What is Duolingo, and why is it such a successful language learning app? And can it be better? (Made on assignment for Designlab's UX Academy... Aicher Cohort, represent!)

1. A
Duolingo:
Language Learning, Simplified
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2. “The best new way to learn a language. Learning with Duolingo is fun and addictive.
Earn points for correct answers, race against the clock, and level up. Our bite-sized
lessons are effective, and we have proof that it works.”
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What is Duolingo?
Duolingo is an educational, language-learning app which describes itself as:

3. I myself have been a user of Duolingo’s phone app (and sometimes the web app) for 2 years
running. I’ve been using it to to learn German (because I’d like to live & work there some day),
to brush up on my native language (Russian), and to pick up a bit of knowledge on other
languages I think are interesting or fun to know.
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Why I chose to present Duolingo

4. Duolingo’s mission statement says, “Our ultimate goal is to give everyone access to a private tutor
experience through technology.” It seems, then, that Duolingo’s goal is to be accessible by a wide
range of users, breaking barriers of age, income, location (and language!) to access their audience.
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Who is duolingo for?

5. Duolingo is great for children and teens who want to learn a language on their own, or supplement
their language education in school. In fact, Duolingo has a separate platform (schools.duolingo.com) to
allow educational institutions to use Duolingo officially in the classroom. Duolingo offers certificates for
educators as well. Since the pandemic, they have expanded access to parents who are helping their
children learn from home.
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Who is duolingo for?
Duolingo is great for working professionals who want to improve their language skills; perhaps for a
new job abroad, to brush up on their conversational skills before an international conference, or to
better communicate with their coworkers in another country. Duolingo even offers an English Proficiency
Test (which is accepted by over 2,000 institutions world wide) for professionals and international
students who want to increase their opportunities by learning English.
Duolingo is just as awesome for the casual learner, regardless of age. Users may want to brush up on
their native tongue or re-connect with the language their ancestors spoke. They may want to pick up a
language before an international trip, or learn the language of their favorite foreign film to enhance
their appreciation. Duolingo scales to the needs of its user, whether they’re a casual or power learner.

6. The key to Duolingo’s accessibility is in its simplicity. Its simple, rounded-corner design is consistent
across its web and mobile products. Words - those building blocks of language - are given plenty
of breathing room whether the user is viewing the program on their phone, tablet or desktop. The
words themselves are pared down, too, giving only the most pertinent instructions so that users are
not overwhelmed by too much content at once. Even the illustrations are consistent throughout
each language course.
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How can duolingo serve such
This modular, clean design means Duolingo’s writers and educational developers can focus
purely on developing content for all 38 languages that Duolingo teaches.
A lesson viewed on the mobile app A lesson viewed on the desktop site
a wide range of users?

7. Duolingo currently has two lesson formats: its original lessons, each on a specific topic, which users can
“level up” and increase the difficulty on as they complete lessons, and the new stories feature in which
users read stories and are then asked questions to challenge their comprehension.
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How can duolingo serve such
Users can choose a lesson
a wide range of users?
(and see their current level)
A basic lesson; users are given options
to translate the sentence
Story mode challenges users with
with questions on comprehension

8. Again we see the simplicity and modularity of Duolingo’s design on display in each of these lesson
formats. The limited color palette, use of ample negative space, and concise written content make it
easy for users of all ages and language abilities to learn.
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How can duolingo serve such
a wide range of users?

9. Despite all the awesome features of Duolingo and its ability to reach a wide audience, the one
consistent complaint you’ll hear from its users is that it doesn’t get them 100% of the way to
actually speaking a new language.
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And yet, Room for improvement…
In their Reddit posts, these two users had this to say about Duolingo as not the final destination of their
language journey:
Note: In the Common European Framework of References for Languages system (abbreviated in English as CEFR),
the A1 and A2 levels are defined as “elementary” or beginner users. Employers abroad may require B or C level proficiency.

10. One of the challenges Duolingo gives its users in its original lesson style is the voice prompt, seen
below. Users are given a phrase to speak and must hold down the big blue microphone button to
record themselves speaking the phrase aloud.
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A proposal: use your voice, duo!
Duolingo could make the most of this capability by offering
a new lesson type specifically designed to give users a
chance to partake in a back-and-forth conversation.
Users would select from a list of topics to converse about
(perhaps with the ability to “level up” the topic and increase
difficulty over time.) This would launch a lesson where a
character would begin the discussion (“Hello! How are you
today?”)
Users would then activate the microphone tool to speak
aloud and record their response. Perhaps the first word or
two of several suggested phrases would appear underneath
the microphone (“Hi, I am…” or “Hello, I feel…”) to give
users a starting point.
The character would have a pre-scripted response that
would push the conversation along, challenging the user to
recall phrases they’ve learned in other lesson formats.

11. Despite its challenges, Duolingo is a wildly successful app in
a competitive field.
With over 30 million daily users and over 200 employees,
the Pittsburg, PA based startup recently achieved the coveted
“unicorn status” by raising $30 million during a round of
funding in 2019.
Go Duo! Sehr gut!
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Thank you for viewing!