User-Centered Translation

What is it about?

User-centered translation offers an up-to-date hands-on approach to a perennial question of translation: how to get to know the actual readers and their preferences in order to create adequate and appealing translations, i.e. how to ensure their usability. Written in a text book format, the book guides the reader through an iterative process of researching the users, testing the usability of the translations and assessing the outcomes. The various methods of user-centered translating are applicable to large-scale translation industry and home-based freelance translation alike, and it can be applied to machine translation as well. The book is written from a pedagogical perspective, but the methodology is easily adaptable to research applications in translation studies as well.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

"The attempt of User-Centered Translation to shift the attention of researchers, translators, and translator trainers to the end users of translations is a praiseworthy endeavor. The book will prove particularly useful for the purpose of TS academic inquiry, especially in the field of public-service translation and technical translation, and will provide researchers with useful and clear descriptions of new trends in research methodology and techniques that they may use in their MA theses or PhD dissertations. Translator trainers will also find this excellent and appealing book a very helpful tool that will enable them to assist their students not only with research methodology but also with translation production, urging them to allow users to play participatory roles during the entire target text production and thus, hopefully, also to empower those users." (Review by Nike Pokorn 2016; International Journal of Communication 10(2016))