IV · Companion app
Vocab
A spaced-repetition vocabulary app for German learners: 1,500 words, four learning modes, and a deliberately anti-gamification design that signals progress through colour rather than streaks or XP.
Existing vocab apps forced a choice between Duolingo-style gamification, all streaks and XP and mascots, or Anki's clinical starkness. Neither fit calm, self-paced adult learners who are motivated but not disciplined by badges.
A React and TypeScript app with Firebase-backed accounts and progress syncing: 1,500 words across 13 groups, moved through four learning modes. A first-exposure reading carousel (Learn), recall drills (Match), a from-scratch spaced-repetition review system with binary difficulty rating (Ganz), and a full vocabulary browser (Bank), plus dedicated writing and speaking practice pages.
Progress does not need a streak counter to feel motivating. Building a gold-to-amber-to-brown colour gradient tied to depth of knowledge, decided before any UI existed, taught me how much a documented anti-reference, an explicit list of what not to be, sharpens design decisions as much as a mood board of what to be.