Working in Babel: Stories of Multilingualism in Software Development

A presentation at TSQA Meetup in May 2020 in 95 Goodwin St, East Hartford, CT 06108, USA by Areti Panou

@unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC Introduction to “User Story Mapping” by Jeff Patton 2

αστέρι star @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC Stern Introduction to “User Story Mapping” by Jeff Patton 3

Greece Spain Germany Hallo??? Hi! Γειά! 1979 - 2005 Γειά! Hi! ¡Hola! 2005 - 2009 Γειά! ¡Hola! 2009 - 2020 @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 4

Learning Resources Helping Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 5

Learning Resources Helping Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 6

Hubble Telescope Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the Untied States of America Hubble Law Edwin Hubble “…describes the effect by which objects in an expanding Universe move away from each other with a velocity proportionally related to their distance. “ @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 8

Hubble Telescope Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the Untied States of America Hubble-Lemaître Law Edwin Hubble “…describes the effect by which objects in an expanding Universe move away from each other with a velocity proportionally related to their distance. “ Annales de la Société Scientifique de Bruxelles @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC Georges Lemaître 10

Blogs Conferences Books Learning Resources Social Media @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC Podcasts Code 11

Learning Resources Helping Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 13

Understanding your users’ problems @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 14

Understanding your users’ problems without talking to them @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 15

Understanding your users’ problems without offending them @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 16

Understanding your users’ problems without understanding the environment they work in @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 17

Learning Resources Helping Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 18

Empathy vs Εμπάθεια @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 19

Empathy vs Εμπάθεια @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 20

Can’t wait to see them in Jenkins I love code review as well! I really like unit tests!!!!

Can’t wait to see ??? Jenkins ??? code review as well! I ??? unit tests!!!! ????

I’ll switch off Jenkins Let’s get rid of code reviews as well! Let’s stop writing unit tests!!!! ?!!#?!

Who chose to talk to me Who I chose to talk to @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 24

Learning Resources Check with your network for material in multiple languages Helping Users Start with small to better understand the language of the context Work Relations Be mindful of people’s reactions when a new language is involved @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 25

Would we better off in a 1 language environment? Communication would be easier Less drilling down to detail Common ground More diverse knowledge Saved ourselves from discomfort More thoughtful @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 26

Would we better off in a 1 language environment? We would be different Communication would be easier Less drilling down to detail Common ground More diverse knowledge Saved ourselves from discomfort More thoughtful @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 27

Thank you. Contact information: Areti Panou Product Owner – Internal Program Management Tools @unremarkableQA unremarkabletester.com

References • Introduction to “User Story Mapping” by Jeff Patton • Edwin Hubble – Wikipedia • Georges Lemaître – Wikipedia • iau1812 — Press Release @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 29

Pictures attribution • Cover slide • Slide 6 • Slide 11d • Slide 2 • Slide 7a • Slide 11e • Slide 4a • Slide 7b • Slide 18 (internal link) • Slide 4b • Slide 7c • Slide 25 • Slide 4c • Slide 10 • Pictograms by SAP Branding • Slide 5a (internal link) • Slide 11a • Slide 5b (internal link) • Slide 11b • Slide 5c • Slide 11c @unremarkableQA © 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. ǀ PUBLIC 30

Areti Panou
@unremarkableqa

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We often hear that different roles in a development team speak “different languages” meaning that they have diverse understandings of a situation. But what happens when they literally speak different languages?

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Here’s what was said about this presentation on social media.

.@unremarkableQA's talk is so helpful to me. My company's official language is English, that is helpful to me, but I wonder how many gaps we are all filling in ourselves because someone translates a word wrong or just doesn't speak up because they don't know the English word.
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
Y’all do not sleep on @unremarkableQA. She’s doing an incredibly powerful talk on multilingualism in software development for @TISQA_RTP. I can’t believe all the things I didn’t realize. If you have a d&i track, GET HER TALK.
— Jenny Bramble (@jennydoesthings) May 21, 2020
Listening to the @TISQA_RTP meetup today to listen to @unremarkableQA share the presentation “Working in Babel: Stories of Multilingualism in Software Development” https://t.co/y38MuJVHqd pic.twitter.com/ao1u2iyPfP
— Mike Lyles (@mikelyles) May 21, 2020
.@unremarkableQA has a topic I haven't heard in a talk before - working in a multi-lingual environment. She's the perfect person to talk about this - she's lived in three countries and I've lost track of how many languages she speaks fluently! @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
.@TISQA_RTP is so awesome. Finding all these wonderful speakers and letting us all share! Wonderful conversation following @unremarkableQA's talk.
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
Is it better to have a one-language environment? Here are potential advantages, but there are advantages in a multi-lingual environment. People may step up to help, forge relationships. @unremarkableQA @TISQA_RTP pic.twitter.com/N04Vmvd1Hn
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
It's natural to gravitate to people who speak your language well. People who don't speak your language well may avoid you, they don't feel comfortable. A bias in both directions about who we want to talk to. Are we comfortable meeting with each other? @unremarkableQA @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
It can be hard for a non-native speaker to pick up ALL the words in conversations - you might fill in the gaps with the worst-case scenario. A lot of fear of the unknown. Can be disheartening to miss so much context in the office. @unremarkableQA @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
We should show empathy to our users - what does this really mean? Caring, compassion. The similar word in @unremarkableQA's native language meant something totally different! Translation can be misleading. We have to work hard for a shared understanding. @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
It's also important to understand the user's environment. As her German skills improved, @unremarkableQA was able to get a deeper understanding. @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
Building trust with customers is important, building personal relationships helps people open up about problems. Lack of language skills can hold you back. Talking to people face to face helps communication. @unremarkableQA @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
It helped @unremarkableQA when her teammates put a lot of detail into bug tickets to help her get context and understand users. As she got more fluent in German, she understood customer problems better. @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
We need to understand our users' problems. How do you talk to your users if you aren't fluent in their language? @unremarkableQA shares how she got user input when she moved to Germany and didn't yet speak German well. Second-hand info isn't the best. @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
If you have a coworker whose first language isn't English, ask them what their learning sources are. Google in their language and see what comes up. @unremarkableQA @TISQA_RTP (great way to get empathy for them)
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020
Most learning resources are in English. How do people learn to do our job better if their English isn't that great? Language plays a major role in our ability to improve in our careers. @unremarkableQA @TISQA_RTP
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) May 21, 2020

Working in Babel: Stories of Multilingualism in Software Development

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