Switching Lanes with Zak Haitkin, PM of Localization at Lyft: How Transcreation&Translation Improves UX While Driving Business - a podcast by Presented by Smartling

Zak Haitkin runs the localization department for Lyft. This is no small task, considering the company offers car rides, scooters and bicycle-sharing on demand, and point-to-point transportation that leverages public transit options.

Lyft operates in 644 cities in the U.S. and 12 cities in Canada. Zak, with a degree in Spanish and International Studies, tells us how his passion for language landed him a job at one of the fastest-growing companies in North America. 

This episode unpacks the various localization challenges Lyft navigates with software, services and teamwork. Zak shares how transcreation and translation work to improve Lyft’s UX; and how Lyft’s utilization of Contentful (and Smartling’s integration with Contenful) make it so much easier to scale their content and keep up with the rapid feature release cycles.

To top it off, Zak also shares details about Lyft’s philanthropic endeavors, including their commitment to accessibility and community via their new initiative, LyftUp. This episode is 🔥🔥🔥

Let’s go!

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How Zak advanced the ladder at Lyft and benefitted from a valuable mentor.


• What the content experience at Lyft looks like and what the important touch points of their UX are. 


• How transcreation is shaped by services rolling out into new territories.


• The delicate dance between UX and transcreation regarding terminology in new languages.


• Exciting UX updates and news about their newest community project, LyftUp.


• The importance of revisiting translation memory and glossaries to limit potential future errors. 


• Challenges Zak navigates as Lyft’s app is translated and localized.

What to Listen For

[3:12] Zak explains how he combined his passion for language and sports in his first podcast series.

[4:11] How Zak got involved with Lyft and the history behind his journey.

[9:05] Who Zak learned under and how it shaped his career within the company.

[11:05] How Lyft curates its voice and user interface and experience. 

[14:45] The history of ride hail programs and how Lyft builds an experience for their users. 

[18:12] How “rideshare” causes language issues.

[20:07] The challenges of localization and risks Lyft faces in terms of user experience.

[23:18] Managing translation memory and the importance of translation memory management.  

[29:52] Accommodations for people who are visually impaired.

[32:57] The integration of Figma and the problems with inconsistencies of language translations within screenshots in the app.

[37:10] The localization of both the driver and user apps and how they launch changes.

[38:08] Supporting changes through quarantine and the shift of focus to new goals.

[41:15] Zak’s thoughts on how the MLB started up again and concerns with the model.

[44:08] Zak’s closing thoughts on linguistics, localization and creation.

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