My Roles
UX Researcher & UX/UI Designer
Primary Stakeholder
CareerFoundry - Intro to UX Design
Tools
Figma & Canva
Reimagining Vocabulary to Increase Retention
Background
Learning new vocabulary can be exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming. Whether you’re learning a new language or studying terms for an exam, many people tend to rely on basic flashcards or repetition. However, these methods often fail to support long-term retention of information.
For this project, I designed a more effective way to learn and remember new words. By researching how people learn and examining what makes vocabulary apps successful, I created a mobile experience that is engaging, effective, and tailored to user needs.
Discover
🔎 Competitor Analysis
I analyzed how various vocabulary apps fulfill user needs, their areas for improvement, and how I can distinguish VocabPal.
💡 My key takeaways were:
Make it engaging
Include interactive games and exercises to make learning feel fun, not repetitive.
Support all users
Design adaptable flows for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users.
💬 User Interviews
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the user needs, behaviors, and motivations, I interviewed 3 potential users. Here’s what I learned:
Customization
Users want the ability to personalize their learning experience with adjustable paths or difficulty levels.Rewards & Motivation
Users are motivated by point or reward systems that encourage consistent learning.Real-World Use
Users feel successful when they can apply vocabulary in real-life situations, so practical exercises are important.
Keep motivation alive
Add streaks, levels, or encouraging feedback to keep learners coming back.
Define
🙋♀️ Primary Persona
Using the insights from the research phase, I created a primary user persona to guide my design decisions throughout the whole process. This helped ensure the design aligned with real user needs.
Meet brielleBrielle, a 28-year-old international graduate student, is an English language learner who recently relocated from her home country to Fairfax, Virginia. She is pursuing a Master of Science in Engineering.
Goals and Motivations:
Improve vocabulary for both a Master’s Degree in Engineering and speaking English fluently
Use newly acquired vocabulary when completing assignments and tests Engage in conversations with others to develop stronger connections
Challenges:
Time management
Limited social support networks
Language barrier
Unique learning needs
❌ Problem StatementBrielle needs a way to learn and retain new vocabulary words efficiently. As an international graduate student, she is working on improving her vocabulary despite the academic demands and language proficiency gaps. We will know this to be true when we see an increase in her vocabulary retention rates and an improvement in her ability to use learned vocabulary in academic and everyday contexts.
✅ Hypothesis StatementWe believe that by designing an interactive and efficient vocabulary app with customized learning routes, interactive exercises, the fusion of academic and everyday vocabulary, and consistent progress monitoring for Brielle, we will achieve an improvement in her academic performance and English proficiency.
📝 User Stories & Flows
Task 1: Onboarding 
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Task 2: upload a new vocabulary wordLow-Fidelity Wireframes
Ideate
📱 Mid-Fidelity Prototype
After developing the foundation and research-based insights, I began brainstorming possible solutions and designing the prototype.
Design
🎯 Usability Testing
I put the prototype to the test and conducted in-person moderated usability tests with 3 users.
Here’s what I learned:
🔁 Iterations
Using the data, I enhanced the user experience to better meet their needs. Here are some of the changes I made:
✨ Refined Prototype
My Reflection
Designing my first UX project, VocabPal, was an exciting and invaluable experience. One of my biggest challenges was to prioritize clarity and create an intuitive navigation system while accommodating multiple features. Since the app provides many functionalities, I needed to ensure that users could effortlessly navigate the app without feeling overwhelmed.
Early usability testing revealed that users struggled to find key features and sometimes felt lost within the app. The original navigation structure didn’t guide users toward achieving their learning goals, and some interactions required too many steps. This led me to rethink the information architecture and focus on reducing cognitive load by refining the interface.
To address the navigation challenges, I redesigned the home screen layout to prioritize the most frequently used features while ensuring secondary actions remained easily accessible. Furthermore, I incorporated familiar design patterns and established a strong visual hierarchy to create an intuitive experience that guided users seamlessly, reducing friction. After implementing these changes, users found the app much easier to navigate and engage with different features without confusion.
My next steps for this project would have included conducting further rounds of usability testing, including accessibility tests to ensure that the final prototype was functional and inclusive for diverse audiences. From there, I would go through multiple iteration cycles to refine the design based on feedback and aim to strengthen data privacy measures to ensure transparency for users.
This experience reinforced the importance of functionality, simplicity, and user-centered design. I learned of the importance of continuous iteration, testing, and adaptability. I will continue to work on designing user-centered experiences and tackling challenges with a growth mindset, ensuring that my design decisions align with real user needs.