The Wall Street Journal recently conducted an in-depth interview with the executives of Duolingo, an online learning platform that utilizes gaming and social elements to motivate users. The content delves into the techniques and methods Duolingo employs to ensure consistent user engagement, referred to as “Streak.”
Founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn, a former professor at Carnegie Mellon University who now serves as CEO, along with his student Severin Hacker, now the CTO, Duolingo went public in 2021 under the ticker symbol DUOL, with a current estimated business value of around $8.5 billion.
While Streak, or maintaining continuous daily usage statistics, can be a great motivational tool, the key lies in the messaging notifications sent to users. Duolingo’s research on notification techniques, known as the Bandit Algorithm, has shown significant improvements in user retention rates by 2%, shaping the app’s user behavior positively.
The statistics related to Streak on Duolingo are fascinating:
– The longest consecutive Streak is over 4,100 days.
– More than 70% of current users, exceeding 30 million, have weekly Streaks.
– In America, the most common notification time is at 4 PM, serving as the final reminder before bedtime.
Ultimately, if users consistently ignore notifications, Duolingo continues to send them daily until day 7 when the final message states, “It seems like notifications aren’t working. We will stop sending them.” Surprisingly, a significant number of users opt to return to the app despite this final warning.
TLDR: Duolingo’s innovative notification techniques, embedded within their Streak feature, have successfully increased user engagement and retention rates, showcasing the platform’s commitment to continuous improvement.
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