Title: Optimising for the 0.33%
Context: It’s a global market out there. Might want to keep that in mind when selling your stuff.
Synopsis: If you’re doing it right, not all of your customers will live where you do. Obviously this can present language issues when selling products to people who literally don’t speak your language. But how far should you go to appeal to a global market? Even other countries that share the same mother tongue rarely use the same colloquialisms. Is it enough to almost appear to understand these customers? Attention to detail in the design profession is paid almost exclusively to tertiary workflows and pixel perfect visual designs. We rarely worry about currencies, time stamps, address formatting, linguistic patois, and referential familiarity yet very often these are the most familiar and comforting details that confirm an understanding of one’s context and the consideration given to their specific needs. These details are not mere pedantry, they are a declaration of respect and a signifier of the recipient’s importance to the creator. And that’s just my 2¢.
Best Bit: Read the post’s comments section to gauge how well (or not) Apple handles localization in countries other than Australia.
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