Bunpo
2025
An audit of Bunpo, a Japanese learning app.
Dialogues
Context
Dialogues were something that I was looking forward to testing when I started this project. During my 3 years of self-studying, I haven't been able to find many opportunities to practice speaking or texting. Currently at a N5-N4 level, dialogues is an easy way for me to practice using the grammar concepts I've been learning.
Current State
Dialogues are designed to help users practice conversational Japanese. However, the home screen's layout mirrors a lesson overview rather than a chat interface, missing an opportunity to drive engagement.
Figure 1. Bunpo's dialogue screen
Pain Point
The interface doesn't evoke a chat experience, reducing motivation to practice.
Solution Impact
Chat-like interface inspired by iMessage, X DMs, and WeChat.
Redesign
Figure 2. My redesign of the dialogue screen
Automatic Sorting
Conversations auto-sort by last opened; status tags indicate "in progress," "completed," or "not started."
Challenge Tracker
Challenge tracker accessible within each chat, not on the overview.
Pain Point
Suggesting sentences via a pencil icon is unintuitive, leading users to be unaware of the feature.
Solution Impact
Sentence suggestions cycle within the text input, replacing the pencil icon.
With this new design, I believe that the experience of the dialogues feature feels more natural and akin to a messaging app, motivating users to practice their Japanese in conversation.
Figure 3a. Bunpo's chatting screen (left); Figure 3b. My redesign of the chatting screen (center); Figure 3c. Chatting challenge tracker (right)
Leagues
Current State
Leagues, inspired by Duolingo's leaderboard, gamifies progress but initially lock users out, requiring activities for access.
Figure 4. Leagues are initially locked (left); Figure 5. Bunpo's leagues screen (right)
Pain Point
Unclear activity requirements and lack of feedback on progress.
Solution Impact
Remove access barriers; allow users to explore leagues immediately.
Pain Point
No intrinsic motivation to unlock or compete in leagues.
Solution Impact
Visual hierarchy highlights top 3 students per league, making the feature more motivating to get onto the podium.
Pain Point
Absence of meaningful rewards for high rankings.
Solution Impact
Add rewards: coins, badges, and friend competitions to boost motivation.
Redesign
Figure 6. My redesign of the leagues screen
With a couple of these small changes that I've outlined in the redesign and in this writeup, I believe that the leagues feature within Bunpo can become much stronger and entice users to use it more!
Homepage Redesign
Current State
Chapters are presented in a long, scroll-heavy list, making navigation cumbersome.
Figure 7. Bunpo's home screen
Pain Point
Inefficient chapter navigation.
Solution Impact
A grid view of chapters, with different colours based on completion (pink), in progress (yellow), or locked (grey) easily allows users to navigate through their chapters.
Pain Point
Membership banners occupy valuable screen space.
Solution Impact
Minimizing the bunpo membership banner allows more space for the main content on the screen.
Pain Point
Language/proficiency selection feels buried.
Solution Impact
The new language and proficiency picker allows users to select their learning mode in a more simplified way.
Redesign
Figure 8. My redesign of the home screen
Monthly Challenges
Current State
Monthly Challenges aim to encourage consistent learning, with three challenge types.
Figure 9a. monthly challenges home screen; Figure 9b. medal collection screen
Pain Point
Carousel navigation is unclear.
Solution Impact
Pagination replaces carousel for clearer navigation.
Pain Point
Medal collection lacks visual feedback.
Solution Impact
Medals tab displays all possible medals for the month.
Pain Point
Challenge details are not easily scannable.
Solution Impact
Challenge details organized into pills: date, deadlines, and requirements.
Redesign
Figure 10. challenge details screen
I thought that monthly challenges was a really well-designed and developed feature overall; with these changes I believe that it can become even better!
Figure 11a. challenge home screen redesign; Figure 11b. new medals collection screen; Figure 11c. new challenge details screen
Takeaways
Redesigning Bunpo's core features challenged my approach to user engagement and interface clarity. By prioritizing intuitive navigation and meaningful feedback, I aimed to make language learning more enjoyable and effective.
To learn more about bunpo, check out the (Bunpo website). You can also download the app on the (iOS App Store) or (Google Play Store).
私と同じくらい楽しく日本語を学べますように！