Duolingo's Gambit

Can Duo’s death change the user experience?

Author

Jon Haines
February 20, 2025

This week’s edition:

  • Duolingo’s Gambit: Can Duo’s death change the user experience?

  • Design articles i found interesting

  • Design jobs I found interesting

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, Duo, the owl mascot from Duolingo, has died — hit by a Cybertruck in fact. And it’s been doing wonders for the company’s marketing. The company has gone so far as to have the company’s founder Luis von Ahn go on Instagram to read his eulogy.

It’s a bit confusing, considering Duo is still around within the app itself. I have a 400+ day streak going, and I still the green guy, just as I always did.

But outside of the lessons, social media is ablaze with the story about a fictional avicide.

I love Duolingo as a brand. I think they create simple characters that are colorful and identifiable — not just Duo, but the entire cast. This marketing stunt could have been a huge risk to “kill” a beloved member of their ensemble, but instead, has catapulted Duolingo into conversation on Tiktok, Youtube videos, and more.

The elephant in the room

I may get a lot of criticism for this, but as much as I like the Duolingo branding, I think Duolingo as a product is not very good. There are other language apps that work, but the user experience of Duolingo falls flat because it doesn’t set out to do what it’s supposed to do.

Consider this. How many users do you know that user Duolingo? How many of them have streaks of 100+ or even 1000+? Do these users know how to speak the languages they are learning?

Why is this the case?

Duolingo emphasizes extending streaks and winning challenges. I understand this is to make the application more fun. The issue is that I open the app to extend my streak and care little about learning anything. In addition to gaining attention with this marketing event, Duolingo should consider changing the way streaks and challenges work. Other language applications focus on grammar and/or conversation. It’s this type of method that would make users interested in continuing to learn.

Because right now, my interest in language learning is pretty dead… like the owl.

Design Articles for the Week

Duolingo 'killed' its mascot with a Cybertruck, and it's going weirdly well | TechCrunch

Duolingo's mascot, Duo the owl, is dead. Okay, Duo isn't really dead (we think), but the language learning app committed so hard to this bit that its CEO,

techcrunch.com/2025/02/18/duolingo-killed-its-mascot-with-a-cybertruck-and-its-going-weirdly-well/?utm_source=news.todayin.design&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=duolingo-killed-its-mascot-with-a-cybertruck-it-s-going-weirdly-well&_bhlid=f93d1474019133415ea33b2f048a2359ecfca69a&guccounter=1

Google Meet’s AI transcripts will automatically create action items for you

Ironically, that’s one less thing to check off.

www.theverge.com/news/614742/google-meet-gemini-ai-note-taking-action-items?utm_source=news.todayin.design&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=duolingo-killed-its-mascot-with-a-cybertruck-it-s-going-weirdly-well&_bhlid=1c52ecc750c3b9da537b6d667655d4cf1813a22e

Troubled electric truck maker Nikola files for bankruptcy | TechCrunch

Hydrogen electric trucking startup Nikola Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday after it failed to find a buyer or secure additional

techcrunch.com/2025/02/19/troubled-electric-truck-maker-nikola-files-for-bankruptcy

Design Jobs for the Week

Hi, I’m Jon, a UX and Product Designer from Brooklyn, New York. I write the Design Breadcrumbs newsletter to express my own thoughts on the design world, freelancing, and career advancement. Subscribe to get this news delivered to your inbox every week.