Duolingo
Onboarding flow for
A new chat feature
Project Overview
Problem:
Duolingo users often reach a level of language proficiency where it’s helpful to practice with other people. But no such resource exists in the app.
Solution:
Important Note: I do not work for Duolingo and all views expressed are my own.
Cross-functional partners:
Impact:
Response to the initial prototype suggests excitement around this offering, which would ideally extend users’ lifetime on the app overall.
My role:
- User Research
- UX Design
- UI Design
- Prototyping
- Product Thinking
TOOls:
- Figma
- Illustrator
An in-app chat feature that helps connect advanced language learners to practice through conversation.
Scope:
- Sign-up flow to join the chat feature
- Duo Connect Home Screen
- Duo Connect Profile Screen
How to Measure Success:
- % of Successful Sign-Ups
- % of Satisfied Language Partner Matches
- Time Spent on Chat Feature
Background
Duolingo is an U.S. language-learning website and mobile app. With over 9M daily learners, there's a big opportunity to keep them on the app after they've completed the lessons, especially because they're already habituated to the experience.
Personal Experience
The Brand
Living abroad in 3 different countries, conversation exchanges either in-person or through messaging helped me immensely in my language learning journey. My lived experience prompted the curiosity to explore this in Duolingo and was validated by research.
User + Market Research
We interviewed over 20 Duolingo users who’ve made it through at least 8 of the 14 learning levels within the app. We intentionally left out Duolingo learners who were less advanced, as they aren’t the target audience without the skills to converse.
Key findings:
01.
Current level
on duolingo
33% Advanced Users
66% Intermediate Users
02.
interest in
chat feature
18% Not Interested
82% Interested
03.
motivations for using a chat feature
Idiomatic Phrases
Real Life Practice
New Connections
Real Life Practice
Pronunciation
04.
Desired partner language level
24% Are content with native or non-native speakers
76% desire Native Speakers
Competition:
The competition has little to no educational common foundation that users must complete first.
- HelloTalk has a reputation for inappropriate messaging from users looking personal connections
- No education
- Primarily a Q&A app to receive quick takes from native speakers
- Doesn’t offer the ability for 1:1 conversational chats
- Does not offer translation feature, better on user privacy with a ratings and a block feature
- Tutoring is available.
Hypothesis Statement
- Increased lifetime use on product
- More opportunities for advertisement placements
- Greater brand affinity and loyalty
Potential for Business Impact:
If we tap into the existing, loyal Duolingo users and facilitate connection to allow them to converse with one another, their language skills will grow.
Picking the Entry Point
After spending days in the product making observations, I noticed a pattern of pop-ups that enticed the user to click on a "gift" after unlocking certain levels.
Wanting to make this new feature as seamless as possible we decided to go with a similar pop-up unlock screen shown to users once they passed the intermediate level to encourage them to sign up for the chat feature.
In-app branding & interaction observations:
In sub-brands like Duolingo Plus, they lean on more muted versions of brand colors. this is an important observation if the feature were to be built.
image 01
When winning a level, lots of illustrations are used to celebrate.
image 02
The app uses different unlocked gifts as rewards for achievments.
image 03
image 01
image 02
image 03
Sign-Up Flow
Low fidelity, Round one
In Round 01, I mapped out the content and graphic sections for the sign up flow to begin using the chat feature.
Revising the Flow + Micro Copy
Low fidelity, Round TWO
In Round 02, the UX writer added on-brand copy to the sections and we worked collaboratively to make an overall smoother flow.
A key screen change from Lo Fidelity Round 01 to Round 02 was the Home Screen for Duo Connect. We elimated a separate Profile info section and overlayed this copy on top of the Profile picture to save space on the screen.
Revising the Flow + Micro Copy
Low fidelity, Round TWO
In Round 02, the UX writer added on-brand copy to the sections and we worked collaboratively to make an overall smoother flow.
A key screen change from Lo Fidelity Round 01 to Round 02 was the Home Screen for Duo Connect. We elimated a separate Profile info section and overlayed this copy on top of the Profile picture to save space on the screen.
Finalizing Sign-Up Flow For Testing
high fidelity, round ONE
Once we had discussed all the nuances around navigation and decided on a flow, I finalized the designs.
User Testing
Key Findings:
- While initial research suggested folks were not highly concerned with privacy, 3 out of 6 users expressed hesitation around aspects of the profile, specifically the use of real photos for the profile picture and the user’s city. All 3 users identity as women and mentioned concerns about this feature being more akin to a dating app.
- Overall, the flow made sense and all 6 users interviewed made successfully arrived to the DuoConnect Home Screen and all expressed excitement around the concept of the feature.
Concerns about profile picture
Flow completion + Excitement
Implementing Feedback
high fidelity, round tHREE
replacement of profile pictures with on-brand characters
Removal of question related to location
Implementing Feedback
high fidelity, round tHREE
Looking to the Future
How We'd Measure Success:
- Do users find the suggested partners useful at the top fold of the Home screen?
- What percentage of users are finding successful partners through these suggestions?
- Is there any correlation between joining DuoConnect and continued or increased useage of regular Duolingo?
- What percentage of sign-ups are satisfied with the feature?
Design Changes for Advanced Users:
- Recent conversations at the top fold
- Less emphasis on suggested partners
- Potentially a new section of group chats
ADVANCED USER MOCK HOME SCREEN
Project Challenges:
I worked within the confines of a well documented and robust style guide to give this project a cohesive identity.
honoring existing brand styles:
exampleS from duolingo's branding guidelines
While this project focused primarily on the on-boarding flow for joining the chat feature, we also considered if this feature should have its own privacy policy for user safety.
LEGALITY AND PRIVACY:
In the first version, we asked for full user information, but later simplified it because the user's profile could offer that information.
CONTENT CROSS-OVER FROM MAIN DUOLINGO PROFILE
The flow was intended for new users of the chat feature, but as the project progressed we saw a need for different screens for an advanced chat user.
NEW VS. EXPERIENCED USERS
Reflections
01. The need for Collaboration
- Working with a UX Writer on this project really shaped the final product to ensure Duolingo’s strong brand voice was present across all screens.
02. Let Research be the guide
- Going into this project I did have a pretty specific vision of the feature, a 1:1 chatting app that could allow users to chat digitally or in-person. Through user testing this part was challenged my initial idea and showed me how crucial it is to do testing repeatedly.
03. Users matter in tandem with business goals
- This feature was constructed based from research and feedback that a 1:1 chat offering within the Duolingo ecosystem would be useful to language learning.