Fluently
A language learning platform that empowers users to connect with language learning partners or mentors, fostering immersive learning experiences for a more engaging journey towards fluency.
Background
In today’s day and age, people that want to learn a new language can turn to an app as it’s one of the most flexible, affordable and versatile ways to learn. However, learning a new language requires a high level of commitment and time. Studies show that people can feel overwhelmed when they are learning something new, but if information is provided in “bite-sized chunks” of info, this can lead to better results and help people retain more information as they progress.
For the purpose of this design, we aimed to identify ways to help new language learners stay motivated and feel supported while learning a new language, along with identifying key features that would assist them in their journey of doing so.
Role
UX Designer
UX Researcher
UI Designer
Branding
Graphic Design
Project TypeEnd-to-end app
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Optimal Workshop
Whimsical
1 / Research
As the end-to-end UX Designer, I began my research by reaching out to individuals who were interested in learning a language, or have tried learning a new language before. I wanted to gather more info on how people got their start into learning a new language.
I wanted to understand how and why new language learners fell off their language learning journey and had trouble staying committed to learning.
What is the problem?
- People have trouble maintaining consistency, commitment and motivation while learning a new language.
User Goals
- Stay motivated while learning a new language.
- Ability to measure progress while learning.
- Connect with peers, native speakers or a mentor for enhanced immersion.
Business Goals
- Prolong user retention and engagement.
- Increase user acquisition.
- Partner with educational institutes, language courses or businesses to promote language learning and subscriptions.
What is our research goal?
- To understand the specific needs, expectations and pain points of people that begin to learn a new language
- To identify the current challenges a person is facing as they are learning a language, and the support they require
User Interviews
I conducted interviews with 5 people, and focused on their experiences with:
- learning a new language
- what issues or frustrations they faced while doing so
- why they fell off, or stopped learning a language
Affinity Mapping
I wanted to gain more insight from our user interviews and connect the dots on the pain points that they were seeing, as well as identify any common patterns and insights.
Key Insights
- All participants tried learning a new language on their own means.
- All participants noted that maintaining consistency was one of their biggest concerns.
- Participants said their goal would be to hold some basic level of conversation with others, and understand key phrases / words.
- All participants wanted to be able to practice with a native speaker or mentor.
- All participants noted that having a way to track their progress would help them feel more motivated to continue learning.
Competitive Analysis
Next, I conducted competitive analysis to analyze what was currently on the market, to discover the strengths of the top language learning apps, and where they fell short. I found that while many of them had intuitive features and clean UI, none of them seemed to address the pain points that language learners desired for, which was to be paired with a native speaker or mentor.
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Key Insights
- All apps had some form of structured learning lessons and exercises.
- All apps had progress tracking for studying.
- All apps had, to varying degrees, a form or feature for social engagement.
- All apps had a free basic version for use.
POV / HMW Statements
Now that I was able to identify key insights from the user interviews and affinity mapping, I was able to zone in and focus on POV (point of view) and HMW (how might we) statements to better empathize with the user's frustrations and identify a common goal to focus on.
I'd like to explore ways to...
- help those learning a new language feel more supported and have proper guidance because many new language learners desire engagement and hearing feedback from others.
- help new language learners achieve a stronger feeling of progression, as they can have trouble defining clear milestones and assessing their own language proficiency, which can hinder their ability to measure their own progress.
How might we...
- instill more motivation in new language learners, so they feel that they are measuring their level of progression more accurately?
- provide more accessible ways to provide immediate support and guidance for those who are learning a new language?
2 / Define
User Personas
With the combined data that I gathered from user interviews and affinity mapping, I was able to construct two user personas that best represented the target user, and embodied the pain points of the participants.
Idea Exploration
I wanted to get really creative, so I came up with some ideas by using creative constraints , analogous inspiration and pitching in real-life examples where people would find themselves most likely to learn a new language. To get some more juice, I sprinkled in adding new features or a twist on these ideas to get more creative.
Feature Prioritization
To ensure that I was prioritizing the correct features, I created a feature roadmap and identified the most impactful features vs the least.
The must-have features:
- Ability to book a mentor
- Ability to match with other language learners
- Progress Tracking
- Ability to select language lessons
User & Task Flows
One of the key features we identified was for the user to have the ability to book a mentor through the app.
To conceptualize this, I created some user & task flows to visualize the steps taken to book a mentor, as well as be able to start a language lesson.
User Flow:
Booking a tutor / mentor
Task flow:
Starting a language lesson in vocabulary
Information Architecture / Sitemapping
Next, I focused on how the information in the design should be structured. I conducted a quick hybrid card sort study and found that participants expected to find key features, such as “Contact my mentor”, under several categories as it seemed to correlate with “Help”, “Lessons”, “Settings” and “Social” categories.
3 / Design
Colors
The key words for Fluently were "empowerment", "connection", "supportive", "intuitive", and "educational" - I aimed to use colors that defined the brand name and invoked the meaning of these words through a strong, inviting presence.
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Logo
What I found particularly challenging was incorporating these themes into a single logo - I opted to keep the name of the brand as I thought it might be more difficult to recognize the idea of the brand without the name. For the logo design, I based it off the key words of "socialize", "chat" and "international communication".
I decided to go with the globe icon as it conveyed the idea of international communication, and paired with a bolded font choice, made for a clear and readable logo.
Component Library
I went with a brighter color scheme to make the product give a more inviting feel, and selected Inria Sans as a typeface for its clean and clear readability.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
When creating the initial design, I used the previous user + task flows as reference to quickly create a bare wireframe, and focus on the primary features at hand. This would assist with deciding where key features should go, where content would be placed, etc.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
With the mid-fidelity wireframes, I focused more on progressing with the flow for specific features. The original design had dropdowns for each category, but this proved to be too much "effort" for the user as they would have to open / close each category.
4 / Testing
Now that I was nearing the final steps in the design process, it was time to bring all the data, prototyping and flows together into a high-fidelity prototype, then run usability tests with participants.
Usability Tests & Results
Tasks
- Create an account.
- Start a new vocabulary lesson.
- Book a session with a mentor.
Success metrics
- There was a 90% or higher completion rate of each task.
- Less than 5% of errors encountered (this included navigating to a different page, mis-clicking, unable to complete the task, etc.)
- The time to complete the tasks was under 5-6 minutes.
Testing method
Via video call, participants ran through three flows total in a moderated setting.
Results
Overall, participants were able to complete all tasks allotted to them successfully with no errors, within an average time of 4-5 minutes per task.
Iterations
While participants were overall pleased with the ease of use and navigation of the product, there were improvements to be made based on their feedback.
Final Product
5 / Conclusion
Takeaways from this project
- With all final changes, feedback and iterations made, the intuitive language learning app, "Fluently" came to life! I learned that throughout the journey as an end-to-end UX designer for this product, ideas and designs were constantly iterative and ever-changing, which brought about new, fresh and creative ways to improve the product.
- The biggest challenge was starting a product from scratch, and understanding that research was key - there was no progression until the features, user problem and objectives were identified.
Final thoughts
- This project helped me gain a better understanding of the key features to initially focus on when creating an end-to-end product, and where to devote the most time and effort to.
- The biggest challenge was starting a product from scratch, and understanding that research was key - there was no progression until the features, user problem and objectives were identified.
