Guide to make your product addictive : Duolingo Business Case Study

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VIDEO INTRODUCTION:
Hi everybody,
My best friend Mayur is by far the most insincere guy I have ever met other than myself!! He and I never completed assignments on time, we were always late to college and we barely passed our engineering!! But surprisingly, last week I discovered that Mayur is learning a new language using an app and he has been doing the exercises for 180 consecutive days without missing a single day! And this is not because Mayur is a changed person but because the app by design makes him complete the exercise! And when I checked the stats, I found a goldmine of product design which every edtech company must use to scale their business!
This company that I am talking about is called Duolingo!
If you’ve ever learnt a foreign language, there’s a high chance you’ve used it, or perhaps you’ve used it for foreign language testing (DET), or at least you’ve seen its popular green owl mascot - Duo.
Duolingo was started in 2011 by a computer science professor and his student with a mission to make education free and accessible to people worldwide. Today, with over 800M downloads and 2 million DET test takers all over the world, it is safe to say that its the company that changed the face of language learning and testing forever.
They made this possible by hacking its learning design to such a level that, while the top language learning apps in the world had total app downloads of 26.7 million (26,728,041) in January of 2024, duolingo alone stood at 16.2 Million downloads in January alone! So duolingo has more downloads than its 10 competitors combined! And its retention rate is so high that its more than best performing games like Candy Crush and Royal match!! And now they are using this model to solve even bigger educational problems from English proficiency testing to teaching math and even music!
And this extraordinary difference is the result of an insane product design strategy that have been used by legendary products like Instagram, facebook and Snapchat!
So if you want to similarly design legendary products and crack the code to customer retention please take notes from this episode!
So let’s dive into this case study and understand,
How on earth did the designers of Duolingo crack the code to learners engagement?
How are they using this model to solve other challenges in the language ecosystem today?
And most importantly, what are the lessons that we need to learn from the incredible product design of Duolingo?
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✅Study Materials:
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sensortower.com/blog/duolingo...
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[@vedant8002]

Once i broke my 170 days Duolingo streak. I still cannot physically recover from that day.

[@blast473]

Hopefully you have recovered mentally at least.

[@dibyochowdhury4514]

@@blast473 lolll🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ipikluninja91]

Haha. This happened to me as well. I broke my 4 month diamond league streak and now I am down to Ruby

[@harshgupta5454]

Didn't you have streak freeze feature?

[@user-kw6sc6wx2f]

Please tell it in details

[@darkhawk6398]

I can totally imagine the Duolingo bird put Ganesh at gunpoint to make this video 💀

[@Ghost-II-Retribution]

Yep

[@bharatavarsha10k]

😂😂😂 Classic 👌🏻👌🏻

[@rajm8132]

Does it even matter ?

[@AdeshAtole]

Why does Duo have a mean portrayal on all social handles?

[@sarukuboyz]

🤣🔥

[@burhanuddinsakarwala5033]

Duolingo is crazy. It gives you a good basis to start learning a language, a working vocabulary and daily effort is what it gives you, the rest you can study through classes, songs, films etc.

[@TechwithLaughter]

Hi bhai, u bohri?

[@lashmanan782]

I have been using this application for more than 900 days...❤

[@ajaymalviya1]

Which language you learned??

[@varunghai]

How deep did duo scar you?

[@ajaymalviya1]

@@varunghai dad belt level

[@ifindbugsinyourcode1644]

@@ajaymalviya1 bruh😭😭

[@bmuthupanti]

This is an awesome app. My son has been learning French in this app for past 10 months. Never missed a single day. Learning is all about consistency. This app is encouraging that consistency in learning.

[@WhirledPublishing]

I went to the duolingo page and selected their tutorial for the Latin language - they asked me if I was new to the language, I am - but since I speak French, Italian and Spanish, I told them I know a little - so they asked to test me to see where the tutorial should begin - they began asking me questions - and I was answering - getting most of the questions right - but occasionally missing one or two words in a sentence - anyway, I decided they are so excellent that I looked into getting a job with them - that's how happy I am with their tutorial - just thought I'd mention it.

[@blast473]

Wow. Congratulations. Duo is really a well thought system in its own. And it employs people who are keen as well. It's brilliant.

[@WhirledPublishing]

@@blast473 If they could find more intelligent employees with intelligence, they could expand faster - their tutorials have added music and math over the past several months.

[@alok.01]

12:48 that felt personal 😅, I was just casually playing this in background then he said about not using Facebook but still keeping the account

[@bepositron2002]

I tried to learn French on Duolingo. It was a Great experience ❤

[@familyfirst1234]

Did you learned? If then in how much time?

