Building fluency and speaking confidence for non-native speakers
Non-native English speakers often struggle to settle in English-speaking countries, where strong language skills are key to securing better jobs, education, and social connections.
Fluently is an app that helps non-native English speakers build confidence in spoken English through daily practice.
Daily prompt
Every day, Fluently gives users a fresh prompt to spark their speaking practice. They get 15 seconds to think over their response before they speak for a minute about it. After speaking, our AI, Sono analyses their audio and delivers a clear percentage on fluency, topic relevance, word clarity, and confidence. It also highlights what the user did well and provides practical tips they can use to do better the next day.
Viewing all recordings
Users can revisit their past recordings in a dedicated section of the app. Each recording comes with its transcript and score, so they can listen back and see how they performed. Reviewing transcripts helps them spot patterns, like overused words, and practice fixing them.
See your growth in numbers
The user can view the history of all their scores and see how they have improved over time. This subtly helps them set goals, like aiming for a higher overall score next week, keeping practice focused and rewarding.
Inspired by Wordle
Wordle’s magic is its simplicity and daily hook. I channeled that into Fluently by giving users one prompt a day, keeping practice quick and stress-free. We made a deliberate choice of not giving the user an option to peek at the prompt beforehand. This pushes users to think on their feet and speak spontaneously, mimicking real-life conversations.
Testing showed that users wanted an option to adjust the 15-second thinking time to feel more comfortable preparing their response.
Key screens and key design decisions
Things I learned from this project
One pain point at a time
Going hyper-focused on a specific pain point was a game-changer. It helped me clear my thinking and also empathise with our target group more deeply. My mentor’s advice rang true: trying to solve everyone’s problems leaves everyone confused about the app’s purpose.
Marketing the app is just as important as designing it
Presenting the app at the program showcase and UTS Tech Fest taught me how to pitch it as the must-have tool users didn’t know they needed. Facing questions and critiques sharpened my ability to explain the app’s purpose and boosted my confidence to defend our vision.