Duolingo
Messaging

Background

Duolingo is currently the most popular language-learning website and mobile app in the world with more than 500 million users. Launched in 2011, Duolingo took the world by a storm by offering free, accessible and personalized language education. With so many users today, Duolingo can utilize their analytic data to create an excellent and effective system. Their ultimate goal is to give everyone accessible education and their mission is to make learning fun and keeping users motivated.

Problem

According to user interviews, Duolingo’s simple game-style learning system becomes repetitive over the course of time. As a growing company, Duolingo would like to integrate new features using creative and innovative solutions while staying true to their simplicity motto.

Challenge

Research and discover the wants and needs of language learning users. Use the preexisiting design system and design a new feature based on research and feedback that helps keep Duolingo users engaged in the app.

Project

Mobile App Feature

Role

UX/UI Designer

Duration

100+ Hours

Tools

Figma, Maze.co
View Prototype

Research

Market Research
Competitive Analysis
Usability Tests
User Empathy

Design

Task Flow
Sketches
Wireframes
Prototypes

Testing

Usability Tests
Affinity Map
Iterate
‍

Research

Competitive Analysis

Market research on direct competitors reveal different learning strategies among popular apps.

What differentiates Duolingo the free price tag along with the most languages offered. Duolingo is accessible to everyone.

Duolingo’s weakness stems from the repetitive and one-noted learning system. Users yearn for more interactive learning.

Research

Usability Test

Data on user wants, needs, and pain points were gathered through observing testers using the app and then following up with interviews to better understand the users’ thoughts and process while using Duolingo. After gaining some insight on the usabilty, I discovered several feature ideas that can help in resolving their user experience problems.

Patterns

  • 100% of users like Duolingo due to simplicity of the design and the price (free).
  • 100% of users found Duolingo to be effective.
  • 80% of users used Duolingo daily.
  • 80% of users are not currently using the app, but will return in the future.
  • 60% of users chose to learn a new language as means to increase personal knowledge.
  • 40% of users chose to learn a new language to gain to cultural knowledge and awareness.
  • 40% of users found all exercises enjoyable.
  • 40% of users found hearing pronunciation helpful.
  • 40% of users think everyday conversing context such as conversations with native speakers will be helpful.

Pain Points

  • 80 % of users did not explore the Duolingo app outside of daily lessons.
  • 80 % of users are not currently using the app.
  • 80 % of users stopped using Duolingo due to lack of time or interest.
  • 40% of users did not enjoy waiting through ads.
  • 40 % of users did not like how many screens each lesson made them click through.
  • 80 % of users  did not particularly like the speaking/ voice recognition exercises.
  • 40% of users found all exercises enjoyable.
  • 80 % of users wished concepts were better explained and often felt things were out of context.

Research

Affinity Map

Based on user interview data, Duolingo appears to be a very usable app in the beginning of it’s usage. Users frequented the app daily and found the learning to be effective.

The struggles come from too many pages of ads on the free version, as well as losing interest over time with repetitive learning.

Research

Priority Matrix

Viable changes and features that can help improve or prolong the app’s usable lifespan include:
  • Real-life conversation
  • Less formal context
  • Varied types of learning
  • Back button to review wrong answers
  • Translation dictionary

Key Takeaways

Duolingo seems to be the most popular option of language apps due it’s free price tag. Users tend to gradually stop using Duolingo after extended amount of time; reasons being lack of interest, motivation, and repetition of gamified lessons. Suggested features that could help boost interaction and engagement include natural conversation context, tools such as translation dictionaries, and overall varied types of learning.

Empathy

User Persona

Natalia Westfield is a representation of our primary user. Her goals, needs, pain points and concerns are based on those from our first usability test data.

Emphathizing with Natalia helped create focus around designing solutions specifically to solve her pain points and concerns.

Empathy

Empathy Map

Viable changes and features that can help improve or prolong the app’s usable lifespan include:
  • Real-life conversation
  • Less formal context
  • Varied types of learning
  • Back button to review wrong answers
  • Translation dictionary

Design

Task Flow

This direct task flow indicates exactly which screens are necessary for the minimum viable product in this new feature design. Pages such as the home page, messages tab, and the several chat option screens that follow are exactly what is needed to be able to perform our two prototyping tasks. The screens needed are in relation to the “new message” function as well as the “chat with existing friend” function listed below.

Design

Low-Fidelity Wireframes (Sketches)

With their pre-established branding identity, low fidelity wireframes of the new messaging feature were sketched out on paper. Sketching on paper was much quicker than recreating full wireframes in this case since the style is known and the stakeholders have an idea of what it will look like based on branding.

Design

High-Fidelity Prototype

Using the design system already available on Duolingo’s website, the high-fidelity prototype of the messaging feature comes to life based on positive feedback on the flow of the wireframe designs. The key to keeping this new feature user friendly was utilizing Duolingo’s onboarding system featuring their mascot Duo who gives detailed instructions on what to do during each step.
View Prototype

Testing

Usability Tests

Test Goals:

  • To verify ease of navigation
  • To verify ease of achieving the new feature’s onboarding tasks
  • Record pain points

Testers:

  • 8 testers on maze.co
  • Remote testing
Based on user interview data, Duolingo appears to be a very usable app in the beginning of it’s usage. Users frequented the app daily and found the learning to be effective.

The struggles come from too many pages of ads on the free version, as well as losing interest over time with repetitive learning.

Findings

  • 87% of users like the new feature.
  • 75% of users thought the task of creating a new chat was easy or fairly easy.
  • 72% of users thought the task of checking messages and sending a message with the keyboard was easy or fairly easy.
  • 29% of users thought the task of checking messages and sending a message with the keyboard was average.
  • 25% of users thought the task of creating a new chat was average.
  • 50% of users were unsure of the “New Chat” icon in the top right corner.
  • 50% of users struggled with the prototype due to errors in the prototype path on maze.
  • 50% of users noted enjoyment using the tap and hold translation feature.

Testing

Affinity Map

This new affinity map very clearly shows what fixes users desired. In this case, there was almost a unanimous comment on the “create chat” button to be redesigned or moved to bring more clarity.

Another unforeseen struggle came from the prototype flow, which was due to a mix up on maze.co which caused confusion on which page the task ended at.

Testing

Iterations

Based on user feedback, the “create chat” button was redesigned to better guide the user in completing the task.

In the next stages of usability testing, changes will also be made to the prototype flow in order to reflect tester complaints as well.

Instead of ending task #2 after returning to “messages page” the task will end immediately after completing the task of sending a message.

Key Takeaways

Next Steps:

While I started this project with the messaging feature in mind, I had to conduct user testing and gather data on what aspects of the app Duolingo users actually wanted to help keep them engaged. Organizing the of data from users was definitely a new challenge since the user feedback was often very varied. Since the brand and identity was already established, this project allowed me to focused on the UX aspects of design. This project was very research heavy so I learned a lot about how to conduct user interviews and usability tests. for future projects, I will try to guide the research by coming up with questions geared more toward the project goals.
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