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Why mascots (like Duo) are powerful pieces of UX

There is a reason why every other article here is about Duolingo.

Daley Wilhelm
UX Collective
6 min readJan 23, 2025
Duo smiling and holding a bell.
Duo sends tons of reminders, some of which border on threatening. Why? Image from — https://duolingo.fandom.com/wiki/Duo

Why is Duolingo the subject of so many UX studies? Why does the Duolingo owl mascot, Duo, go viral so often? Why do people give in to the outright threats of this little green guy?

Mascots have unfathomable power when it comes to user experience. Duo is a prime example of how a charming, memorable mascot can build a brand beyond its initial potential. By marrying an excellent user interface with a well-designed mascot, Duolingo has become the darling of UX designers everywhere.

In order to emulate this perfect marriage in your own UX work, it’s important to understand why mascots can be powerful allies.

Duo (and other mascots’) power

Smokey the Bear saying, “Only you!”
Smokey the Bear emphasizes that many forest fires are caused by careless, human actions. Image from — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Bear

“Remember — only YOU can prevent forest fires!”

That’s a lot of pressure, Smokey. Smokey the Bear, created in 1944 via a joint effort between the War Advertising Council and the U.S. Forest Service, quickly became one of the most recognizable characters in the United States. He was invented to help spread the…

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Published in UX Collective

We believe designers are thinkers as much as they are makers. Curated stories on UX, Visual & Product Design. https://linktr.ee/uxc

Written by Daley Wilhelm

A fiction writer turned UX writer dedicated to crisp copy, inclusive experiences, and humanizing tech.

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