The process of adapting a product for a specific region, culture, or language — going beyond translation to adjust date formats, currency, units of measurement, idiomatic expressions, reading direction, imagery, and cultural norms. Localisation treats regional users as first-class users rather than an afterthought.
Common contexts
- Auditing a global product launch for right-to-left layout support before entering Arabic and Hebrew markets
- Redesigning form fields to accommodate longer string lengths in German and Finnish translations without breaking layouts
- Replacing idiom-heavy microcopy with culturally neutral phrasing that survives accurate translation without losing its tone
Use when
Begin localisation planning during the design system and content strategy phase — retrofitting RTL support or flexible string lengths onto a completed UI is significantly more expensive than building for them upfront.
Avoid when
Don't conflate localisation with machine translation — automated translation handles words but not cultural meaning, and using it without native review can produce text that is accurate but offensive or confusing in context.
The layouts that break worst under localisation are always the ones where a designer hardcoded string lengths based on English — design for the longest expected translation from the start, not the language you designed in.
Real-world examples
- Airbnb localises not just language but cultural norms: Japanese listing pages use more formal host introductions and structured house rules, reflecting cultural expectations around guest–host relationships.
- WeChat Pay and Alipay integration in McDonald's China kiosks is a localisation decision — not a translation one — that increased digital payment adoption by 40% versus a card-only interface.
- Twitter discovered that its original 140-character limit functioned differently across languages: a single Japanese character conveys far more than English, effectively creating a richer experience per locale.