Lingüally

The place where language lovers meet each other.

Deliverables: User Interviews, User Surveys, Affinity Mapping, User Personas, Sketches, Wireframes, Usability Testing, Iterations

Overview

Lingüally is a mobile-first site that helps people do the things they love in the languages that they speak.

Roles

Sole UX/UI designer responsible for user research, UX/UI design, brand creation, prototyping, and usability testing.

Challenge

Many people struggle to use the languages they have learned. Furthermore, the demand for intercultural exchange has never been higher.

Solution

Lingüally connects people who speak or want to learn the same language through events, meetups, and social clubs. No matter what you like to do, Lingüally will have something for everyone.

Lingually Prototype link.

Design Process

1. User Research

“About 43% of the world’s population is bilingual. This includes at least 20% of the U.S., but the number is likely to be higher.”*

*Source: Preply.com

Research Goals

We want to find out why users learn the languages they learn so that we can help them apply their skills in ways that are fulfilling to them.

Methods Used and Key Findings

Methods Used: Secondary Research, Remote User Interviews, User Surveys, Competitor Analysis

Most competitors for applying second language skills focus on one specific aspect.
Many users expressed in interviews that they did not feel like it was easy for them to create strong friendships with people who spoke their second language in their cities.
Some users had problems with specific accents despite having a high proficiency level due to a lack of exposure to said accents.

Making strong friendships with people who speak my second language is easy. Do you agree with this statement?

Question results

2. Define

Who will I design for? What problem will I solve? I began sorting through the insights from the interviews with an affinity map. Afterward, I created some POVs and HMWs. Lastly, I created one main user persona as well as two secondary user personas.

Affinity Map

POV’s

I’d like to help travelers that speak a second language use their second language on trips because they will get a deeper understanding of different cultures.
I’d like to help motivated speakers of a second language find new contexts to use their second language because it can help them expand their social circles.
I’d like to help anxious second-language speakers get more exposure to different accents so they can explore new ways to express themselves in the language.

HMW’s

How might we help motivated second language speakers expand their social circles?
How might we help second language speakers find new ways to express themselves in the language?
How might we help travelers get a deeper understanding of different cultures?

The Likable Linguist

I created three user personas: a primary persona, The Likeable Linguist, and two secondary personas: The Talkative Traveler and The Accent Aficionado. Each captured a core user we were trying to target.

3. Ideate

First Ideations

Some colleagues recommended making a Tinder or Bumble-like swiping app.
A language-based travel app was also considered.
A meetup app (with a few travel options) was considered and I felt it was the best way forward.

First Storyboard

I needed something that would bring people together. Something that would get people interacting with each other.

User Flows

Three user flows were chosen.
They were based on things that users would find important and that were also important to the business.
The three user flows were: paying for a dancing event, upgrading to a monthly membership, and adding a language.

Task Flows

Three task flows were chosen.
They were based on things that users would find important and that were also important to the business.
The three task flows were: paying for a dancing event, upgrading to a monthly membership, and adding a language.

Low-Fidelity Sketches

After choosing the task flows, I began sketching.
I sketched keeping the user personas and task flows in mind.
I sketched two to three options for important screens and shared them with as many potential users as I could to get their feedback.

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

After getting some feedback, I made some digital wireframes to begin bringing the ideas to life.

I put particular focus on the spacing and visual hierarchy as well as creating all of the necessary components to save myself time going forward.
Again, I shared them with potential users to get their feedback.

Visual Elements

I chose the brand name Lingüally because it was easy to say and conveyed the purpose.
I chose a color palette of purple and teal, with black and white neutral colors. Purple is a color that signifies wisdom. Teal is a color that signifies communication.
For the typeface, I originally chose New York for headings because of its professional look and Roboto for text because of easy it was to read. However, most stakeholders preferred the Roboto font, so I limited New York to just H1 headings.

Lingüally Moodboard

High-fidelity Wireframes

With my visual elements chosen, I put everything together in high-fidelity wireframes and began testing.

4. Testing and Iterations

Process and Key Findings

User testing was done with five users.

All users were able to complete tasks with two exceptions.
The color palette and logo were very popular.
Most users said it was easy to use.
Users did not always use the search function to look for events.
Some users were initially confused about what the app was for.
Users did not like the language verification check.

Proposed Solutions

More segmented sections of events were included on the home page such as “dancing events in Seoul,” “sports events in Seoul.” etc.
I changed the hero image heading to better convey the purpose of the site.
I eliminated the language verification check entirely. It caused too much confusion and would limit potential business anyway.

I was pleasantly surprised by the success of the usability testing but some things obviously had to be changed.

Original

Iteration