TAPE 02 / 07SELECTED WORK
THE CREDITS
Frame.io Internationalization
Frame.io was English-only. As lead engineer and architect I designed the localization system, built the tooling and got the other teams building on it. It started as Japanese support and became how Frame.io handles every language.
EXPLORE THE PROJECT- BRAND
- Adobe / Frame.io
- INDUSTRY
- Film / FY2026
- MY ROLE
- Lead Engineer / Technical Architecture
- ENGINEERING
- ReactNext.jsTypeScriptFormatJSReact IntlAdobe JarvisSegment
- DESIGN
- Application ArchitectureInternationalizationDeveloper ToolingCross-Team Engineering Leadership
THE CHALLENGE
Language touches every layer. The choice has to persist, the server and the browser have to agree, and sign-in needs the locale before there is a user. The product kept shipping, so adoption had to happen one component at a time.
THE APPROACH
- Messages as code. Engineers write messages in TypeScript next to the component. A build step converts them to ICU MessageFormat and generates types, so a missing message fails to compile.
- Source to runtime. Extraction writes a locale file, using each message’s doc comment as the translator note. Adding a language means adding a file.
- Locale negotiation. URL, then cookies, then Accept-Language, then a default. The first render is already in the right language, and switching needs no reload.
- Translation. I connected extraction to Adobe’s translation pipeline. Segment events show how the localized product is used.
- Adoption. Documentation, a presentation to the engineering org and a phased rollout: new code first, then the busiest pages, then the rest.
THE OUTCOME
Frame.io is now available in Japanese, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Simplified Chinese, and new languages need no application changes. It also supported a licensing opportunity with Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo.