Prepare for your Duolingo design interview

Gamification design, engagement UX, and portfolio rounds built for Duolingo’s playful, learning-science-driven design culture.

Socratify AI

The Interview

What Duolingo is looking for

Product Design Interview

Product Design Challenge

01Gamification & Motivation Patterns

02Learning Science Integration

03Engagement Loop Design

04Delight & Personality in UI

Design Critique Interview

Design Critique Round

01User Psychology & Behavior

02Interaction Feedback Loops

03Accessibility & Localization

04Visual Hierarchy & Clarity

Gamification-first design//Learning science integration//Delight-driven UX culture

Practice Library

Duolingo exercises

Ready to ace your Duolingo design interview?

Prepare for your Duolingo design interview

Gamification design, engagement UX, and portfolio rounds built for Duolingo’s playful, learning-science-driven design culture.

Socratify AI

The Interview

What Duolingo is looking for

Product Design Interview

Product Design Challenge

01Gamification & Motivation Patterns

02Learning Science Integration

03Engagement Loop Design

04Delight & Personality in UI

Design Critique Interview

Design Critique Round

01User Psychology & Behavior

02Interaction Feedback Loops

03Accessibility & Localization

04Visual Hierarchy & Clarity

Gamification-first design//Learning science integration//Delight-driven UX culture

How It Works

Master Duolingo Design Interviews

Gamification design and critique exercises, scored on Duolingo’s evaluation dimensions. · Click to expand

1Your Design Goals

Interaction Design

Practitioner

Design Systems

Practitioner

2Design Case Prep

Redesign Duolingo’s streak feature to maintain engagement while reducing anxiety.

CASE INTERVIEWMedium

Duolingo

3Frameworks

Framework

Is podcast content hard to discover?

Navigation hierarchy buries podcasts?

Podcast tab 3rd in nav — 8% tap rate vs 54% for Home

No contextual entry points in music listening flow

Recommendation algorithm cold-start problem?

New podcast listeners get generic "Top Charts" — 3% CTR

Music taste signals unused for podcast matching

Does the first-listen experience cause abandonment?

Episode length creates commitment barrier?

Avg episode: 42 min — 71% of first-timers drop before 5 min

No "highlights" or preview clips to reduce perceived commitment

Missing context about what to expect?

Episode descriptions are long-form text — 12% read rate

Is there a content-format mismatch?

Audio-only format limits engagement signals?

Video podcasts: 2.4x completion rate vs audio-only

Visual chapter markers increase skip-to-content by 38%

Context switching from music mindset?

Users in "background listening" mode resist active content

4Feedback

Product Design

Distinctive

Design Critique

Strong

User Research Synthesis

Meeting Bar

Visual & Interaction Craft

Strong

Repeat

Practice Library

Duolingo exercises

Duolingo’s streak feature drives retention but causes anxiety in some users. Redesign it...

CASE INTERVIEWMedium

EdTech · Engagement DesignDuolingo

Design a social learning feature that increases weekly active usage by 15% without...

LEARNHard

EdTech · Social UXDuolingo

Critique Duolingo’s lesson completion screen. Identify three opportunities to increase...

LEARNMedium

EdTech · Design CritiqueDuolingo

Tell me about a time you designed something that was fun to use. How did you measure...

BEHAVIORALMedium

Behavioral · Design for DelightDuolingo

Describe a project where you had to balance simplicity with feature richness. How did...

BEHAVIORALHard

Behavioral · Design JudgmentDuolingo