Bunpo

DescriptionA UX audit of Bunpo, a Japanese-learning app I've used for years — three new features read closely, and redrawn.

RoleProduct Designer

Timeline2025

LiveBunpo

iOS App Storeopen

Google Playopen

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I've spent close to three years teaching myself Japanese, which means I know the digital learning landscape a little too well. Bunpo was one of my early favourites.

Recently it shipped a run of new features — Dialogues, Leagues, a redesigned home, and Monthly Challenges. I sat with each one and wrote up what worked, what didn't, and where I'd take it.

Dialogues

Dialogues was the feature I was most curious about. In three years of self-study I've rarely found a low-stakes way to practice speaking or texting, and at an N5–N4 level, Dialogues is an easy way to actually use the grammar I've been learning.

They're meant to help you practice conversational Japanese — but the home screen is laid out like a lesson overview instead of a chat, which quietly misses the chance to pull you in.

SolutionA chat-like interface, closer to iMessage, X DMs, or WeChat.

Conversations sort themselves by last opened, with tags for in-progress, completed, or not-started.

The challenge tracker moves inside each chat instead of sitting on the overview.

SolutionSentence suggestions cycle right inside the text input, and the pencil goes away.

With this, Dialogues feels more like a real messaging app — which is exactly the thing that would make someone want to practice.

Leagues

Leagues borrows Duolingo's leaderboard to gamify progress, but it locks you out at first and asks for activity before you can even see it.

SolutionDrop the barrier — let people explore Leagues right away.

SolutionA visual hierarchy that lifts the top three in each league, so the podium is worth chasing.

SolutionAdd rewards — coins, badges, friend competitions — to give the climb a point.

A few small moves like these would make Leagues a lot stronger, and a lot more likely to get used.

Homepage redesign

Chapters live in one long, scroll-heavy list, which makes getting anywhere a chore.

SolutionA grid of chapters, coloured by state — done (pink), in progress (yellow), locked (grey) — so you can find your place at a glance.

SolutionShrink the membership banner and give the screen back to the content.

SolutionA clearer language-and-proficiency picker that makes choosing your mode simple.

Monthly challenges

Monthly Challenges nudge you to keep a streak, with three challenge types.

SolutionPagination instead of a carousel, so it's obvious where you are.

SolutionA medals tab that shows every medal available that month.

SolutionDetails broken into pills — date, deadlines, requirements.

Monthly Challenges was already well-made; these changes would just sharpen it.

Takeaways

Redesigning Bunpo's core features pushed on how I think about engagement and clarity. By leaning on intuitive navigation and real feedback, I was trying to make learning a language feel a little more enjoyable — and a little more effective.