Beyond Translation: Culture and Language at the Core of Digital Design

Picture someone trying to schedule a medical appointment online, a parent searching for college resources, or a community preparing for a hurricane, only to find that much of the information they need is not available in the language they feel most comfortable with. More than 25 million people in the United States who have limited English proficiency face this barrier every day.

Organizations often assume that translation is all they need to reach these communities, but true accessibility goes deeper. When I led the launch and growth of a high-impact, public-facing government website in Spanish, I saw how designing with cultural and linguistic relevance from the start resulted in better outcomes for everyone, not just Spanish speakers. The same principles apply in other sectors. If you build your digital service with inclusion in mind, you can expand your market reach, strengthen trust, and build a loyal following.

Why factoring in culture and language matters

Cultural and linguistic relevance is about more than compliance or checking a box. It is about making digital services usable, meaningful, and relevant. When you design for underserved communities, your entire audience benefits. Navigation becomes more user-friendly, content becomes easier to understand, and trust grows.

There is also a strong business case for integrating language and culture into your strategy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 1 in 5 people age 5 and older in the United States spoke a language other than English at home (2017-2021). Ignoring these communities means leaving potential customers, clients, or residents behind. Designing for inclusivity not only fulfills an equity mission, it also gives you the visibility to expand to other markets with high purchasing power. Latinos alone exercise more than $3 trillion a year in purchasing power in the United States.

How to incorporate culture and language into your digital services

Building for cultural and linguistic relevance requires rethinking how teams, processes, and products come together. A few key practices make this possible:

Adapt and transcreate - While direct translation may sometimes be sufficient for factual information, it rarely captures meaning. Many situations require more context or examples that communities can relate to. In those cases, transcreation, the process of adapting content to resonate culturally and linguistically, can ensure clarity. It is the difference between content that is merely technically correct and content that users can relate to. This builds connection and impacts their decision-making.

Do not skip user research and usability testing in other languages - Conduct research and user testing with participants who reflect the communities you want to serve. Designing products and services based only on English language research may overlook the specific needs or concerns of other communities. Multilingual research can also inform keyword choices when developing content or reveal the need for specific features, such as a chatbot or a dedicated social media account, that provide more context to these users.

Collect and analyze data specific to these communities - Build and implement mechanisms to collect feedback from communities with limited English proficiency. Surveys and comments are useful, but to effectively analyze data, it is essential to have someone on staff who understands the culture. Data without cultural context misses opportunities for improvement. In government, for example, we often saw a higher rate of satisfaction from Spanish-speaking users compared to English-speaking users. Spanish speakers were genuinely and pleasantly surprised to find resources designed with them in mind.

Build inclusive teams that build the multilingual experience into design from the start - Do not silo multilingual expertise. Embed Spanish-speaking or other language content strategists, designers, developers, and UX researchers directly into product teams. A digital service benefits when bilingual designers help shape the user journey from the beginning. For example, some languages require more space for text than English. If you do not account for that when designing a website, you could face layout and usability issues later. Retrofitting multilingual content after a product or service is launched is more costly, more time-consuming, and less effective. 

Final thoughts

Designing for cultural and linguistic relevance is not just a nice idea. It is a strategic and intentional decision that benefits your users, your organization, and its goals. This is about more than translation. It is about understanding the needs of your users, elevating diverse voices within your teams, and designing strategic services that truly resonate with your audience. 

Whether you are part of a city agency improving resident services, a healthcare provider communicating with patients, or a retailer expanding your reach, the principle is the same: bring in experts who not only speak the language but understand the digital space, and adopt cultural and linguistic relevance as a core principle. Done well, it not only expands access for underserved communities but it can grow your customer base and market share, bringing you loyal followers who trust your brand.