The problem

This conceptual project was part of the UX Design certificate program by Google. The brief was to design a tool to help people learn a new language.

We know that adult brains are far more developed than children's, but they also have a much harder time learning new languages.

Research suggests that the acquisition of new skills and knowledge is more deliberate and inefficient in adults. A study from MIT shows that trying harder can actually make some aspects of learning a new language more difficult.

The solution

Want to learn a language as an adult? Don't try so hard! But joking aside, adult learners are more successful in learning a new language with resources that fire their curiosity.

I focused my effort to make the learning process more interesting and fun. The goal was to design the app and a responsive website that will improve the learning process by providing interesting content.

My role

I designed the app and the responsive website from conception to delivery. I consulted and shared insights with another colleague from the course once a week.

I used secondary research focused on how adults learn a new language to develop questions for the initial interview.

User interviews led me to create a persona for the mobile app and one for the responsive website.

I sketched paper and digital wireframes and did usability studies. I made design changes accounting for accessibility and moved on to create low and high-fidelity prototypes in Figma. And then tested again with potential users.

Understanding the user

Insights from primary research showed that adults need resources tailored to their interests. They are willing to work towards their goals if they find the lessons interesting.

To better understand the users, I created user stories for the two personas and developed their user journey maps. Their problem statements were crucial in the ideation phase.

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Competitive analysis

I researched existing language learning platforms focusing on their content and features. The competitive analysis revealed issues and opportunities to address with the Easy Portuguese app.

Issues	Opportunities
Lack of comprehensive content strategy	Design content based on themes and interest
Too much visual noise	Provide easy navigation
Gamification used to the extreme	Use gamification to encourage users to set in-app goals

View the full competitive analysis→

Starting the design

To address the issues identified in the competitive audit I used the Crazy Eights sketching technique. After ideation and sketching paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for the Easy Portuguese app.

The designs focused on content for adult users to spark their curiosity and incentivize them to continue learning.

In the first usability study I tested the user flow of learning basic vocabulary and review quizzes for the Greeting section.

View the low-fidelity prototype→

Key insights from the usability study:

• Content: Users liked the app's content. The basic vocabulary section sparked their curiosity.
• Navigation: Users need easy navigation to resources, listening snippets, and short videos.
• Quizzes: Users had difficulty understanding how to advance in the review section (quizzes).
• Visual cues: Visual indications of how to select the right answers and move throughout the app were confusing to most users.

High-fidelity prototype

Based on insights from the usability studies, I made design changes to improve the global app experience.

Design changes informed by insights:

• Homepage with a global view of the app;
• Available resources and how to explore them (browse by theme);
• Sections for vocabulary, quizzes, learning tips, audio and video content.

The high-fidelity prototype included design changes made after the usability study.

View the high-fidelity prototype→

Accessibility considerations:

• Screen reader integration;
• Use of text labels alongside icons to reduce the user's cognitive load;
• Visual cues to show the state of a selected category;
• Both audio and video content have subtitles and transcripts (can be uses in the app or downloaded).

Responsive design

I started designing the responsive website after completing the app's high-fidelity prototype.

I based my work on this sitemap to ensure a cohesive and consistent experience across devices.

Screen size variation designs included mobile, tablet, and desktop. I optimized the designs to fit the specific user needs of each device and screen size.

Takeaways

Although it was an exercise, I set tight time constraints and kept things moving to imitate fast paced start-up conditions.

The complexity of the project was at times overwhelming. But I didn't want to sacrifice neither features nor content. I got to the desired solution by going back to the research and realigning with users' needs.

Impact: learning a new language isn't boring anymore! Instead it's more like traveling and discovering the language through the country's culture.

Next steps:

• Conduct qualitative research on how successful the app is in reaching users' goal to learn a new language.
• Diversify educational resources and games
• Add gamification and rewards