Time Management & Localization Tools

Impact

•3 major markets unlocked (Brazil, LatAm, APAC)
•3 industry awards won after rollout
All three awards won following localization rollout
•Timezone confusion eliminated from support queue

Timeline

Q4 2023 - Q1 2024 (6 months)

Team

4 (Product Designer + 3 Engineers)

The Problem

English-only UI blocking three major markets. Single timezone causing daily scheduling errors. DST transitions breaking campaign timing.

Core Issues:

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English-only UI blocked Brazil, Colombia, and APAC partnerships
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Single timezone display caused scheduling errors across global teams
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DST transitions triggered campaigns at wrong times

My Approach

1. Dual-Track Development

Decision: Parallel development of timezone tools and localization features

Result: We delivered both features in the same release, which maximized impact while avoiding the bottlenecks that would have come from sequential work.

2. Display-Layer Architecture

Decision: Keep UTC in database, add conversion layer on top

Result: No database migration needed, deployment risk minimized to nearly zero, and we could validate everything in production without worrying about corrupting core data.

3. Machine + Human Translation Pipeline

Decision: Use LLM APIs for initial translation, then human validation for industry-specific terminology

Result: Completed all 20,000+ strings in 4 weeks instead of 4 months, with quality that passed native speaker validation on the first review cycle.

4. Partner Validation Over Synthetic Testing

Decision: Beta test with one pilot partner per language before full rollout

Result: Partners caught terminology issues, regional format preferences, and workflow gaps that would have caused problems at scale. Their validation gave us confidence for the full launch.