[@GAMINGZONE-ux9ru]

Did yoy learn French

[@hellomynameishello6500]

Can we be friends

[@mrconfident786]

@@familyfirst1234it’s did you learn ?? I’m you have lost your duolingo 5 years ago 😂😂😂😂

[@jayeshkomalwar7220]

As a UX designer, this video really matters and a great example of how user-centric products do work. A fan of how Duolingo has changed the way Edtech should build products.

[@shikhabasak4852]

The range of topics you cover in your videos are incredible! I clicked on the video the second I saw the green bird 😂 My takeaway from this video: Either find a job with duolingo or with think school... dono me data science interesting lagega 💯

[@amangarg8788]

Duolingo sits on iron throne 😂😂😂 he seems like the prince that was promised

[@thatguy8628]

Video suggestion for the next video : India's Luxury housing boom or how luxury brands thrive even during crises

[@shannu1927]

Only solution black money

[@Madhusudhan2029]

Duolingo helped me in learning German and French. It's so intuitive and makes you come back everyday.

[@user-rc4br2kv2m]

Thanks for this video. This is really a brilliant usecase in the current business scenario. Also, it makes it very easy to learn other languages such as Deutsch, French and Spanish which in my case, Deutsch, where I was able to learn till A2 level successfully.

[@045jerson7]

cant believe u made an episode on duolingo.....❤ hope u heaar from the owl😂❤

[@shagbora]

I don't use Facebook anymore but the reason I don't delete it is not because of the efforts I made but because of the number of apps it connects to 😅 maybe we need a poll to see why people keep Facebook still.

[@thatguy8628]

Although Duolingo's high retention rate might seem eye catching, it does not translate into high conversion rates. Most of its users still use the free model and the ability of their competitors to get things done with a smaller team and lower cost might challenge their hegemony. Nonetheless, it has started showing profits in the last two quarters and I'm excited to see how the future plays out for Duolingo.

[@chetanverse]

I really think you should watch the TEDTalk of the CEO of duolingo.

[@sheetalaklujkar9753]

You are Awesome Ganeshprasad..! You are inspiring millions of lives by your intelligent casestudies..keep up the good work !

[@jayashree2117]

amazing case study, explained so well, thanks!

[@samitghosh686]

Great episode.. Actually I was thinking why the channels like yours took so long to make a video on a startup which has been a game changer. I am 631 days + on Duolingo French. It is so positively addictive that I feel panicked on any day when I did not complete a lesson by 5pm. Excellent presentation Ganesh.. Keep your always great work even better...

[@gopal9764]

Great Analysis of Duolingo Thank you for valuable information 🎉

[@DenJaVlogs]

I'm learning french through duolingo and currently at level B1. There is indeed something which makes u return again n again on their platform

[@srsawant123]

Nice and informative video and it just opened the new way of thinking.

[@shubham_bhavatu]

Fantastic case study and the fabulous product👏

[@MayankPratapSingh_022]

I recently started to learn data driven animation in rive, in duolingo they are using tech like rive to creation engagning animations with code, that's the best part

[@karthikkvijay]

Are u an animator? I am looking for someone who is a beginner

[@MayankPratapSingh_022]

@@karthikkvijay i was, right now transitioning into Machine Learning

[@MayankPratapSingh_022]

was learning rive for full stack web apps

[@sharathpawar543]

Thinkschool never disappoints ❤️❤️

[@svm6683]

Bro upload your vdos in 4k ik vry less people gonna use it but it's about how you are providing it will leave a good impact

[@sumanrama7673]

Thank you for this video. This app is really helpful.

[@rohitranjan9350]

I have been watching your case studies for 2 years and I can say that your every case study is very informative, in depth and easy to understand. Just wanna know, how you collect data for your analysis and how you do it?

[@AnkitG12]

Thank you for the analysis.

[@sachinbabar9506]

thank you for the valuable information!

[@shaktir4234]

The way they made use of concept of gamification is mindboggling

[@Elixir569]

Awesome case study. It's the only learning app I'm using everyday. One more thing I liked about this app are those characters who're not interactive as such but they sound interactive.

[@sayanbiswas1709]

Really I enjoyed the video so much . Best app and even I made my mother habit learning from this

[@Amit09623]

Extremely good video. Efforts behind this video is top notch 🎉

[@Simply_Human.-.]

Thankyou for clearly explained this model 🙌

[@satyampratikkanungo3949]

Great breakdown appreciate

[@rahulrao5349]

Very informative video. Thank you.

[@jyotichoudhary817]

Thank you so much buddy❤ Keep Going! Ye Dil Maange More❤

[@unknowngamer7045]

Duolingo is taking it too far I will take my lesson today don't need my favorite youtuber to remind me

[@rakeshraja5080]

Nicely delivered bro! Do an episode on Inequality report analysis! Indian population needs awareness about the happenings.

