I created a mood board via InvisionApp and gathered examples of logos and app icons from other language-learning apps and Apple Watch apps. They all focused on a strong brand color with a soft gradient, and a minimal logo for quick recognition.

After playing around with a color mixer, I found a vibrant and distinct purple that spoke to the fun of using an app, but the studiousness of learning a language.

My notes for name creation

I also used this mood board to jot down ideas for a name. Given my fondness of languages, this was a pretty enjoyable exercise. I jotted down themes like language, activity, location, and wrote down whatever related words came to mind.

The name “Lango” sprang up from “language” and “go,” but seemed too simple and obvious at first. I spent a while researching other app names and trying out different ideas before revisiting Lango. Sometimes (most times), simplicity really is the answer, even if it doesn’t look very creative on the surface.

Lango was fun to say and conveyed what the app does immediately. I added the tagline “Go find a new language” to further cement the idea.

Lango logo early concepts — Yes, some of these are pretty awful

For the logo, I used some basic grid paper and sketched several rough ideas. I used the notes from my mood board to go through my different themes and work out how to convey learning a language through an image. Browsing through language-learning apps and websites and even paying The Noun Project a visit didn’t give any conclusive answers.

Final Lango logo design on an Apple Watch notification screen

I sketched everything from speech bubbles to globes to birds, before reconsidering how Lango works: You wear your watch, walk around, and learn as you go. I focused on designing something around the classic map marker that all mobile users have become familiar with. The map marker and speech bubble are similar in shape, so I combined the two. I placed the speech bubble on a map to indicate speech by location. After reviewing my design with my mentor, we made a few tweaks to add a compass into the design, and the end result was perfect.

Prototyping

I had my wires, my app name, my brand color and my logo. I was ready to bring Lango to life.

Guide your users through empty states and errors, don’t block them

One key thing I focus on when designing experiences is empty states and errors. Many apps and websites use an onboarding tutorial as their first step, but I feel this can be more time-consuming than helpful. If a user has downloaded an app or visited a website, they’re already committed to accomplishing a goal; The best idea is to provide the shortest route there with the least instruction necessary. Throwing an error or blocking their path with a how-to should be a last resort.

If a new user clicks on “Language Log” from the home screen, they will be prompted to check their settings or get active instead of seeing an error or just…nothing.

Lango’s only onboarding is in choosing which language you would like to learn. A first-time user is guided into doing this by arriving at a “choose your language” screen no matter what action they take from the home screen. I felt the user should be allowed to choose any normal action when first launching the app, since this would get out of their way as they use and explore it, while also familiarizing them with the navigation straight from the start. The empty states they encounter along the way inform them of how the app works and provide a direct path to the next step to complete their setup and get started.

After a language is chosen, some basic default settings allow the user to start using the app immediately. The user can later adjust which verb tenses they would like to learn, which lesson triggers to use (learn by location, learn by activity, etc.), turn on “Do Not Disturb” mode, and even connect to Facebook to practice with friends.

Let your users keep exploring without getting lost

When a user is prompted to learn a new word in Lango, they have the option to view related words. These are displayed three at a time. This allows the user to keep learning without overwhelming them with too many options. Each time they click on a new word to learn it, it’s automatically added their language log to review later.

When the user visits a coffee shop and learns “un cafe au lait,” they can click on “More like this” to learn related words and phrases.

Apple Watch calls for simple navigation; an action forward should provide a path backward. This meant that continuously choosing to learn a related word could create a very deep black hole. To prevent the user from needing to hit ‘back’ several times to return home, new words all navigate back to the language log.

If the user clicks to learn a related word or phrase, their navigation path backwards sends them to the language log showing all the words they’ve learned.

When the user navigates ‘back,’ they will see the full list of all the words and phrases they’ve learned. This way, even if their intent is to go back to a particular word they were viewing previously, they still have a path to do so.

What the language log might look like for a user that’s been using Lango for some time.

Meet users where they want to be

Lango came about from the idea of learning language while going about one’s day. The same mentality of providing information when and where the user needs it is present in the app itself.

If users connect to Facebook, they can practice conversations with their friends. Each friend takes a turn choosing from three phrases to gradually build a conversation.

If the user hits “Reply,” they will be given three new phrases that are appropriate responses to the friend’s last prompt.

I decided it was okay if the user wasn’t completely sure what a response meant before selecting it. The goal was to keep the conversation going and show what sorts of responses were possible, in tune with learning through action and context. Each response has an information icon next to it that allows the user to see its translation.

Learn what a conversation prompt means and add it to your language log.

Much like the location prompt helps users learn through the context of where they are, learning words through conversation helps solidify their meaning and appropriate use.

Try Lango yourself

You don’t need an Apple Watch to try Lango. While not imitating the experience of location-based notifications, my prototype still shows Lango’s potential for learning language ‘on the go’.

Try the prototype on InvisionApp. As the prototype is built from Sketch screens, not everything will work. Click anywhere on the screen and see the blue hot spots appear to find which actions are possible. Icons courtesy of The Noun Project.

Thank you

Thank you for reading about Lango! Thanks as well to Bloc for the amazing curriculum and to Mike Dekker for the wonderful mentoring.

Feedback and questions are encouraged. Sharing is very appreciated.

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