On Duolingo

My off-and-on relationship with Duolingo began four years ago in December 2018. I was taking an Italian language course and decided to browse the app store for a free platform where I could practice what I was learning and as a result, I found Duolingo.

At the time, I had never heard of the platform. I did not even know of any language-learning platforms to be honest. I remember downloading a bunch and going through them one after the other before settling on Duolingo. Duolingo's gamified nature appealed to me, from the user interface to the overall user experience. I keenly interacted with the community and took my streaks very seriously. From my perspective, Duolingo had excelled in designing its product.

Within a year, I had completed the Italian course and subsequently stopped using the app religiously. I did return occasionally to practice Italian as well as to take classes in other languages but it was not until 21 days ago that I did return to the app fully. Between now and when I last used the app religiously, the most valuable change in my opinion was the inclusion of Duolingo stories. Although I had been seeing the stories feature for a decent while, I never really explored the option until my full return to the app and I can say that it is an addition with which I am very pleased.

Not unlike everyone else, I have also happened across a few of Duolingo's TikTok videos. The app's social media popularity hints at a bold social media strategy and a series of experiments yielding positive results. I also recognize a brand that has done a phenomenal job reinforcing brand identity and growing brand awareness, often featuring its popular green owl mascot in its content.

Despite its social media success, I still perceive Duolingo as mainly product-oriented. Its product markets itself by offering value to users in such a way as to convince those who may not even be aware of the brand to develop a preference for its platform compared to possible alternatives. However, regarding its social media popularity, we can be certain that Duolingo extracts value from its intangible assets as well.