Duolingo banned wireframes. Should you?

Duolingo just banned wireframes.

Yes, banned.

In a recent post, their team declared a new product design rule: “No more wireframes. Seriously. Our CEO requested it.”

Instead of starting with diagrams or documentation, Duolingo now leads with prototypes. Their goal? Skip the explanation. Go straight to the vibe.

Their belief? A working interface speaks louder than a slide deck. You feel the product before you explain it. It’s fast, it’s intuitive, and it sounds like something close to vibe-first design.

And honestly—for them? It makes sense.

Duolingo has:

But here’s where it gets tricky:

If you’re still figuring out your product,

Your features, flows, and visual system,

Jumping straight into polished prototypes can lead to chaos.

It’s like framing a house before you’ve drawn up the blueprints.

I’ve seen this happen too many times:

You end up designing something that looks great… but doesn’t actually solve the problem. Or worse, you ship something that’s half-baked in both form and function.

That’s why I still teach that wireframing is a valuable skill set to have when the time is appropriate.

In Shift Nudge* I walk through the framework that helps you know when to use a wireframe, and when it’s time to push into a visual design.

Because knowing the tools is one thing.

But knowing when and why to use them? That’s the skill that makes great designers.

So if you want to make decisions like this with confidence and build a system that supports you long-term, not just in one project… start by mastering the fundamentals.

Curious to hear your take:

Do you wireframe? Or do you prototype-from-the-start?