Building an Award System

Industry

Education Tech

Client

Airlearn

Project Time

7 Weeks

About the Client

Airlearn is a popular, AI-driven mobile application designed for language learning, used by over 2 million learners globally. It provides bite-sized, interactive lessons in over 25 languages, focusing on practical conversation, cultural context, and gamified, spaced-repetition techniques to boost proficiency.

My Role

Interaction Design, Visual Design, User Flows

Key Metrics

Key Metrics

43%

43%

Airlearn maintained a next-day retention rate of approximately 43%.

Airlearn maintained a next-day retention rate of approximately 43%.

28%

28%

Only 28% of users typically remain active 30 days after signing up.

Only 28% of users typically remain active 30 days after signing up.

3.6x

3.6x

Reaching a 7-day streak makes a user 2.4x to 3.6x more likely to stay engaged long-term.

Reaching a 7-day streak makes a user 2.4x to 3.6x more likely to stay engaged long-term.

Designing Rewards as a Product Experience

Designing Rewards as a Product Experience

Designing Rewards as a Product Experience

The Awards system was designed as a core engagement loop, not a decorative layer. The goal was to translate abstract progress (minutes learned, lessons completed, streaks maintained) into tangible, celebratory moments that users could instantly recognise and feel proud of. Each award was treated like a micro-milestone, carefully timed to reinforce positive behavior at just the right moment in the learning journey.

The Awards system was designed as a core engagement loop, not a decorative layer. The goal was to translate abstract progress (minutes learned, lessons completed, streaks maintained) into tangible, celebratory moments that users could instantly recognise and feel proud of. Each award was treated like a micro-milestone, carefully timed to reinforce positive behavior at just the right moment in the learning journey.

UX Strategy: Rewarding Habit over Skill

UX Strategy: Rewarding Habit over Skill

UX Strategy: Rewarding Habit over Skill

◆ The awards focus on controllable actions: "Early Bird" (lessons before noon). This provides instant dopamine hits that bridge the gap between long-term learning goals. ◆ The awards are integrated into the User Profile UI for others to see during Leaderboard challenges. This transforms a solo achievement into competitive social currency, encouraging users to "catch up" to their peers. ◆ By framing awards as a "collection" (e.g., the Wildfire or Sage badges), the UX taps into the human instinct for completionism, which is more effective for retention than the abstract goal of for example learning Spanish.

UI Design: From Icons to Identity

UI Design: From Icons to Identity

◆ The awards use a multi-tier progression system (Bronze to Diamond). As a user advances, the UI elements become more intricate and "precious" in appearance, utilizing shading and metallic gradients to signal higher status. ◆ Before an award is earned, the UI displays a greyed-out, "locked" version of the icon. This creates visual incompleteness, a UX tactic that triggers the Zeigarnik Effect, where users feel a psychological urge to complete the set.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Driving the product design and animation at Airlearn has been a rewarding challenge. From designing each frame, illustrating each character to adding gamified features, we’ve worked to make the learning experience more engaging.

Designing Widgets

Designing Our AI Mentor