translation-reframing-audience-shift

What this skill does

# Translation, Reframing & Audience Shift

## Workflow

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

```
Translation & Reframing Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Analyze source and target audiences
- [ ] Step 2: Identify translation type and constraints
- [ ] Step 3: Apply translation strategy
- [ ] Step 4: Validate fidelity and appropriateness
- [ ] Step 5: Refine and deliver
```

**Step 1: Analyze source and target audiences**

Characterize both audiences using [Audience Analysis](#audience-analysis) framework (expertise, goals, context, constraints). Identify gap between source and target.

**Step 2: Identify translation type and constraints**

Classify as: technical↔business, strategic↔tactical, expert↔novice, formal↔informal, long↔short, internal↔external, or cross-cultural. See [Common Translation Types](#common-translation-types) for patterns.

**Step 3: Apply translation strategy**

For simple cases → Use [resources/template.md](resources/template.md) for structured translation. For complex cases (multiple audiences, high stakes, nuanced reframing) → Study [resources/methodology.md](resources/methodology.md) for advanced techniques.

**Step 4: Validate fidelity and appropriateness**

Self-assess using [resources/evaluators/rubric_translation_reframing_audience_shift.json](resources/evaluators/rubric_translation_reframing_audience_shift.json). Check: semantic accuracy preserved? tone appropriate? emphasis aligned with audience priorities? See [Validation](#validation) section.

**Step 5: Refine and deliver**

Create `translation-reframing-audience-shift.md` with source, target audience, translated content, and translation rationale. See [Delivery Format](#delivery-format).

---

## Audience Analysis

Before translating, characterize source and target:

**1. Expertise Level**
- **Expert**: Domain fluent, comfortable with jargon, wants depth and nuance
- **Intermediate**: Familiar with basics, needs some context, appreciates balance
- **Novice**: No background assumed, needs analogies and plain language, wants practical takeaways

**2. Primary Goals**
- **Decision-makers**: Want options, trade-offs, recommendations, risks, timelines
- **Implementers**: Want specifics, how-to, constraints, success criteria
- **Learners**: Want understanding, context, mental models, examples
- **Stakeholders**: Want impact, status, next steps, how it affects them

**3. Context & Constraints**
- **Time**: Busy executives (1-page), deep dives (comprehensive), quick updates (bullets)
- **Medium**: Email (skimmable), presentation (visual + verbal), document (reference)
- **Familiarity**: Internal (shared context) vs. external (assume nothing)
- **Sensitivity**: Public (carefully worded) vs. private (candid)

**4. Cultural/Demographic**
- **Language**: Native vs. non-native speakers (idiomatic vs. literal)
- **Generation**: Communication norms (emoji use, formality expectations)
- **Industry**: Tech vs. traditional (pacing, references, assumptions)
- **Geography**: US vs. international (date formats, measurement units, cultural references)

**Mapping exercise:** Source audience is [expertise/goals/context] → Target audience is [expertise/goals/context] → Gap requires [translation strategy].

---

## Common Translation Types

### Technical ↔ Business

**Technical → Business:**
- **Remove**: Implementation details, jargon, code, algorithms
- **Add**: Business value, customer impact, cost/benefit, competitive advantage
- **Shift emphasis**: How it works → Why it matters, Metrics → Outcomes
- **Example**: "Reduced p95 latency from 450ms to 120ms via query optimization" → "Pages load 3x faster, improving customer satisfaction and conversion"

**Business → Technical:**
- **Remove**: Marketing language, vague goals, buzzwords
- **Add**: Requirements, constraints, acceptance criteria, technical implications
- **Shift emphasis**: Vision → Implementation details, Outcomes → Metrics
- **Example**: "Delight customers with seamless experience" → "Reduce checkout flow to 2 steps, target 95% completion rate, maintain PCI compliance"

### Strategic ↔ Tactical

**Strategic → Tactical:**
- **Remove**: High-level vision, market trends, abstract goals
- **Add**: Specific actions, timelines, owners, dependencies, success metrics
- **Shift emphasis**: Why → What and how, 3-year vision → This quarter's plan
- **Example**: "Become data-driven organization" → "Q1: Instrument 10 key user flows. Q2: Train PMs on analytics. Q3: Establish weekly metrics review."

**Tactical → Strategic:**
- **Remove**: Granular tasks, individual tickets, daily activities
- **Add**: Themes, rationale, business alignment, cumulative impact
- **Shift emphasis**: Individual work → Portfolio narrative, Tasks → Outcomes
- **Example**: "Fixed 47 bugs, added 12 features, refactored auth" → "Improved product stability and security foundation to support enterprise customers"

### Expert ↔ Novice

**Expert → Novice:**
- **Remove**: Jargon, assumptions of prior knowledge, complex terminology
- **Add**: Analogies, definitions, examples, "why this matters"
- **Shift emphasis**: Nuance → Core concepts, Edge cases → Happy path
- **Example (Medical)**: "Idiopathic hypertension, prescribe ACE inhibitor, monitor renal function" → "High blood pressure without clear cause. Medication helps blood vessels relax. Regular kidney checks needed."

**Novice → Expert:**
- **Remove**: Over-explanations, analogies, hand-holding
- **Add**: Precision, technical terms, caveats, edge cases
- **Shift emphasis**: Simplified model → Accurate complexity
- **Example**: "Make the button easier to click" → "Increase touch target to 44×44pt per iOS HIG, add 8pt padding, ensure 3:1 contrast ratio"

### Formal ↔ Informal

**Formal → Informal:**
- **Tone**: Third person → First person, Passive → Active, Complex → Simple
- **Structure**: Rigid sections → Conversational flow, Citations → Casual mentions
- **Language**: "Furthermore, it is evident" → "Also, you can see"
- **Example**: "The organization has determined that remote work arrangements shall be permitted" → "We're allowing remote work"

**Informal → Formal:**
- **Tone**: Contractions → Full words ("we're" → "we are"), Casual → Professional
- **Structure**: Loose → Structured sections with clear headers
- **Language**: "Stuff's broken" → "System experiencing degradation"
- **Example**: "Just shipped this cool feature!" → "Released enhanced functionality for improved user experience"

### Long-form ↔ Summary

**Long → Summary:**
- **Structure**: Inverted pyramid (most important first), bullet points, highlight key decisions/actions
- **Remove**: Supporting details, full context, exhaustive examples
- **Preserve**: Core findings, recommendations, next steps, critical caveats
- **Ratios**: 50 pages → 1 page (50:1), 1 hour → 5 min (12:1), Comprehensive → Highlights

**Summary → Long-form:**
- **Add**: Context, methodology, supporting evidence, alternative perspectives
- **Structure**: Introduction → Body → Conclusion, Multiple sections with subheadings
- **Preserve**: Original key points as outline, Expand each with detail

---

## Validation

Before finalizing, check:

**Semantic Fidelity (highest priority):**
- [ ] Core facts accurate? (No distortions or omissions that change meaning)
- [ ] Relationships preserved? (Cause-effect, dependencies, constraints intact)
- [ ] Caveats included? (Limitations, uncertainties, edge cases mentioned when relevant)
- [ ] Implications correct? (What this means for audience is accurate)
- [ ] Verifiable? (Expert in source domain would confirm translation is accurate)

**Audience Appropriateness:**
- [ ] Expertise match? (Not too technical or too dumbed-down for target)
- [ ] Jargon level right? (Explained when needed, used when understood)
- [ ] Goals addressed? (Decision-makers get options, implementers get how-to, learners get why)
- [ ] Tone appropriate? (Formality, emotion, register match audience expectations)
- [ ] Length appropriate? (Respects audience time constraints)