Gruppe 555@2x.png — DiGa - Vocabulary Learning App.

Learning a new language or new relevant terms - DiGa is your vocabulary study app for every life situation.

The Challenge.

Speaking foreign languages has become essential in our globalized world. Learning new languages or foreign words is a lifelong process. Learners need a way to learn new words and concepts in a methodical, self-directed and fun way so they can move forward with confidence.

The Goal.

The goal of this project was to develop and design a mobile app that allows users to learn new words and concepts in a self-determined way - wherever, whenever.

The Process.

A sprint of 2 weeks with fundamental Research, Personas, Information Architecture, Wireframing, Prototying as well as Usability Testing - according to the Double Diamond Process.

General Problem

In our globalized world, we face many new challenges - cultural and linguistic differences should not be an obstacle in this regard. In order to master the challenges of the planet together, it is important to stick together as a global community. Learning additional languages is therefore becoming indispensable. It is therefore all the more important that learning opportunities are innovative, digital, fast and available from anywhere. It needs a comprehensive learning app that is easily accessible and allows users to learn new words or a new language in a self-determined and fun way.

R E S E A R C H

Discover.

In order to better understand the target group and their needs, I started with an initial exploration of the market and potential competitors. With a specific look at the competition and existing products, I was thus able to analyze strengths and weaknesses from which DiGa users can benefit.

Competitive Analysis.

I started with a competitive analysis of 3 different existing competitors. The products were analyzed in detail for their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. The results were compared in detail.

Cake

Vocab Training

Magoosh

The analysis showed strengths such as simple and clean UI, innovative learning and gamification.

But it also revealed weaknesses such as overloaded screens, a lot of disturbing advertising, missing introduction or the lack to see personal progress of the user.

These weak points gave a good starting point where DiGa can grow beyond.

User Interviews.

To gain further insights into the potential users, qualitative user interviews were conducted with 3 participants. These provided further insights into the target group, their needs, thoughts, desires and goals. This was an essential step to get to know our users and their demands better.

Key Insights.

The key Insights of the Interviews were the following:

Define.

To better understand the results from the Discover phase and to keep them in mind throughout the rest of the process, the findings were visualized in the next phase „Define“ in the form of a primary Persona, User Stories and a Problem Statement.

Problem Statement.

Lina needs a way to practice her English on a daily base, because she has a lot of contact with international colleagues and clients. We will know this to be true when we see that Lina is able to have fluent professional discussions in her daily life.

Hypothesis Statement.

We believe that by creating interdisciplinary tasks with audio output, pronunciation exercises and visual input for Lina we will achieve that Lina learns to use new words correctly and in the right context, so that she can have fluent conversations in her working environment.

With a solid understanding of our users and their needs, it was now time to think about how our product could meet their demands.

D E S I G N

Ideation.

As a first step in developing the App, I did start with sketching some first ideas.

To get started I first thought about the name and the logo of the product. I came across diga, which comes from the Portuguese language and is the imperative of the word speak, dizer, so it means „Say it!“ Since our app is designed to encourage people to speak, this seemed a fitting name.

Information Architecture.

In the further process, the basic framework had to be designed - the information architecture of DiGa.
I created this framework using two different user click flows of our persona Lina.
The IA was to serve me as a blueprint and guide for the designs in the following process.

Develop.

With a solid information architecture in hand, the next step was to create first sketches and wireframes. further I produced a clickable portotype with the help of Marvel.

First Wireframes.

Digital Wireframes and Marvel Prototype.

Usability Testing.

To see if the designs and the framework were understood by our users, the prototype and the developed wireframes were tested in usability tests with 3 different participants.

The results were analyzed by affinity mapping and using Jakob Nielsen’s error severity rating scale.  

0 = I do not think it is a usability problem  
1 = Cosmetic problem only: does not need to be fixed unless additional time is available for the project 
2 = Minor usability problem: fixing this problem should be a low priority.
3 = Major usability issue: important to fix, so it should be a high priority
4 = Usability disaster: must be fixed before the product can be released.

Sample issues & Revision to Prototype.

Deliver.

With the refined screens and a working prototype in hand, DiGa still needed visual direction. After a quick preference test with the community of Vocal Learners, a style language was written for DiGa.