The Universal Language

Last week, I was visiting a friend and I had to use his laptop to check my online bank account, as well as my Facebook account.

I sat down at the desk and realized that I needed a new browser window. It was a simple process; I opened Firefox from the Apple menu and then opened a new window.  I also opened multiple tabs with no notable difficulty.

The one detail I didn’t mention is that I was in Stockholm, Sweden. And all of the text on the screen was in Swedish.

Although my Swedish is limited, I didn’t have a language barrier with the computer.  I was sitting in front of a laptop, thousands of miles away from home, but my user experience didn’t feel foreign. The consistency of the interface-especially in a country where the population takes pride in its contemporary design-allowed me to surf the Internet without any hassle. I’m an avid reader, but for once the words before me didn’t matter.

On the streets of Stockholm, I was comfortable with greeting people in Swedish and conversing in English. At the apartment, I didn’t need my friend (or Google!) to translate. I knew how to open a new browser window based on my everyday familiarity of its interface-even if it read Arkiv: Nytt fönster. Directly below, and exactly where I expected it to be, was the new tab option (ny flik).

The layout of the Swedish keyboard, along with the keystroke commands, are different from what I’m accustomed to. I had to search around for some letters on the keyboard and I found that I could actually live without using keystroke commands. When transferring a security code from my e-mail address to the bank’s website, I could copy (koperia) and paste (klistera in) directly from the browser’s top navigation.

But forget the hardware-software was just as easy to manipulate! When I logged into Facebook, I didn’t bother to switch the language from Swedish to English. I didn’t need to translate the entire login screen since I knew the basics for signing in. On the upper right hand side of the screen, I breezed through entering my E-post and Lösenord and activating the Logga In control.

When I was directed to the Hem page, I could immediately tell which of my friends changed their profile photos (öndrade sina profilbilder) or were tagged in photos (blev taggade i ett album).

The Facebook layout was also the same in Scandinavia-new profile photos were displayed under the person’s name and tagged photos were shown directly above the name of the album, along with the number of photos in the album and the user’s name. If there was a comment about a photo, it was wrapped in giant quotation marks. I was able to completely by-pass the Swedish language due to Facebook’s adopted visual cues.

Another one of Facebook’s smart features included remembering my language preference. When writing this post, I tested the Swedish language version on my work PC and didn’t revert to English. I logged in at home, on my Mac, and I was still seeing the Swedish version. Since Facebook broadcasts all user actions, the language switches were posted to my Wall.

As someone who works at a software company, I’m privy to conversations about the user experience. At Arc90, the designers spend a large part of the development process trying to deliver the best user interface. The goal is to build software that is fun and exciting without bypassing the standards, regardless of how small or simple they may be. Whether you’re a user in America or Scandinavia, you should get an incorrect login error message; the UI should look the same across multiple browsers and operating systems.

Software developers need to ensure that their design is both innovative and intuitive. It is vital to use build software that is consistent and resembles the norms of design and development.

Now that I’m Stateside, I might push the limits of language and change my status to the question presented by the Swedish Facebook: Vad gör du just nu?