Getting to try out a client’s application to experience how it functions in real-time is an opportunity frequently offered to localization teams and linguists. Not only is it one of the fun perks of providing an app localization service. It's also super useful for the localization process and helps bring app translations to the next level. So when our client #walk15 reached out to the entire core team at Language Inspired, we were elated. It was an offer we couldn't refuse.
The partnership between Language Inspired and #walk15 reaches back to the latter half of 2021 as we have localized content inside and outside the app in 20 different languages. When our core team was granted the exciting chance of experiencing the fruit of our mobile app localization labor in action, we eagerly accepted.
What is #walk15?
The Lithuanian-founded #walk15 app is an activity tracker and an ambitious example of modern environment startups. The emphasis of the tracker is on step counting, creating and sharing local walking routes, and participating in walking challenges. The creators position #walk15 as a global and sustainable climate-tech application and invite users to join its sustainability movement by planting five virtual trees for every kilometer or 1400 steps taken.
The team behind #walk15 advises that driving a kilometer creates 180 grams of CO2 and it would take five real trees to absorb and neutralize this amount. Instead, the app users are invited to swap driving for walking to keep CO2 levels down and keep their bodies moving. The math behind #walk15 proves to be an excellent reminder to be sustainable in small everyday actions.
This message resonates closely with the overarching mission of Language Inspired – to leave only good things in our wake. It also matches our healthy lifestyle-inclined team’s personality, so we were quick to respond to the one-month challenge of collecting 12 million steps – this being the distance to the summit of Mount Everest.
So we spent a whole month in a team-wide testing and trialing event for the #walk15 app – here's what we found.
The next-best walking community app?
The aspect the Language Inspired team unanimously found as the absolute best feature is the ease of using the app. There is no need to manually log anything as the app keeps track of your steps automatically, as long as you have your device with you. It connects to your health trackers, such as Google Fit, Apple Health, or Fitbit, and uses these systems to acquire information about your walking activity. We did learn that Huawei devices may currently have some compatibility and syncing issues with the #walk15 app and made sure to notify the creator team to further test and improve step tracking for smartphones of this make.
Continuing from the ease of use, we were in awe as we realized #walk15 counts every step you take, even as you simply move from one room to another in your home or whip up a backyard football match with your kids. Every single step is tracked and counted, and we couldn’t be happier with this reminder that you don’t have to go on long hikes for it to count as an activity. Thus the app is super friendly to all users including stay-at-home parents or the elderly who can’t necessarily walk long distances but perhaps would still like to keep track of their activity at home.
We also saw great potential for expanding into building local #walk15 communities. For example, while pop-up messages and suggested routes are currently focused mainly on options and users in Lithuania, we suggested that the feature of creating and submitting your own walking routes could be incentivized to invite community-based content (users constructing local routes). This would also motivate new users to sign up for the app, thus further supporting localized content with emotional attachment and a positive user experience.
Although we didn’t reach Mount Everest this time around, we had a memorable time being active users of our client’s product and can wholeheartedly recommend the #walk15 app as one of the most enjoyable step tracking tools and examples of interactive climate tech out there!
Final words
When working with content localization, you never know what exciting collaborations are just around the corner. Providing app localization for #walk15 was one of those adventures when passion meets purpose. This is why we love what we do – it's just not about finding the right words, but about making a change for the better.
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