Innovative design, Duolingo wins Apple Design Award 2023

Duolingo, a US-based language learning app announced on Friday that it had won an Award in Design during the 2023 edition of the Apple Design Awards. The award honours excellence in innovation, inventiveness, and technical achievement in the app and game design.

The learning platform was founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker and has since grown to become one of the most popular language-learning apps in the world. It offers different language courses, from popular languages, to less commonly studied languages.

The learning app incorporated a series of major redesign improvements during this past year, and the design is seen to be child friendly as well.

"I want to thank our VP of Design, Ryan Sims, for his work in leading this effort and for his continued creative vision," Luis von Ahn, CEO, and co-Founder at Duolingo, said in a statement.

The company also said that the app has figured out how to make a daily language lesson a fun moment, instead of classwork, as a result, Apple awarded Duolingo among the Delight and Fun Winners, a category that recognizes platforms that provide memorable, engaging, and satisfying experiences that are enhanced by Apple technologies.

"The secret to Duolingo is that we're not an education company. We're a fun and motivation company. Fun is the most important part of the work we do," said Ryan Sims, VP of Design, Duolingo.

This past year, Duolingo launched a major learning path redesign. In previous versions, it focused on a main screen, known as "the tree", that let people explore numerous routes. The path redesign coincided with another important update that added animations for Duolingo's wonderful cast of characters.

The characters are Lily, a perpetually unimpressed teen with a dismissive slow-clap; Oscar, a dramatic teacher who takes his job very seriously; and Eddy, a fitness buff with an enthusiasm for just about everything, according to the company.