How would you improve Duolingo?

Casual Learners: more variety and motivation to maintain streaks
Professionals : real-life conversations and progress analytics for better mastery
Language Enthusiasts: clearer insights into learning outcomes, easy-to-grab lessons

Customer Pain Points

1. Lack of conversational practice

2. Limited content depth for advanced learners

3. Repetitive gamification

4. No information on skill progress

5. Limited offerings (say regional languages, other subjects say math, etc)

6. Personalized learning experience is not available

Solutions (Product Features)

1. Two-way conversation practice or practice with expert

2. AI-Driven Conversation Partner

3. AI-driven personalized learning

4. Improved Progress Tracking

5. Recap of previous day learning

6. Weekly test option to revise last week’s learning

7. Diversified offerings

8. Advanced Learning Capabilities: a feature for testing difficult concepts, niche vocabulary, etc.

9. Rewards such as batches for Milestones: recognized for daily streak , completed 25% of course, etc.

Prioritize Solutions (Value vs. Effort)

1. High Priority (High Impact, Low Effort): Improved Progress Tracking, Recap of previous day learning, Weekly test option to revise last week’s learning, Rewards such as batches for Milestones

2. Medium Priority (High Impact, Higher Effort): Two-way conversation practice or practice with expert, AI-Driven Conversation Partner, AI-Driven personalized leaning

3. Low Priority (High Effort, Uncertain ROI): Diversified offerings, Advanced Learning capabilities

Success Metrics

Increase in Weekly Active Users (WAU)
Time Spent per Session (Minutes per Lesson)
Completion Rates (%)
User Reviews and Complaints

Summary

Implementing the above-discussed features will boost engagement, retention, and learning outcomes

xioOdCa · Answer 2 · 2025-01-27T12:57:56+0000

Interviewer:

Question: How would you improve the Duolingo app for consistency?

Me:

Clarification of the scope:

Make recommendations to improve the Duolingo app for users struggling to maintain consistency.

Clarifying Questions:

1. How often would you define consistency within 1 month?

2. What language proficiency level are the target users for which we are improving this app, from beginner level 1 to advanced level 4?

Interviewer:

For Duolingo, let’s define consistency as:

Daily Engagement: Logging into the app and completing at least one lesson per day.
Within 1 Month: Users complete lessons on at least 80% of the days (e.g., 24 out of 30 days).

3. Let’s focus on Beginner Level 1 and 2 users for this improvement.

Me:

Define:

Duolingo is an app that helps users learn a foreign language, using simplistic, fun, and engaging gamification as a learning model.

Assumptions on that Goal:

1. By increasing consistency, we increase User Engagement and habit-forming

2. Increased user engagement increases the retention rate.

3. Increases the chances for premium upgrades and lifetime value for the customer, thus increasing revenue for the Duolingo company.

Target Audience:

Level 1 and Level 2 Beginners are more likely to struggle with consistency because:

Pain points:

● They’re still forming the habit of daily practice.

● They might feel overwhelmed or discouraged if progress feels slow or lessons are too complicated.

● They might lose their attention and forget to log back on or get busy throughout their day.

Assumptions About Duolingo Currently:

● Lessons are broken up into small units and then added in sentence usage.

● Gamification, to make it fun

● Has verbal and written practice.

Criteria for Success Use Case:

Criteria that I would use to measure the improvement

Verification of increased Usage within over 7 day period
Number of increased Usage within over 1 month period
Number of answered questions
Number of correct answers
Duration time within the app
Number of completed units
Number of completed lessons

Proposed Improvement Solutions

Add a calendar feature that allows users to schedule a daily reminder to complete a lesson or take a quick 3-question quiz at a preferred time. The quiz would test previously learned material, boosting the user’s confidence through small wins or even providing opportunities to answer previously incorrect answers again. Upon successful completion, users would be encouraged to advance to the next lesson, seamlessly continuing their learning journey.
Introduce a challenge feature where users can invite friends to learn with them and incorporate accountability partners. This feature would provide friendly competition and social motivation, encouraging users to complete more lessons and answer additional questions.
Implement a feature that focuses on real-world usage, where users practice writing the correct spelling of words and sentences within themed contexts, such as ordering food, grocery shopping, or asking for directions. These practical scenarios would help beginner learners (Level 1 and 2) build confidence in using the language in everyday situations, particularly as tourists.

