Learn the Lingo
A gamified language-typing app that helps learners build vocabulary through fast, repeatable practice.
Confidential portfolio material. Shared for evaluation only. Not for reuse, distribution, or implementation without permission.
- Role: Product Designer
- Timeline: Oct 2024 - Aug 2025 (10 months)
- Team Size: 1
- Business Model: EdTech
- Tools: Figma, SwiftUI, Maze
- Purpose: Design a language-learning app that feels fun and engaging, rather than repetitive or academic.
Achievments so far:
- Conducted 30 surveys and 5 interviews to identify motivation drop-off patterns in language-learning apps.
- Identified motivation loss during repetition loops as the primary barrier to sustained learning.
- Introduced pixel-art reward animations to make repetition loops feel progress-driven instead of mechanical.
- Live-tested a typing-based learning prototype and adjusted pacing and feedback timing to improve session completion.
Overview: Most language apps feel like homework. Learn the Lingo turns vocabulary practice into a fast-paced typing experience — meeting learners where they already enjoy practicing.
Step 1: Defining a problem
Research and Market Trends
User Persona:
Name: Maya Chen
Age: 24
User Type: Multilingual learner with a short-term goal
Goal: Improve language skills through quick, engaging practice sessions during commutes or short breaks.
Motivation: Visible progress, fast feedback, streaks, and light competition.
Pain Points: Loses interest when apps feel repetitive, cluttered, or slow.
Needs: Short sessions, distraction-free UI, measurable progress, and gamified repetition.
Quote: “I want practice to feel quick, fun, and like I’m improving every time.”
Current Market:
- Duolingo → 130M monthly users: Duolingo’s scale suggests broad demand for accessible, gamified language learning.
- MonkeyType → 30M monthly users: strong demand for fast-paced skill training
Current iPhone typing app
User Survey:
Methodology: I surveyed 30 multilingual learners (ages 14–75, from students to immigrants) to explore what motivates sustained engagement in mobile language tools.
Engagement Drops Fast
- Insight 1: Engagement in games drops quickly users lose interest once novelty fades.
- Insight 2: Cluttered UI + pop-ups → frustration & abandonment
Motivation
- Insight 3: Most start learning for short-term goals (travel, job requirement)
- Insight 4: 70% enjoy light competition, leaderboards, or friendly rivalry
Concept Validation
- Insight 5: Progress tracking “feels abstract” and doesn’t create emotional reward
- Insight 6: Users switch between desktop at work and mobile during commutes
- Insight 7: Gamified repetition (MonkeyType style) feels satisfying and measurable
User Needs:
- Repetition to feel engaging instead of mechanical
- Progress to feel visible and immediate
- Learning sessions that fit short time windows
- Light competition to stay consistent
- Distraction-free interfaces to stay in flow
Synthesis: There is high demand and strong expectations for mobile learning tools, yet the market for gamified language learning is limited and dominated by only a few major players. This creates a clear opportunity for a focused, fast-paced, engagement-driven learning experience.
Step 2: Designing a concept
Core Challenge
Based on the findings, I reframed the design challenge:
- How might we make language learning as rewarding and measurable as leveling up in a game, something users return to for both the fun and the progress?
Using a typing test tool is practical, convenient, and aligns with user habits. This direction also connected to my personal experience using MonkeyType to strengthen my French and Spanish vocabulary through consistent, gamified repetition.
Step 3: Modification from the user research
Finding → Response
User research session with prototype walkthrough
- Finding: Users lose interest quickly in mobile games.
Design Response: Retro visuals + simple flows that feel energizing, not overwhelming. - Finding: Gamification in Duolingo was motivating.
Design Response: Integrated progress tracking, rewards, and playful elements. - Finding: Many struggle to find effective language learning tools.
Design Response: Clear value upfront and easy-to-understand purpose. - Finding: Progress feels abstract and unrewarding.
Design Response: Show concrete stats – WPM, accuracy, new words mastered – after each session. - Finding: Users enjoy light competition.
Design Response: multiplayer mode
Step 4: Incorporating competition and gaming
Pixel art gaming
I used Figma to design a prototype based on all my findings through research and intial ideation. The first prototype was incomplete but it clearly demonstrated what I want to do, make learning fun.
Step 5: Mapping the User Journey
Task Flow
The user flow prioritizes:
- Immediate clarity → Choose a mode → Choose a language → Start typing
- Minimal friction → Reduced upfront decisions, clean screens
- Reward loops → Stats and unlock animations after every session
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Step 6: Prototype testing and improvement
Interactive Prototype Testing
5 interviews, 5 iterations.
Design evolved through user insight. Early prototypes were functional but felt “too plain.”Testing revealed users wanted energy and personality, not just clarity. I merged retro pixel visuals with modern UI simplicity to create a nostalgic yet fresh experience. Playful details like the red balloon and night-city backdrop turned the test into a game world that motivates learning.
Design evolution
- Added pixel-art retro styling mixed with clean, modern UI
- Removed monsters and level up system in place for multiplayer and casual solo mode
- Introduced night-city backgrounds, floating red balloons, and soft animations
- Built a visual world where “practice” feels like starting a game, not fulfilling a task
Users described the new concept as:
- “It looks like a great concept”
- “I would definitely play this type of game.”
- “I love how the design is simple but also very busy with fun art.”
- “I'm surprised there is no similar game on iPhone already.”
Step 7: Testing shaped a series of deliberate design tradeoffs
Tradeoffs
- Pixel-art aesthetic vs. clean minimal
Early prototypes tested as "clear but boring." The retro aesthetic was a deliberate risk — one that paid off by creating an emotional reaction and a sense of world that keeps users coming back. - Multiplayer focus vs. solo progression
A monster-battle system confused users about whether they were competing or progressing alone. Splitting into a clean solo mode and multiplayer mode made each mode's value immediately obvious. - Typing based loop vs. spaced repetition
Spaced repetition optimises for memory; I optimised for motivation. Users who drop off in week two never reach the long-term benefits of a rigorous system anyway. Engagement first, retention second.
Step 8
Final Design Testing
Evaluate
- How intuitive the navigation and game setup feels
- Whether gamified typing increases motivation
- If users understand the value before creating an account
Method:
- 5 moderated sessions, screen-share format
- Users completed 3 scenario-based tasks:
Results:
- ✓ 100% task success
- ✓ Users immediately understood the game loop
- ✓ Retro visuals significantly increased excitement
- ✓ All 5 participants said they would use this instead of their current tool
Key Feedback Themes
- “Feels incredibly responsive.”
- “Love the stats after each session.”
- “Leaderboards make it more fun than regular typing apps.”
- “The visuals make me want to come back.”
Step 10 - Using Figma
Designing and prototyping in Figma
Because the app was designed exclusively for mobile, I treated Figma as a production tool rather than a sketching space prioritizing component reuse, spacing consistency, and interaction clarity across every state.
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