Luis Von Ahn

We don't like to use the word addicted, but it's kind of like many people, you could say that they're addicted to it.

In certain ways, it is. I mean, it's extremely engaging. It really gets you to continue doing it and use it every day.

In certain ways, it is. I mean, it's extremely engaging. It really gets you to continue doing it and use it every day.

In certain ways, it is. I mean, it's extremely engaging. It really gets you to continue doing it and use it every day.

Well, the first thing we did was to turn it as much into a game as possible. And this is something that came up even before we launched, and it was because we couldn't get ourselves to use our own app. Before, it was a game. I was trying to learn German because Severin's native language is German and he was trying to learn Spanish because my native language is Spanish. I made the Spanish course.

Well, the first thing we did was to turn it as much into a game as possible. And this is something that came up even before we launched, and it was because we couldn't get ourselves to use our own app. Before, it was a game. I was trying to learn German because Severin's native language is German and he was trying to learn Spanish because my native language is Spanish. I made the Spanish course.

Well, the first thing we did was to turn it as much into a game as possible. And this is something that came up even before we launched, and it was because we couldn't get ourselves to use our own app. Before, it was a game. I was trying to learn German because Severin's native language is German and he was trying to learn Spanish because my native language is Spanish. I made the Spanish course.

He made the German course. We were learning each other's language. We couldn't get ourselves to use it.

He made the German course. We were learning each other's language. We couldn't get ourselves to use it.

He made the German course. We were learning each other's language. We couldn't get ourselves to use it.

Yeah, this was not good. So then we decided, okay, well, we need to do something about that. And this is when we decided to make it as much into a game as possible. So the first thing we did is, you know, lessons used to be 30 minutes long. We turned them into like three minutes long. We added progress bars everywhere. We started giving points.

Yeah, this was not good. So then we decided, okay, well, we need to do something about that. And this is when we decided to make it as much into a game as possible. So the first thing we did is, you know, lessons used to be 30 minutes long. We turned them into like three minutes long. We added progress bars everywhere. We started giving points.

Yeah, this was not good. So then we decided, okay, well, we need to do something about that. And this is when we decided to make it as much into a game as possible. So the first thing we did is, you know, lessons used to be 30 minutes long. We turned them into like three minutes long. We added progress bars everywhere. We started giving points.

So all of that, it just kind of turned a little bit into a game. That is kind of step one. The next thing we did related to that, this is after we launched, but we added this notion of a streak, which was really powerful, which is a streak just counts the number of days that you've used the app consecutively. And if you stop on a given day, it goes to zero. That

So all of that, it just kind of turned a little bit into a game. That is kind of step one. The next thing we did related to that, this is after we launched, but we added this notion of a streak, which was really powerful, which is a streak just counts the number of days that you've used the app consecutively. And if you stop on a given day, it goes to zero. That

So all of that, it just kind of turned a little bit into a game. That is kind of step one. The next thing we did related to that, this is after we launched, but we added this notion of a streak, which was really powerful, which is a streak just counts the number of days that you've used the app consecutively. And if you stop on a given day, it goes to zero. That

has really been transformative for us, the streak. Now, with the streak, you would think that it's just a number that you put in there and it is, it's just a counter, but it's actually extremely sophisticated. You would not imagine how sophisticated things are. For example, it's not quite true that you can never miss a day.

has really been transformative for us, the streak. Now, with the streak, you would think that it's just a number that you put in there and it is, it's just a counter, but it's actually extremely sophisticated. You would not imagine how sophisticated things are. For example, it's not quite true that you can never miss a day.

has really been transformative for us, the streak. Now, with the streak, you would think that it's just a number that you put in there and it is, it's just a counter, but it's actually extremely sophisticated. You would not imagine how sophisticated things are. For example, it's not quite true that you can never miss a day.

We give you these things that are called streak freezes in case you miss a day.