Metric	Feature Driving Impact	Business Outcome
Retention Rate	Calendar reminders, confidence quizzes	Higher subscription rates, improved customer lifetime value
Lesson Completion	Accountability challenges, real-world lessons	Increased user engagement, organic growth
Active Days/Month	Calendar feature, quick quizzes	Reduced churn, higher retention

Why These Metrics?

They are user-focused and align directly to increase engagement and consistency.
They provide both quantitative data (e.g., percentages, averages) and insights into behavior change.
They are actionable, helping identify whether specific features (like reminders or gamified challenges) drive the desired outcomes.

Solutions linked to Business Goals:

1. Retention Rate (Short-Term and Long-Term)

Connection to Solutions:

Calendar Reminders: Sending timely nudges encourages users to return, improving retention rates.
Confidence-Boosting Quizzes: This feature helps reduce churn early in their journey by giving users quick wins.

· Connection to Business Goals:

Higher retention means more opportunities to convert free users into Duolingo Plus subscribers, driving revenue.
Improved long-term retention indicates that users form sustainable habits, reinforcing brand loyalty.

2. Lesson Completion Rate

Connection to Solutions:

Accountability Challenges: Gamified competitions encourage users to complete more lessons to stay ahead of friends.
Themed Real-World Lessons: Contextual content keeps learning engaging and practical, motivating users to complete more.

· Connection to Business Goals:

Increased lesson completion correlates with higher engagement, which increases the likelihood of in-app purchases or subscription upgrades.
Users who complete more lessons will likely recommend the app to others, fueling organic growth.

3. Active Days Per Month (Consistency)

Connection to Solutions:

Calendar Feature: Reminders prompt users to log in daily, increasing their active days.
Confidence Quizzes: Frequent, low-effort interactions (like 3-question quizzes) ensure users stay engaged even on busy days.

· Connection to Business Goals:

Consistent engagement (e.g., 24+ active days per month) leads to better habit formation, reducing user churn.
Users who engage daily are more likely to see the app’s value, increasing the chances of upgrading to a premium plan.

Kristina Kolibab · Answer 3 · 2021-11-15T16:01:44+0000

Hello, this is my first question post, thank you in advance for any feedback!

QUESTION: How would you improve Duolingo?

Mission / Product

To make education free, fun, and accessible to all

Business Goal (Revenue, Active Users, New Users, Engagement, Retention)

To design a feature that will increase engagement.

Doubt	Clarification (Assumption)
Shall I focus on just Duolingo, not the newer offerings?	Yes

Users	Personas	Use Cases
User taking a language course		Student needs additional help in their language class, so they seek out duolingo
User planning to study abroad		Student is planning on studying abroad for several months and so wants to nail down some basic conversational skills
User planning to travel		Adult is looking to travel internationally and hopes to navigate with little to no help, would also like to pick up conversational skills
User wanting to learn a new skill		Adult is just looking to stimulate their mind, might be fond of a specific language for some reason.
Users who have completed all modules for a given language		They were incredibly driven and might still be hungry for more

User Journey Painpoints

User feels that they don’t need all of Duolingo, just the parts that they are struggling to understand
User actively needs more help in class and that is why they are seeking help
User feels overwhelmed with the amount of content that Doulingo offers and is unsure of how much they need to learn to get the basics down\
User feels they are only learning about the language and nothing else about the country
User that is only interested in picking up a new skill, may still not know which language to start learning
User feels that they may get better practice if they could talk to someone, as opposed to the recording voices
User lacks motivation to continue learning
User wants more ways to learn and practice

