow merchants to integrate them into their own websites.
First of all, booxi website and software product were reviewed within the scope of localization processes for the project based on the English source texts as provided in MS Excel file format followed by determination of style and phrasing to facilitate and strengthen communication and interaction between retailers and its customers using this software solution in line with the mission statement of booxi: Make Commerce More Human. Before proceeding with Turkish translation and localization procedure, the English source texts as provided by the client have been reviewed for terminology and source text analysis in order to determine localization strategies and then, particular attention was given to what kind of challenges may arise resulting from the source texts during the performance of translation and localization processes as well as finding solutions to such challenges.
Considering that booxi software solution is intended for a wide range of customer segments in a highly differentiated global and local markets as well as the fact that this software is used by both service personnel and service providers of merchants as well as their customers who wish to schedule an appointment, style and wording of the target text aim at addressing general audience, employing concise and comprehensible phrasing to avoid any ambiguity to the greatest extent possible.
To this end, comprehensible and familiar tone and style specially intended for the target audience were used by reference to parallel texts in English and Turkish language pairs after having reviewed terminology in both software localization projects in general and those specific to booxi appointment scheduling software as well as taking necessary actions to ensure that accurate Turkish equivalents of the terms used in the IT industry in general as well as those particularly used in booxi software modules and web services are adopted.
CHALLENGES
- Words and phrases contained in cells in English source texts in MS Excel file format were not always in the form of full sentences but rather consisting of a word or partial lexical bundles and thus, parallel and common grounds needed to be found by reviewing various other sections of the source texts in order to capture the essence of the right context;
- From a technical perspective, since some sentences and phrases in the source texts were contained in separate lines as they were divided into two or more cells, the same format was required to be migrated into Turkish translation with an aim to preserve the format during coding in website application and design processes; however, the line order often changes as the word order typically changes in Turkish. Another example of technical challenges includes the use of variables in parentheses {…} in the source texts and in such cases, the words and phrases as contained in such parentheses must be kept intact to avoid any disruption in the format; however, this may also become problematic during coding process since the order of such variables also changes within the target text. In addition, there may be some inconsistencies in the use of suffixes in Turkish as the words and phrases in parentheses are kept the same as in the source texts.
- In cases where a single word is used in the source text, it was not always clear whether such word was used as a verb or a noun. For instance, whether the words ‘start’ and ‘end’ were used as a noun or in an imperative form required paying attention. In addition, particular attention was also given to the use of words singular and plural forms. For instance, the words Store and Merchant as used in the source texts were used interchangeably in most cases although decision about whether the words Store and Merchant differentiated in meaning in several cases had to be made. Another example involves the use of the words ‘booking’ and ‘appointment’ in line with the context. In some cases, booking was a better fit while appointment seemed to be more accurate in other instances.
SOLUTIONS
- Ambiguities and contextual inconsistencies were identified following careful reading and in-depth analysis of the source texts and such issues were eliminated during the localization process, and whenever required, such phrases were translated into the target language in a more concise and comprehensible manner.
- Terminology used in software industry in general as well as those particularly used in booxi software and modules were identified and used in the target text in a consistent manner.
- Particular attention was given to the use of concise and clear phrasing aimed at the target audience, and whenever required, some complex phrases in the source text were simplified to eliminate any ambiguity in the target text.
- In order to ensure accurate contextual understanding, the context was cross-checked in comparison with certain raw data as contained in the source texts to give hints but those which did not require to be translated so as to provide consistent translation in parallel with such data.
- In addition, particular attention was given to sections where a sentence was divided into two or more lines in subsequent cells and the same format was also kept in the target text.
SOLUTION ELEMENTS
- Competence and extensive terminology knowledge in software localization.
- Technical and semantic analyses of source texts for preparation to localization process.
- Providing localization services intended for the target user base in line with booxi’s mission statement.
BENEFITS
- Ensuring that the Turkish version of the software available in English can easily be used by Turkish users in the same manner as in other users thanks to localization of booxi appointment scheduling software consistent with its scope, intended purpose, and features.
- In line with the explanation why online appointment scheduling service is so important for retailers as contained in booxi’s official website, this kind of solution is especially beneficial to obtain new clients, improve online interactions, and build customer loyalty. Once the Turkish version of booxi software goes live following the localization process, one can foresee that the customer portfolio of booxi software will continue to grow exponentially with increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty as a result of customers having more efficient interactions and closer relations with stores as more and more customers of retailers doing business in the Turkish market begin to use this software to schedule an appointment, make reservations, etc. and use other various features of the software.
