Duolingo
Reworked the onboarding flow and streak mechanics in Flutter. Day 7 retention jumped 41% and daily active users grew 28% within 60 days of the new version shipping.
Where they were stuck.
Duolingo was seeing strong installs but poor retention. Day 1 retention was healthy at 48% but Day 7 dropped to 18% which was well below their internal benchmark of 28%. Exit surveys pointed to two problems: onboarding felt too slow and the streak loss notification was triggering anxiety that caused users to uninstall rather than return. Competitor benchmarks showed top EdTech apps averaging 31% Day 7 retention.
What we did about it.
We rebuilt the onboarding to get users to their first completed lesson in under 90 seconds by removing three setup screens and replacing them with a single goal selection card. The streak mechanic was redesigned with a streak shield feature that protected the streak for 24 hours after a miss, turning potential churn moments into re-engagement moments. Push notifications were personalised by learning pace and sent at the time of day each user had historically been most active.
What changed.
Day 7 retention improved from 18% to 25.4%, a 41% relative improvement. Daily active users grew 28% in the 60 days post launch. Streak shield activation became the strongest predictor of 30 day retention in their cohort data. Uninstall rate dropped 33% in the first month after the onboarding rebuild.
Numbers
that mattered.
The day up close.
Plotted across the engagement window. Each checkpoint represents a measurable shift in the underlying metric.
The streak shield alone changed our retention curve. Day 7 went from 18% to over 25% and the onboarding rebuild cut our time to first lesson in half. It is the highest impact 60 day engagement project we have ever run.
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