Ulatus provided app localization (Android and iOS), on-device testing, web testing and language quality assurance services in 54 languages.
Because our work facilitates clinical trials, our localized platforms needed to be 100 percent error-free. By partnering with Ulatus for end-to-end localization of our app and QA testing across 54 locales, we knew that we would achieve our goals of complete precision. We are pleased with the Ulatus team’s responsiveness, ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, and overall quality of work they performed. We are looking forward to partnering with Ulatus on additional projects, including localization testing on new applications.
Medable’s mission is to get effective therapies to patients faster. They provide an end-to-end, global cloud platform with a flexible suite of tools that allows sponsors, patients, providers & CRO’s to work together as a team in clinical trials. Their solutions enable more efficient clinical research, more effective healthcare delivery, and more accurate precision and predictive medicine. Medable’s vision is to accelerate the path to human discovery and medical cures, and they are passionate about driving innovation and empowering consumers. They are proactive, collaborative, self-motivated learners, committed, bold, and tenacious. Medable is dedicated to making this world a healthier place.
Medable came to Ulatus to inquire about app localization, on-device testing and QA to be done in 54 languages. The device testing was required to be done on Android and iOS platforms. And this had to be done in the quickest possible timeline to enable less enrollment time at a trial site to achieve increased patient engagement.
Before Medable contracted with Ulatus, we had successfully completed projects for a few of the company’s clients, including Novartis and BeiGene Pharmaceuticals.
The client, being from a medical clinical trial industry, was looking to launch their global platform to unify clinical trial solutions. For this, they had developed a decentralized trial platform providing a seamless experience, connecting patients, sites, and clinical trial teams. Now they wanted to update this platform with information in multiple languages, which was around 54. And they approached Ulatus with a requirement to localize all their product content, get the content tested on Android & iOS devices and also language quality analysis done to ensure top quality information is available to clients globally in multiple languages.
To efficiently manage the testing, we had to work closely with the client to understand their application backend structure. As part of this, we had to create different credentials and test the product as both patients and physicians. Medable gave Ulatus access to its Slack messenger program so that updates and questions could be resolved in real time. We were virtually available for them around the clock, with dedicated project managers supporting the client through the Slack messenger on their mobile phones.
As part of the testing, we had to work with application files that needed to be pre-engineered correctly so that placeholders and string format specifiers could be accurately converted to tags, while maintaining certain strings in their current state. To achieve this, we created certain RegExp inside our Translation Management System (TMS). Additional requirements included entering the testing bugs onto the client’s Jira platform.
As the app was going to be accessed globally by users, it was critical that the localized content was of top quality. Considering the localization was to be done in 54 different languages, we had to ensure the tone, consistency and medical terminologies were maintained. Moreover, the content was localized by native language expert linguists to keep the local regional nuances in place that connect well with the local users.
Ulatus helped Medable in a new product release for Android and iOS devices by conducting rigorous testing and language quality analysis to ensure seamless product release to the clinical trial customers. We managed and continually met all client requirements through some of the key efforts mentioned below:
Considering the number of languages the product content had to be localized in was 54, we had to create a team of SME linguists who would regularly work on these assignments/projects. Selecting the right linguists with the knowledge of clinical research subject area was vital for this project. Ulatus used its proprietary tool that automatically selects an ideal list of linguists required for the project. The selection is based on a proprietary algorithm built in our project management workflow system, which selects the best, most highly skilled linguistic team. For this project, we short-listed linguists with expertise in pharmaceuticals and clinical research. Since the translation was done across multiple languages, our team of linguists provided Transadaptation to take care of the consistency in tone and style of the local regions and customers.
Localizing content in multiple languages has its own set of challenges, and we had to ensure the tone and language consistency across 54 languages is maintained. Also, we had the dual task of checking translation accuracy plus functional issues, we decided to use a combination of SME linguists and native testers, who had expertise in testing mobile applications. The SME linguists were provided with the translation of the application directly inside our TMS, and the native testers were given the task of going through the application on their mobile devices. The translation corrections and other bugs were then vetted by our project manager. We also developed a comprehensive style guide and glossary, which helped in maintaining uniformity across terms used and language tone across all the projects and assignments being localized by us. Throughout the process, the client remained involved and worked closely with our team.
The project was completed in two phases. First, we successfully went through QA protocols for applications that were localized for Medable’s end clients. Second, we performed localization QA for Medable’s base application, which was in 54 languages. The client provided us with access to the test builds via AppCenter for Android and Testflight for iOS. By creating a common account, our project manager ensured that everyone had access to the same builds. We had to upload bugs onto the client’s Jira platform on a rolling basis. Once the issues were resolved at their end, we were asked to perform regression testing.
To achieve client delight and enhanced user experience in this project, we deployed our best team that had experience in handling such complex projects and manage client expectations. The project team who worked on this project had worked on similar projects in the past, so they had a good idea about the finer details involved and how we could execute them. Coordinating between various stakeholders like the client, their QA team, testing team, linguists, project leads was critical and managed very well by the Ulatus’ project lead. All client requirements like faster TAT, additional requests like creating a Glossary of terms, additional testing/QA reviews were accommodated and delivered on time.
Ulatus team worked tirelessly in helping Medable in the timely release of their app on Android and iOS devices. The testing was completed in one week, which was a challenge, considering that the size of the applications varied, and we had several localizations to test. We will continue to work on localization and testing projects for Medable and provide them with top-notch service as always.
