Duolingo designs for failure. Here’s why your business should too

Becoming a customer’s habit is the goal of many businesses. Having them rely on you reduces the risk of price sensitivity and churn, and helps dissuade competitors from entering the market. When it comes to designing habit-building products for your customers, the secret you may have overlooked is this: helping them fail.

Consistency is key

We know that consistency is the biggest indicator of whether a habit will form. More important than whether the behaviour represents a small or big change, more important than the environment, and more important than rewards.

Your customer’s ability to do “the thing” on a regular basis is what really matters.

When it comes to designing products we should therefore focus on helping users return to the app, website or device as often as possible.