Duolingo is a language-learning platform that offers personalized lessons in over 37 different languages. Its language learners can track their progress, earn rewards, and practice reading, writing, speaking, listening and conversation with intelligent chat bots.

I developed feature enhancements for Duolingo based on what I know about language learning. Being able to hold a conversation in the language you are learning is vital, but Duolingo’s current features lack a way to practice a back and forth conversation outside of the voice recording feature that is assessed using AI. Leveraging community is a possible way to help users improve their conversational skills. 

First, a C&C analysis was done for Duolingo’s competitors:

With so many options, what sets Duolingo apart? Based on this feature analysis, it might feel like not much. Babbel even has the ability to video chat with experts.

By and large, Duolingo’s brand and experience are what set it apart from the competitors. Finding current or past Duolingo users to interview was not a difficult task. 

So, how were Duolingo’s reputation and current features leveraged to help users master fluency–and at the same time possibly even create a new stream of income for the company as well? 

The five users were asked general questions about their experiences learning languages and using the Duolingo app. 

All had taken some sort of formal language education outside of the app and used the app to prepare for a trip. 

All said they would use some sort of feature where they are able to chat one-on-one with an expert.

Then the question became: who is this feature being built for? Is there one single kind of Duolingo user who will benefit from video chatting with language experts?

Two personas were created to best capture the needs of users. My research showed that some users are casual users–they are on the app to practice for fun. Others are on the app to prepare for a trip or are on a deadline.

The research was then summarized into a problem statement. I created this graphic to show our problem statement and “how might we’s”:

An afternoon was spent completing a design studio. After iterating, the key features for the final product became clear.

When users arrived at the profile page, they easily found the expert sessions button but wanted to know more. They thought it should be more detailed and prominent and wondered if they could also purchase a pack from here.

The mid-fi prototype focused on 3 main tasks for the user. How would they look for experts and book a session? How would they navigate to the shop page to find the session packs? Finally, how would they look for their calendar?

While the users all eventually succeeded at finding the expert session option and booked in an expected amount of time, 3 out 4 failed at finding the shop page on Duolingo to purchase a pack of expert sessions. 

Here was some of the feedback from the usability testing:

Based on this feedback, some takeaways and possible updates were discovered:

A final hi-fi protoype was then created. Here is a walkthrough of the prototype:

Looking ahead, it is important to consider what the users' needs are as well as how to leverage the capabilities Duolingo already has. Some possible questions for future iterations would be:

How might Duolingo’s AI be leveraged to help users plan out their language learning and reach their goal?

How can the new expert feature be made accessible and profitable?

How might the community be leveraged for the users in tandem with the expert sessions?

The possibilities are endless with Duolingo as are the UX applications.

Summary: I added a new feature to Duolingo that allows users to chat one-on-one with experts.