Babbel / 2023-2025

Vocabulary Review:
a system to remember

Review is a key Babbel feature that helps learners retain vocabulary using a spaced repetition algorithm. It resurfaces words at the right time and is one of the main drivers of engagement, habit-building, and learning success.

Goal

The review starts and completions are
main metrics for user activation leading to long term retention and learning success. Therefore we are constantly looking to improve these metrics.

Role

I drove the product discovery phase with the goal of increasing the frequency of review sessions. I collaborated closely with product, engineering, learning experts, and user research to define a more effective and engaging review experience.

Team Setup

Agile team led by a Product Trio (PM, EM, Designer), building for iOS, Android and Web in close collaboration with research, content, and engineering.

Discovery

User problem

"I want to feel like I've grasped what I'm learning before I move on with my lessons"

Highly grounded in cognitive science, Babbel’s review system is based on an algorithm that delivers vocabulary items at optimal review times. However through extensive research we have uncovered that the feature can easily become repetitive and feel like a chore as items pile up.

Too repetitive

I lack motivation to engage with the current review experience, because it feels boring and repetitive.

Too complex

I find it hard to navigate the complex interface and understanding the review system, especially the stages of word progression.

* existing feature at the time I took this project

Not personally meaningful

I want to learn words and phrases that are personally meaningful to me.

No control over when and what I review

I want to practice whenever I want, however I want

Opportunity

Create a better vocabulary structure that would help learners feel guided while allowing some level of customisation and personalization.

Make review feel guided but flexible

Encourage small daily habits and reduce the temptation to binge review.

Enable customisation

Enable learners to curate and revisit vocabulary that matters to them.

New structure proposal

Reduce complexity

Reduce the cogniyive load generated by the memory stages and explore a simpler way to show progress.

Structured list

Group the words and phrases in meaningful collections, either system generated or user generated.

Design&
Development

Exploring ways to drive motivation with and without Metrics

We tested visual approaches with and without metrics and found that too much data could overwhelm users.This led us to a much simpler, word-based motivational approach—encouraging learners to complete a "Daily Review Session" as a low-pressure, achievable goal. This framing helped shift the focus from performance to consistency, supporting long-term habit formation.

AB Test(s)

We developed a solution based on user feedback and launched A/B tests to measure the impact against the exiting version. I collaborated closely with the product trio to create an implementation roadmap that allowed us to release and A/B test specific sections of the screen independently.

Rebrand+
Launch

Starting 2023, we underwent a full product rebranding. As we were preparing to launch the new Review Manager, we also implemented a quick visual update to align with the new brand language. With the rebranding launch, the Review Manager was finally complete and fully integrated into the updated product experience.