Prepare a context pack before localizing interface text

Start with a source snapshot and its uses

A translator receiving a list of short labels may have to guess what each one does. Prepare the source context before asking for target-language wording. The useful handoff connects each message to its intended use and keeps unresolved product meaning with the person who can clarify it.

Use a fictional document-review prototype for this exercise. One button says Open and opens a selected draft. A status also says Open, meaning that a review request remains unresolved. A move message names a document and its destination. These are invented interface examples, not Kiguri controls or an account of completed localization.

Record the prototype version and give each intended use a stable reference, such as action.open and status.open. Keep the source wording beside that reference. A screenshot or sketch can support the entry, but a picture without the relevant action or state may leave the same ambiguity.

Describe the action or state behind each label

For action.open, write that it is a button operating on the selected draft document. Describe what happens after selection: the document is displayed. For status.open, explain that it is a read-only review-state label, not an instruction to open a window. Include the neighboring state or action needed to understand that distinction.

Do not merge those entries merely because their English text matches. Nor should the translator be expected to decide whether the product ought to use one meaning everywhere. If the same source key actually serves both uses, flag that source-design question for its owner rather than assuming a single translated word will suit both.

A concise entry should let a language worker identify the object, purpose and surrounding context without reconstructing the whole application. Avoid filling the pack with unrelated screens that make the relevant reference harder to find.

Supply the complete message and variable meanings

The fictional move message is Move {itemName} to {folderName}. Explain that itemName is a document title and folderName is a destination label. Supply harmless examples, such as Outline and Working drafts, so the translator knows what kinds of values enter the sentence.

W3C Internationalization’s Working with Composite Messages explains why fragmented text, reuse and missing context can obstruct translation. Use that preparation principle here: provide the whole message and its intended relationships rather than imposing an English sequence of isolated fragments.

Keep technical limits honest. Ask the implementation owner which variable identifiers must remain intact and what rearrangement the actual message system permits. Do not promise that a translator can reorder placeholders or handle every plural form in an unexamined system. Record an unknown capability as a question, not a constraint invented for convenience.

Return ambiguity to the source owner

Add a deliberately incomplete occurrence: Open with no action, state or screen note. The pack should identify its missing context rather than supply a plausible translation. Ask the source owner whether it opens a document, describes unresolved work or means something else.

Attach the answer to that occurrence and update any affected source entry. If the owner cannot establish the meaning, leave it blocked. A deadline does not turn a guessed product rule into useful context.

Close the handoff with a readiness check

Ask the language worker to walk through the pack and identify each use, each variable and the remaining questions. Retain the source version, clarified entries, unresolved blockers and their owners together.

This finishes source preparation, not translation approval. Later target-language and interface reviews still need their own evidence. The pack describes a human collaboration practice; it does not claim Kiguri exports localization files, runs translation checks or provides an automatic translation service.