Follow the user

The most popular app for Chinese learners, by far, is Pleco. It has a bunch of features, including flash cards, but the main attraction is the dictionary - up to date, with English translations even for the most obscure and newly popularised words.

However, the mode of usage has remained the same for years, if not decades:

1. Open the app
2. Search for a word
3. ???
4. Profit

Today users sit in a classroom, iPhone in one hand and an iPad (or iPad pencil) in the other, typing or drawing in words into the search box at the top of the screen. The interface is built for easy navigation, with buttons that take you into words and characters, and back again. There are a fixed set of steps that you repeat each time you open the app. Those steps could be automated, and herein lies the first opportunity.

The other aspect is post-search: what happens once you've found the meaning? Users look up words, but there is no obvious next step for retaining the context. How do they come back to them?

The next must-have app in this space is still waiting to be built. The key is to understand what problems the users face today, and solve for that in a way that provides value.