[@mozhistmk]

One more awesome casestudy.. great @thinkschool

[@sathyamanikanta2784]

Amazing case study ❤❤ Duolingo knows the Psychology of the Human

[@SandeepTelkar]

Kindly make similar kind of video on one of the food processing company. This one was awesome

[@ankitgajwani101]

Even i use this app first i learned french because i was in a french country and now i am learning indonesian with this app❤and its amazing

[@sharathbabu9512]

Très bien Ganesh, c'est un bon vidéo. Je trouve votre documentaire assez utile !

[@a-31saurabhghore46]

Amazing case study 🙌🏼🙌🏼👏🏼

[@AbinBiju-zj8cd]

Really Helpful and Informational!!!!

[@kumaarSahab420]

thanks to you I'm now addicted to Duolingo Gracias a Duolingo ahora puedo solicitar la ciudadanía española

[@nityasomaiya5001]

Ooooh 🎉

[@hanu9889]

Hey Team Think School I've been a fan of your insightful financial contents. Your ability to break down complex topics is impressive. Could you please consider creating a video on the current Andhra Pradesh Pradesh financial position? Your expertise would be invaluable in helping the citizens of the state to understand and navigate the economic landscape. Looking forward to another enlightening video as the current media has totally confused everyone.

[@jyothathi9566]

Started learning Spanish in Covid Era as I was so much free. Boom, here I am today with a 1400 day streak.

[@Sandeep-kj9rj]

How much did you learn

[@janhavikushe]

Whoa ❤️‍🔥 Amazing case study ❤

[@shivamaggarwal9232]

Hi Guys. This is an very special video for me because I work at Study Group (we send students to abroad) & even I didn’t know that duo-lingo is such an addictive app. But i would like to make one thing clear that University & Colleges prefer IELTS & TOFEl, in-fact there are multiple colleges who do not accept Duolingo scores at all. That is why I have a slight doubt for there test credibility explained otherwise I loved the video. Ganesh sir never disappoints just like Prashant Dhawan sir. We need a collab 😊.

[@aleeshaali2300]

With a streak of 521 days and still going stronger, Duolingo is indeed a gem for learning languages.

[@chandrashekarbk007]

Thanks bro for the nice topic, I have used Duolingo and its like addiction but will helps for basic understanding in starting new language... Bird is very cute and actions are amazing.. after certain stage of completion we need external online or classroom training and then this app may not be much helpful...

[@harishkumarkandula8416]

Nice to hear word Telugu❤ from u bro. Great explanation

[@artizon8122]

@Think School Seeing case study of souled store will be great at this point ☺ ☺

[@akshatraj7623]

I was making notes and sincerely learning from the app but unfortunately I lost my notes, the amount of hurt it gave me was immense and I've not recovered from it mentally just because how sincere I was about learning and efforts I've put in to it.

[@abhijeetbudhwant0202]

Why there is Daenerys in thumbnail 😂

[@Varun10299]

They teach Game of thrones language as well I forgot the Name V something 😂

[@srinivasaraghavan]

​@@Varun10299 valeriyan

[@HarishankarPM]

They teach Valyrian language in Duolingo.

[@abhijeetbudhwant0202]

@@Varun10299 😂😂

[@abhishekkumar-js7kr]

​​@@Varun10299 High Valyrian

[@bestptecoaching]

"As always, your video was fantastic! I have some insights on 18:08 DET ( Duolingo English Test) that I believe could enhance viewers' understanding." 1. "The widespread acceptance of this examination among English-speaking universities is limited." 2. "The reputation of this assessment has been compromised due to instances where individuals have employed proxies to complete the examination." 3. "An alternative language proficiency assessment known as PTE-Academic offers year-round testing availability, expedited results delivery within two business days, and unlimited score reporting at no additional charge." 4. "While the center-based examinations may pose challenges, they are widely regarded as the most credible assessments available."

[@Shalini_Shakthi]

This is just mindblowing! Just as Nir Eyal's Hooked, can you please recommend a book for Marketing also?

[@ayeshaaeraysh]

Learning Türkiye since COVID quarantine 2020 ❤❤❤❤ Duolingo is amazing

[@mrandmrs8286]

Can u reply me for more information about the app madam

[@balloffire39]

Duolingo founder has given a Ted speech just 4 months ago n u have used those as ur data. Impressive. Actually I'm trying to breakdown ur way of research n learning presentation skills from u. I wish I could get ur course subscription for free! 😅BTW We love ur content a lot n can't sit without pen n a paper while u r explaining 🎉 THANKS BUDDY

[@ryomensukuna58]

You should have included how they expanded to maths and music learning too❤️

[@nikhil55889]

ThAnks ,explaining in English to understand English well 😊😊

[@hemensanmahilange532]

It is really a crazy case study ❤. Customer retention should be the main aim for Ed tech startups. 😊 Thanks bhaiya for this wonderful case study.

