Optimizing Global User Experiences: Top Localization Strategies from ASICS, Workday, Uber, and Phrase

Picture this: a potential customer in Tokyo is eager to make a purchase from your website. They’ve browsed, selected their item, and made it to the checkout page. But just as they’re ready to pay, the buying process stalls.

The language feels robotic, as though no real person is behind it. Worse, the payment options available don’t even work for their region. Frustrated, they shut down the browser. Now, imagine the same thing happening to customers in New York, Paris, and São Paulo.

The Cause? Friction. It’s the invisible force that disrupts customer journeys and quietly erodes your business. In ecommerce alone, almost 71% of users abandon their carts due to friction.

So what’s the solution? A tough question, but luckily Global App Testing was on hand with some thoughtful solutions from experts at global businesses like ASICS, Workday, Uber, and Phrase’s Director of Product Design, Marcs Wilkinson, to uncover the answers in our recent webinar.

In this post, we’ve gathered some of the most interesting insight to help you work towards the perfect customer experience, and frictionless, intuitive product design.

1. Speed Matters: Optimize Site Performance for Global Users

The backbone of a frictionless experience is speed—especially for global customers who may face unstable networks or device limitations.

Alba Simon, Product Lead at Asics, highlighted the importance of performance in delivering a seamless, localized experience for e-commerce users.

“Driving a seamless experience through site speed is crucial in reducing friction, especially in ecommerce where customers expect fast, effortless transactions,” explained Alba. 

For Asics, optimizing site performance ensures customers in diverse regions experience fast load times, reducing frustration and improving the likelihood of completing purchases.

Localization plays a key role here—ensuring that your site is not just fast, but optimized for the technological capabilities and browsing behaviors of users in different parts of the world.

Alba also shared a powerful insight that businesses can take to heart: “For every second your site loads faster, conversion rates improve by an average of 17%.” This reinforces just how essential speed is in reducing friction and driving conversions.

2. Localization Best Practices: Shift Left for a Seamless Experience

One major takeaway from the webinar was the importance of “shifting left”—integrating localization early in the product development process.

Olga Safonova, Senior Product Manager at Workday, stressed that this early integration prevents friction by making the user experience feel more native and intuitive, no matter the language or region.

“Integrating localization earlier in product development ensures fewer obstacles when scaling globally, making the user experience more natural and seamless,”

Olga explained. This approach not only reduces the need for last-minute adjustments but also ensures that the product is culturally and linguistically adapted from the start, which is critical for a positive customer experience.

Olga emphasized the importance of involving localization experts in the early design stages, stating: 

“By involving localization experts early in the design process, we can interpret global insights and prevent misunderstandings that could frustrate users later on.”

This forward-thinking strategy can save time and resources, while improving the overall user experience.

By treating localization as a core element of product design rather than an afterthought, businesses can prevent friction before it happens, leading to smoother interactions for global users.

3. Cultural Adaptation: Tailor Experiences to Fit Regional Expectations

Localization goes beyond language—it’s also about understanding the cultural context of your users. 

Carolina Freire from Uber spoke about how cultural adaptation can reduce friction and elevate the user experience by making products feel more relevant and intuitive for different markets.

“Understanding the cultural nuances of your users reduces misunderstandings and allows for a more intuitive product experience,” Carolina noted.

Uber, a globally recognized brand, takes special care to tailor its app’s user experience to align with local cultural norms, preferences, and behaviors.

An excellent example from Carolina’s discussion is how cultural missteps—such as assuming universal meanings for icons—can cause friction. 

For instance, Amazon faced confusion when launching in rural India because users didn’t associate the magnifying glass icon with search but rather thought it was a ping-pong paddle! While it might seem funny in retrospect, this really highlights how important it is to understand local perceptions of design elements.

By aligning your product’s experience with local norms—whether it’s payment methods, design aesthetics, or communication styles—you can create a smoother, more engaging experience for global customers.

4. Broadening Testing: Ensure Consistency Across Regions

Testing is another critical piece of the localization puzzle. Artem Bobrovskiy from Global App Testing highlighted the need to expand testing efforts across different geographies to catch potential issues unique to specific regions before the product is launched.

Expanding testing across geographies is key to identifying friction points that are unique to specific regions,”

For a truly frictionless experience, products must be rigorously tested in real-world conditions across various countries and devices. This ensures that users in different regions encounter a consistent, high-quality experience, without unexpected bugs or usability issues.

Artem also pointed out the importance of testing in production: 

“Testing in production is crucial because it’s the only way to match the actual experience of your customers.” 

This hands-on approach helps companies identify subtle, location-specific friction points that can go unnoticed during development, ensuring a smooth experience across the globe.

5. Discovery and Delivery Adaptation: Scale Your Process for Global Success

To effectively reduce friction across different markets, both the discovery and delivery processes in product development must be adapted. 

Marcs Wilkinson, Director of Product Design at Phrase, explained that this approach ensures friction is minimized for diverse user personas. By refining these processes, companies can ensure that the localized version of their product is not only culturally relevant but also seamlessly functional.

“Adapting the discovery and delivery process not only helps in scaling globally but also ensures that friction is minimized for different user personas,” Marcs explained.

Early localization planning ensures products meet the cultural and technical needs of different markets from day one, eliminating the need for costly post-launch adjustments.

Marcs also highlighted the importance of planning for localization early: 

Localization isn’t a checkbox you tick when entering a new market. It requires planning from day one, with adaptable systems and resources in place.” 

This approach leads to a product that scales smoothly across regions, with minimal adjustments required to deliver a great experience to all users.

Conclusion: Localization as the Key to Reducing Friction in Global Products

Reducing friction in global products is about more than just solving surface-level issues—it’s about designing products that resonate with users across the world. Localization plays a critical role in this process, from early-stage product development to testing and adaptation for different markets. 

By embedding localization at every stage, businesses can reduce friction, create more intuitive experiences, and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.

Whether it’s optimizing site speed for various network conditions, integrating localization early, or tailoring the user experience to cultural expectations, each of these expert tips highlights the power of localization in delivering a frictionless global product. 

As you look to improve your product’s global reach, consider how you can implement these strategies to create smoother, more enjoyable experiences for your users—no matter where they are.