UX design in the localization and internationalization of NASA’s eyes on the earth

Abstract

In this study, we describe a user experience (UX) design case study for the localization and globalization of NASA’s browser-based visualization technology, “Eyes on the Earth.” The application was developed to display the location of all of NASA’s Earth-observing missions in real time. Visualizations include data streams from missions that constantly monitor the Earth’s vital signs (e.g. global temperatures, concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, sea level height). In the localization of the platform, we describe the design considerations for adaptations of “Eyes on the Earth” to meet the language, cultural, and social requirements of a specific target audience for native Arabic speakers. We discuss the comprehensive rethinking of logic, visual design, and presentation to align the concepts and metaphors with the accepted paradigm for learning (e.g. focus on individual vs. group) and exploration in a given locale, when it differs substantially from the originating culture. In the internationalization aspect of the UX design process, we describe the design and development practices that facilitate migration in the localization process, such as adding markup in document type definitions (DTDs) to support bidirectional text or style sheets for typographic features and for enabling coding to support local, regional, and culturally related preferences. Insights from the UX design process and methodological considerations for localization and globalization are discussed.