[@nrusimha11]

It is wonderful to see Bharayteeya cheerfully adopt US tech like Duolingo, Gmail, or WhatsApp. While that reflects the open mindset of Bharateeya, and superb tech innovation on the part of these companies, it is important to remember that they are, still, US companies. Important for Bharat national interests to understand how to nurture a similar culture of innovation and enterprise in Bharat and develop homegrown alternatives, and more.

[@nikitaagrawal9580]

Upgrad is using similar streak xp points strategy and even is taking the tests in similar manner mentioned in the video..

[@r.shanmuk5989]

We also need a video on Andhra pradesh as same as political and economy analysis done in previous videos. This explains the voters in what position andhra pradesh is in. It might just be a video but many people lives are suffering out there. This is a request from my side. Hope the team think school considers the request.

[@tanmayseth3575]

I am using duolingo too 🤭 have a 120 day streak right now although its hard for me to do anything for consecutive days 😅

[@mslgeetha]

Hi , I am a regular viewer of your podcast. Very informative. A small feedback please check the spellings of the video translation..eg lever is liver , IKEA is ik...

[@amandeeps1026]

I bet Ganesh bhai had watched the Ted talk by Luis von Ahn before creating this video. It's one of my favourites and that kickstarted me to start duolingo.

[@reonsylvester719]

I used to learn Spanish Via Duolingo. It was a good experience ❤

[@kannadafactstar]

Now what ?

[@srinivasmeher4084]

That facebook reference is so apt🤣

[@balloffire39]

Most valuable vdo ever!

[@sourabhbedkute9464]

dont know why but old setup audio feels better than new one

[@vinodjay77]

Duolingo also trains ML models using user data, which it sells for language translation purpose. They likely also sell the huge goldmine of data. So they make really good money just from that.

[@user-qd6tc7ey4n]

Waiting for your video on bankruptcy and insolvency act

[@prateekjain506]

I did learn a lot of French on Duolingo, and this episode kinda hurt cause it seems it wasn't due to my consistency but just Great Product Design

[@jxgeoffrey1990]

I took a subscription for a year, just to restore my streaks from 0. I had around 1500 days streak at that time :D

[@BansiMangukiya]

Founder of duolingo has also worked on creation of Captcha

[@pointnemo4342]

Is this the platform iam looking for to build confidence in public speaking and improving my englis?

[@fayazahamed2710]

Google&KZbin stole my app data , recommended this video😮 Also I have 354 days of Streak until today 👌!!!

[@chetanrawatji]

Thank You ❤

[@thealignmentor]

Ritesh has been always extremely good while talking about some amazing concepts... way he is loosing the game is bit disheartening..wish him all the best for a greater comeback

[@snehal7711]

Duolingo is insanely engaging!

[@atharv_bajpai21]

Just did my Duolingo lesson 😂😂

[@balajisanthanagopalan9616]

Its almost similar to Candy crush app at some features but its really cool as a learning app

[@maruthie5428]

Who installed DUOLINGO APP after watchin this amazing content...

[@ankush9056]

- Customer Retention >> Customer Acquisition - Build a habit-forming product - Business opportunities in third-world countries

[@dbhatija]

All said and done i will never forget that there wasn't a single post honoring the arrival of Dear Ramlalla, "Ganesh"

[@nutanmangukiya528]

Can you make case study on chaswala!! One of growing starup😊

[@bhargava5728]

❤❤❤❤Great Video Bro❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉

[@harshitanahata7316]

Hi, can you please make a video on the Art and crafts supply market leaders like Camlin & Fevicryl (Pidilite) and its huge monoply since the 1940s

[@maheshthorat7568]

I was one of the early user of the app it was simple and effective also the Duolingo bird knocked every competitor out.😂

[@hanu9889]

Hey Team Think School Kindly consider my request ASAP. I've been a fan of your insightful financial contents. Your ability to break down complex topics is highly impressive. Could you please consider creating a video on the current Andhra Pradesh financial position? Your expertise would be invaluable in helping the citizens of the state to understand and navigate the economic landscape as the state as it is having the elections in a month as the current media has totally confused everyone. Kindly consider my request ASAP with an enlightening video for the sake of the YOUTH to awake on the current realistic scenario.

[@Bhavik-td5pf]

Can you make a business case study on Aircraft Leasing Industry

[@LaLaLand11111221]

Awesome video.

[@dhavalfaldu5982]

I think the best way is that you just need to focus on core value of education not on just selling course like byjus

[@supradeep.mukherjee]

So you also started making dedicated sponsorship videos?