Problem

During the Covid period, travelling, meeting new people and speaking other languages became difficult, if not impossible.

Spontaneous opportunities for intercultural exchange have almost completely disappeared, leaving a gap for anyone looking for informal ways to speak a second language or meet new people outside their network.

Existing solutions were usually too structured, impersonal, or not engaging enough, making learning and meeting people less natural and motivating.

My Role

I was responsible for defining the functionality, personas, customer journey, user flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, user testing, user interface, client presentation and mockups, making sure the user experience was consistent, intuitive and user experience geared to the real needs of users.

In addition, I created a style tile containing a selection of key components, designed as a visual and practical foundation for the future creation of a robust and scalable design system.

Process

The solution was designed over 6 weeks together with a team of designers and developers, based on an in-depth analysis of competitors to identify opportunities for improvement and functionalities to be integrated, combined with user research based on interviews and test sessions.

User Testing (Data & Key Findings)

Test overview:

• 5 users

• 25-35 age range

• 4 task per user

Results:

• 70% overall average success

• The feedback highlighted opportunities to optimize the interface, improve functionality and make interaction more intuitive and effective.

Solution

1. Onboarding to define user profile (languages, interests and preferences), enabling personalized learning experience.

2. User profile with display and editing of selected languages, skill level (beginner to expert) and general settings.

3. Random video calls with users from all over the world. Choose the language, duration and style of conversation in an open and inclusive atmosphere.

4. Talks with filters, reactions, stickers, and group video calls with real-time chat.

5. Gamified challenges including quizzes and category-based games to improve learning while playing.

6. Karaoke with selected songs using the microphone, integrating singing into language practice for more natural and fun learning.

7. Gamification & Ranking based on interaction and performance. User ratings and automatic scores contribute to an overall ranking, increasing motivation.

Special thanks to: Alessandro, Luca, Mara, Anita and Annamaria