When we started building Expressio, the problem was clear: translation workflows are broken. Development teams struggle with translating both their user interfaces and documentation. The path to proper internationalization has been unnecessarily difficult, especially for software products where UI strings, error messages, and documentation all need to stay in sync.
The Translation Challenge
The pattern is consistent across many development teams: a product gains traction, international users request localized interfaces and documentation, but the available solutions are far from ideal. Professional translation services often cost thousands per language, while machine translation services like Google Translate struggle with technical accuracy and context - particularly problematic for UI elements where space constraints and precise meaning are crucial.
This creates a difficult choice - either invest significant resources in professional translation or risk poor quality automated translations. For many teams, neither option is acceptable. UI strings require special attention to maintain a consistent user experience across languages, while documentation needs technical accuracy.
The Hidden Costs of Poor Translation
Through building and improving Expressio, we've observed how inadequate translation processes impact development teams. UI strings become inconsistent across different parts of the application. Marketing content becomes outdated as soon as the source changes. Developers maintain multiple versions of both interface text and documentation, often in different systems. Support teams face a constant stream of clarification requests due to confusing UI messages and inconsistent documentation.
The data tells an even clearer story. Analysis of web traffic often reveals that 30-40% of visitors come from non-English speaking countries, with significantly lower engagement rates when interfaces and content aren't properly localized. This represents a major missed opportunity for many products.
Building a Better Solution
Expressio approaches translation differently. Instead of trying to replace existing tools or workflows, we focus on automation and integration:
- Direct integration with version control systems to track changes in both UI strings and documentation
- Automated synchronization between source content and translations across all content types
- Context-aware machine translation using services like DeepL and Claude, with UI-specific handling for space constraints
- Native support for i18next and other common internationalization frameworks used in modern applications
- Smart handling of pluralization rules and formatting across different languages
Real Impact
The power of modern translation APIs like DeepL is transformative. Development teams can now get high-quality translations for technical content in seconds, with remarkable accuracy even for complex terminology and UI strings. What used to be a multi-week process involving multiple stakeholders can now be streamlined significantly through automation.
Starting Small
Translation automation doesn't require a complete overhaul of existing systems. A practical approach is to:
- Identify your most critical user-facing content (both UI elements and documentation)
- Choose one target language based on user demographics
- Set up proper i18next integration in your codebase for UI internationalization
- Automate the translation workflow with tools like Expressio
Looking Forward
The future of translation technology is promising, particularly with recent advances in AI. However, the goal isn't to remove human oversight - it's to automate the repetitive parts while preserving accuracy and context. That's why Expressio is being built to be service-agnostic, supporting both AI services and traditional translation workflows, while maintaining the specific requirements of software UI translation.
Ready to improve your translation process? Join our mailing list to get early access to Expressio and help shape the future of open source translation automation.