User Needs

User needs a way to focus on specific subjects that they are struggling in
User needs a way to help pace their learning
User needs a way to to understand the countries customs as well as the language
User needs a way to help pick which language to start learning
User needs a way to practice with real person instead of recordings
User needs a way to keep them energized about learning
User needs a way to keep practicing their language after they have completed the course

User Solutions

Allow user to select which module they want to dive deeper into and provide further learning content
Add a timer feature and let the user input their time frame, then the app can show the user how much learning they need to complete each day to reach their goals
On the news feed and based upon the users language, show articles about the countries culture to help them become more familiar with the culture and help mitigate culture shock
When the user selects a new course, show a pop up that offers help in deciding if they so choose. This popup can display stats such as languages that are most popular, easiest to learn, how prevalent various languages are across the world
Offer a penpal feature, where users can connect and message within the app, there can be an algorithm to pair users up based on the native language and learning language
Offer tutors through Duolingo, this can be a premium feature or 2nd level premium feature, where they can start a video call through the app and go over lessons together. These tutors can be those that have completed a language course and passed a final exam for certification.
In the app, maybe in the news feed, show images and articles of the country of origin, show how beautiful it is, excite the user to go visit and that will encourage them want to keep learning
Pair with hotels and tourist activities, Duolingo can then show this as ads in the app, which will generate revenue for them, and encourage users to actually travel to that country or countries, and will help tourism in those places

BUC Method = (Business benefits + User benefits) - Cost

User Needs (2-5 Scale)	Business Benefits (B)	User Benefits (C)	Resource Cost (Time + effort + cost) (D)	Priority (B+C) - D
1	4	5	5	4
2	5	5	3	7
3	4	4	3	5
4	4	5	2	7
5	5	5	5	5
6	4	5	5	4
7	4	4	3	5
8	5	4	5	4

Success Metrics

2) Adoption, how long their timers, repeating users

4) Does the user base of the most popular/easiest to learn languages increase, are people using this help feature

Risk / Trade-Offs

2) I don’t see a risk here

4) Less popular languages are never selected, monopolizes the more popular languages

Summarize

I believe I can improve the Duolingo product by implementing features 2 and 4 from my solutions list.

Antonio8 · Answer 4 · 2021-04-25T00:00:00+0000

Hello, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite product which is Duolingo!

Duolingo is a mobile app/ web app that helps people learning a new language by expanding their vocabulary in a gamification kind of exercises.

I completed all the Duolingo sessions for the English language so I'd like to focus on the group of users that are at the end of the journey.
People like me were highly motivated to complete all three of Duolingo that I finished it so quickly. The app keeps giving you the same contents and after a while is boring for us and the only reason we're still on the platform is for vanity (the app shows a public badge of for how long you're practicing on it non-stop). I feel this is not enough and in this way, the app is going to lose some true fans that they want to look for something more advanced.

This user group has still more juice to squeeze and their LTV can still be pushed a little bit far with the improvements listed below:

-Physical Award: Youtube, Github, Product Hunt, and many more platforms award the best users, like me there are many people willing to pay to receive an "official award". It will be great to have an assessment test and receive a physical trophy. Duolingo can do that every year to keep their users engaged and have a spot in their life with something nice to look at and maybe the reason to start a conversation.

-Interactive Stories: today we see many examples of volunteers willing to help for a cause in online communities (check Facebook groups). By creating an ecosystem that is self-sustained, Duolingo can create a kind of graphic tool like Canva+Google Presentation to create animated stories, the users with a certain amount of experience can contribute by creating a new story and new users can play/read them.

Another big problem I saw in this app which is related to a specific user group (minor people <18)

-Private profile: I was reading Duolingo's forum and some concerned mum was worried for the son's privacy, she was asking if there's a way to report a fake profile that is using the son's image and name. This is a huge pain point, by being more vigilant on the platform is not enough, the best way to block this problem could be a private profile with an anonymous name for people under 18. I believe a nickname is not enough to protect users' identity because most people use the same nickname on many websites/games and similar. By making a minor anonymous we solve this problem from the root.