Leya AI
Transforming AI language tutoring into a habit-forming learning experience.
OVERVIEW
Leya is an AI English language tutor app helping users build speaking confidence through conversations with an avatar. When I joined, it had 6K paying users, high churn, and competitors with $20M+ in funding. With limited runway, our goal was clear: find a path to retention and growth fast!
The core challenge: speaking a new language and staying motivated to practice feels daunting even for intermediate learners. We needed to make practice manageable, rewarding, and repeatable. We aligned on the “Hooked” framework, and I led the design to reduce first-time friction, build motivation loops, and make practicing sessions more valuable. The result was an engaging, habit-forming experience that set the foundation for growth.
OUTCOMES
50% retention increase, rising from below avg. to competitive levels- 3x increase in practice sessions started per user
- Pivot shipped in under 1 month, enabled by a scalable design system
TESTIMONIAL
Mateo is a unicorn when it comes to design. His ability to go deep into the customer’s mindset, conduct user research, use data to inform his decisions, iterate quickly and come up with pixel perfect screens and workflows is a giant leap ahead of anyone else I’ve ever worked with.
Thivanka De Silva
Founding PM, Leya AI
Easing users into speaking practice
Onboarding and learning path were redesigned to make the first steps effortless. Users met their avatar early to build connection and landed on a learning path where the next action was always one tap away. Introduction of easier non-verbal tasks lowered friction and gradually eased users into speaking.
Friendlier and more effective practice sessions
Long, intimidating speaking tasks caused drop-offs. The core lesson was reimagined around the idea of shortest, most engaging unit that still delivers real learning value. With real-time feedback, each session provides instant value and keeps users motivated to continue practicing.
Habit-building through rewards and delight
The initial app offered little positive reinforcement. We added progress celebrations (streaks, milestones, achievements), progress tracking to reinforce a sense of growth, and subtle animations to add delight. Practicing became fun, satisfying, and worth returning to.
Design system for speed and experimentation
With limited runway, speed was crucial. I built a scalable design system for rapid A/B testing, enabling experiments to ship in hours. Covering UI, microinteractions, Lottie animations, sounds, and haptics, it gave the team a consistent toolkit to ship and move fast.
TESTIMONIAL
With Mateo you aren’t getting just a designer, you are getting full-stack product designer that is embedded into your problem, workflow and customer. I now couldn’t work with anyone that doesn’t have this level of expertise.
Thivanka De Silva
Founding PM, Leya Ai
Designed in close collaboration with CEO, CTO, Founding Product Manager, Founding iOS Engineer, Founding Growth Specialist.
