Wordprism

Designing an advanced, personalised language-learning app for high-level learners.

Wordprism

Designing an advanced, personalised language-learning app for high-level learners.

Wordprism is a language-learning tool built around idioms, memory, and AI-driven snippet generation. The founder asked us to help redefine its core journeys, create a consistent UI language and build the design system foundations for an app that feels premium, purposeful and easy to navigate.

Wordprism is a language-learning tool built around idioms, memory, and AI-driven snippet generation. The founder asked us to help redefine its core journeys, create a consistent UI language and build the design system foundations for an app that feels premium, purposeful and easy to navigate.

Shaping the foundations of the product

We began with a deep dive into the existing platform and product vision. Early work centred on understanding how people actually learn: how they store phrases, how they recall them and how different learning stacks interact with AI-generated content.

Working closely with the founder, we clarified terminology, reworked the information architecture and simplified the structure so that onboarding, learning stacks, cards and the storage mechanisms all connect well and reflect people's mental model for learning the language. This foundational UX work shaped every design decision that followed.

Shaping the foundations of the product

We began with a deep dive into the existing platform and product vision. Early work centred on understanding how people actually learn: how they store phrases, how they recall them and how different learning stacks interact with AI-generated content.

Working closely with the founder, we clarified terminology, reworked the information architecture and simplified the structure so that onboarding, learning stacks, cards and the storage mechanisms all connect well and reflect people's mental model for learning the language. This foundational UX work shaped every design decision that followed.

Three onboarding screens introducing Wordprism's core features: phrase capture, grammatical breakdown, and adaptive AI learning
Three onboarding screens introducing Wordprism's core features: phrase capture, grammatical breakdown, and adaptive AI learning

Interaction design for meaningful learning

Wordprism deals with complex concepts: idioms, ontologies, spaced repetition, memory training and AI-generated examples. Our focus was on translating these into UI patterns that feel simple and intuitive.

We explored how users move from screenshots or snippets into their inbox, how idioms are saved and organised and how flashcards should behave during playback. Each journey was crafted to feel calm, focused and distraction-free, an experience that supports learning rather than competes with it. We established interaction principles that guided the full UI: clarity over decoration, generous spacing and a sense of rhythm that makes the interface feel deliberate and considered.

Interaction design for meaningful learning

Wordprism deals with complex concepts: idioms, ontologies, spaced repetition, memory training and AI-generated examples. Our focus was on translating these into UI patterns that feel simple and intuitive.

We explored how users move from screenshots or snippets into their inbox, how idioms are saved and organised and how flashcards should behave during playback. Each journey was crafted to feel calm, focused and distraction-free, an experience that supports learning rather than competes with it. We established interaction principles that guided the full UI: clarity over decoration, generous spacing and a sense of rhythm that makes the interface feel deliberate and considered.

Three screen designs from the 'Practice' section of the app
Three smartphone screens displaying a login page and messages in a modern app interface.
Three smartphone screens displaying a login page and messages in a modern app interface.

A premium visual direction

With the core structure in place, we moved into high-fidelity UI and visual language. We created a clean, premium aesthetic using SwiftUI-friendly components so the engineering team could build efficiently and maintain consistency as the product expands. The design system included tokens, colour foundations, type scales and the first library of reusable components giving the team a scalable, maintainable interface system for future features.

A premium visual direction

With the core structure in place, we moved into high-fidelity UI and visual language. We created a clean, premium aesthetic using SwiftUI-friendly components so the engineering team could build efficiently and maintain consistency as the product expands. The design system included tokens, colour foundations, type scales and the first library of reusable components giving the team a scalable, maintainable interface system for future features.

The primary typeface used in the Wordprism app – "Matter"
Black background with text reading "Matter" and a series of letters, numbers, and symbols below it.
Black background with text reading "Matter" and a series of letters, numbers, and symbols below it.
Wordprism UI colour palette
Color gradient chart displaying shades from yellow to black and purple to teal, organized in rows.
Color gradient chart displaying shades from yellow to black and purple to teal, organized in rows.
Various components we designed for the Wordprism app, including buttons, cards and charts
Various components we designed for the Wordprism app, including buttons, cards and charts
Various components we designed for the Wordprism app, including buttons, cards and charts
A smartphone displaying one of the onboarding screens, allowing users to select the topics they are interested in
A smartphone displaying one of the onboarding screens, allowing users to select the topics they are interested in
A smartphone displaying one of the onboarding screens, allowing users to select the topics they are interested in

Testing with learners

We ran remote user testing to validate clarity and comprehension. We wanted to understand whether the redesigned journeys reduced overwhelm, whether the mental model made sense and whether the new visuals helped or hindered the learning flow. The findings directly shaped improvements to onboarding, the inbox and the flashcard experience, resulting in a product that feels consistent and intuitive.

Testing with learners

We ran remote user testing to validate clarity and comprehension. We wanted to understand whether the redesigned journeys reduced overwhelm, whether the mental model made sense and whether the new visuals helped or hindered the learning flow. The findings directly shaped improvements to onboarding, the inbox and the flashcard experience, resulting in a product that feels consistent and intuitive.

Testing with learners

We ran remote user testing to validate clarity and comprehension. We wanted to understand whether the redesigned journeys reduced overwhelm, whether the mental model made sense and whether the new visuals helped or hindered the learning flow. The findings directly shaped improvements to onboarding, the inbox and the flashcard experience, resulting in a product that feels consistent and intuitive.

“Working with Cosmic was a great experience, which revealed lots of potential in our product. Cosmic has not only shown its huge creative capacity, but also mapped it to the actual business. Huge thanks to Aleks and Pete for their flexibility and professional approach!”

Ilya Krasilnikov

Founder, Wordprism

“Working with Cosmic was a great experience, which revealed lots of potential in our product. Cosmic has not only shown its huge creative capacity, but also mapped it to the actual business. Huge thanks to Aleks and Pete for their flexibility and professional approach!”

Ilya Krasilnikov

Founder, Wordprism

“Working with Cosmic was a great experience, which revealed lots of potential in our product. Cosmic has not only shown its huge creative capacity, but also mapped it to the actual business. Huge thanks to Aleks and Pete for their flexibility and professional approach!”

Ilya Krasilnikov

Founder, Wordprism

Related work

Related work

Related work

Let’s work together

If you have a project in mind or would like to find out more about how we can work together, get in touch with us:

Find us

Cosmic Velocity
C3, Design District
13 Soames Walk
SE10 0AX

© 2026 Cosmic Velocity Ltd.

Let’s work together

If you have a project in mind or would like to find out more about how we can work together, get in touch with us:

Find us

Cosmic Velocity
C3, Design District
13 Soames Walk
SE10 0AX

© 2026 Cosmic Velocity Ltd.

Let’s work together

If you have a project in mind or would like to find out more about how we can work together, get in touch with us:

Find us

Cosmic Velocity
C3, Design District
13 Soames Walk
SE10 0AX

© 2026 Cosmic Velocity Ltd.