Pinterest

Improving global engagement by removing language barriers

overview

My Role: Product Designer, Growth‍

Collaborators: 1 Product Manager, 1 Content Designer, 2 Engineers, 1 Senior Product Designer (Cross-surface alignment)

Timeline: ~2 months (2023) | Status: Shipped 2024

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Impact

Introduced a translation feature for Rich Pins (product, recipe, and article Pins), improving accessibility for international Pinners and supporting Pinterest's broader goals around global engagement and monetization.

The hypothesis

International users were disengaged from high-intent content due to language barriers

We believed that when key details within Rich Pins weren't immediately understandable, users were more likely to remove content from their feed. By introducing a clear translation experience within Pin close-ups, engagement with global content would increase.

The problem

Rich Pins were displayed only in English for international users

Even when a user's device or app language differed, key details such as product information or ingredients were shown in English only. As a result, users frequently hid these Pins from their feed, directly impacting saves, clicks, and conversion.

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Key contributions

Scope & ownership

I designed the translation experience within Pin close-up views, owning how they were presented across Pin types. I partnered closely with product, engineering, and content design, while aligning with another Product Designer to ensure the experience felt cohesive across related surfaces.

‍Key contributions included:

• Defining a translation entry-point model across article, product, and recipe Pins, informed by layout constraints and reduced engagement for content requiring additional scrolling.
• Shaping the translation copy strategy in partnership with the Content Designer, evaluating dynamic, pin-level and section-level approaches before landing on a scalable pattern.
• Designing translation states and feedback patterns to address machine-learning latency and failure scenarios while maintaining user trust.
• Driving alignment with a parallel translations initiative in Pin comments to ensure consistency in interaction patterns, visual treatment, and copy.
• Collaborating with product and engineering to shape scope, validate feasibility, and land on the final solution.
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📝 Note: This is a high-level overview of my role and impact. I'm happy to discuss additional details in conversation.