Ensuring Final UI Terminology in User Manuals: Hansem Global’s Innovative Solution
UI (User Interface) terminology plays a crucial role in guiding users to operate complex, touch-based consumer products accurately. For products with multi-language user manuals, ensuring that the UI terms are consistent and accurate across all versions is essential, especially in the final stages before product launch. Hansem Global’s MineSweeper tool offers a breakthrough solution, streamlining the verification process to maintain precise UI terminology, even under tight deadlines. Here’s how MineSweeper enables Hansem Global to deliver consistent and error-free user experiences.
Project Summary
Hyundai Mobis, a global leader in automotive parts, is responsible for developing advanced infotainment systems for major car manufacturers like Hyundai and Kia. In collaboration with Hyundai Mobis, Hansem Global produces user manuals in 15 languages for these infotainment systems. The challenge was to confirm that the UI terms in each language version of the manuals matched the finalized terms before product launch—a task that demanded both speed and accuracy.
To address this need, Hansem Global’s engineers developed MineSweeper: an innovative tool inspired by the concept of “minesweeping,” which identifies and corrects inaccurate or outdated UI terms across multiple manual versions, helping prevent costly post-launch fixes.
Challenges
When producing user manuals, each language’s terms must align perfectly with the terminology on the infotainment system screens. However, user manuals are often written during the product’s development stage, before the final product is available. To bridge this gap, manufacturers typically provide glossaries listing anticipated UI terms, which serve as a reference for user manual writers. Unfortunately, these glossaries are frequently updated, even at the final stages of development, requiring repeated checks and updates in the manuals. Previously, Hansem Global’s team had to manually compare each term in the latest glossary against every page of the manual—a time-consuming task prone to human error.
Our Solutions
To streamline this process, Hansem Global engineered the MineSweeper tool, which automates terminology verification. Here’s how MineSweeper optimizes the process:
- Uploading the Client’s Glossary File
MineSweeper starts by uploading the manufacturer’s latest glossary (an MMI Excel file containing terms, language-specific lists, and unique IDs for each string). This file acts as a reference for cross-checking terms in each language. - Comparing IDML Files with the Glossary
MineSweeper then uploads the IDML files (InDesign files used for manual creation) and performs an automatic scan to match the UI terms in the files with those in the glossary. It quickly identifies any discrepancies between the terms in the glossary and those in the manual. - Highlighting Inconsistent Terms and Offering Suggestions
When a mismatch is found, MineSweeper flags it and suggests corrections. For example, if an ID number (e.g., ID_111) is missing from the glossary or if “Device Connection” is incorrectly typed as “Connection” in the manual, MineSweeper immediately detects the issue, allowing editors to correct it quickly. This automation cuts verification time by up to 50%. - Generating and Reviewing a Results File
Upon completion, MineSweeper generates a results file summarizing all discrepancies. Mismatched terms are highlighted, making it easy for the team to spot and correct them.
Outcome
Implementing MineSweeper has had a transformative effect on Hansem Global’s manual production process, providing significant benefits:
- Reduced Time and Increased Efficiency : MineSweeper reduces what used to take hours to mere minutes, slashing manual production time by over 30%.
- Improved Quality and Fewer Errors : By identifying discrepancies early, MineSweeper enhances the quality of the final manuals, ensuring consistent use of client-approved terms.
- Enhanced Multilingual Consistency : MineSweeper enables Hansem Global to manage consistent terminology across 15 languages, a key factor in delivering high-quality localized manuals.
The MineSweeper tool has not only automated the verification process but has become an essential asset in managing complex, multilingual projects. Looking ahead, Hansem Global plans to expand MineSweeper’s capabilities further to maximize project efficiency and support even broader localization efforts.
For companies seeking to ensure precise, high-quality multilingual manuals, Hansem Global’s MineSweeper tool offers an effective, proven solution to streamline terminology verification, reduce errors, and optimize the manual creation process.