There's a 5 letter word that describes Wordle enjoyers…
WOR·DLE
noun
/ˈwərdᵊl/
Wordle is a viral word-guessing game where players have six attempts to guess a five-letter word. Feedback is given with color-coded letters to show correct and incorrect guesses. The goal is to guess the word in as few tries as possible.
Now picture this....
You’re stuck on your final guess for wordle. You start guessing random letters to make random guesses....
Oh! We got it!
What in the world is a parer . . . ?
Here are some user reactions to when the wordle answer on February 16, 2022 was caulk
Some other challenging wordle words include. . .
hover to see definitions
Wordle #646
March 2022
GUANO
Wordle #646
March 2022
GUANU
Wordle #517
November 2022
GLYPH
Wordle #659
April 2023
SNAFU
Wordle #454
September 2022
PARER
THIS is the hardest wordle to date, causing 60% of players to lose their streak
Who's playing wordle?
“Wordle has become a habit for millions, but for others it’s not appealing.... Some people enjoy puzzles and thinking challenges more than others. This type of motivation is referred to as need for cognition, and people who have a high need for cognition tend to seek out mental challenges like word games and puzzles.” - pbs.org
This study from PBS suggests that Wordle is popular among individuals who value learning. So let’s provide a word definition!
The current user flow
So where do we put the definition?
Here's a few design iterations
out of the 13 iterations here are the final 3
❌ Hard to see “noun” and “pronunciation” text
❌ Grey box makes design feel detached
✅ Eyes gravitate towards “congratulations” text
✅ Definition clearly sectioned off
✅ Clear font hierarchy
❌ Hard to see “noun” and “pronunciation” text
❌ Grey box makes design feel detached
✅ Eyes gravitate towards “congratulations” text
✅ Definition clearly sectioned off
✅ Clear font hierarchy
❌ Hard to see “noun” and “pronunciation” text
❌ Grey box makes design feel detached
✅ Eyes gravitate towards “congratulations” text
✅ Definition clearly sectioned off
✅ Clear font hierarchy
⚠️ Edge Case! What happens if there are multiple definitions for one word?
For words with multiple, or longer definitions, include a more button for progressive disclosure. This way we avoid overwhelming the user.
The Design Process
The Final Product
Ideas for next time . . .
Confetti anyone? Let’s add an confetti animation to further reinforce the win!
Phone vibration - for every wrong answer the phone vibrates to indicate guess is incorrect. Inspired by PlayStation controllers
Thank you for reading my case study, I now bid you
Pro Tip: SLATE, CRANE and TRACE are actually the best starting words according to WordleBot!