A real-life example: a networking platform

XING (ex openBC) is one of the leading online communities for professional networking. Over 1.5 million networkers around the globe use XING to deepen their professional relationships across all industries and expand their network. XING enables its active members to discover interesting contacts and new business opportunities, as well as maintaining their professional contacts. The most varied cultures from around the world – united by the 16 languages available on XING – together with the community’s open networking philosophy, create a unique environment for enhancing the success of each and every XING member.

The project

XING is a web service which has had to confront rapid expansion and which needed a speedy internationalization of its web contents and interface in order to compete and gain market share over its international competitors. The whole process had to be tightly coordinated with its Development and Publication Departments. 

A personalised solution

First, the globalisation strategy had to be defined. Beluga Linguistics cooperated with XING's Engineering Department to define the reach and processes of the project: target languages, coding, control parameters for the localization process, workflows and personnel. A simple, flexible process was defined, with the aim of achieving maximum quality, adhering closely to the campaign timetable, and maintaining permanent contact with the web development and maintenance staff at XING.

A flexible, growing team

We began with a permanent team of linguists responsible for localization into four languages. Each member of the team was living and working in the local market for which he or she was translating. Beluga Linguistics managed and coordinated the entire process, assigning tasks, administrating and distributing resources, and controlling the overall progress of the project. As the number of working languages increased, so did the team of translators and correctors.

Results and exposure

Beluga Linguistics is now localizing XING's web site in 16 languages, including Asian languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The process allows for fluid translation of technical, business and marketing material, local adaptation and the recording and follow up of incidents. XING has increased its presence in the European, American and Asian markets. Our next task is to study the localization of interface elements in order to adapt them to the cultural preferences of users.