Keywords

1 Introduction

In the time with rapid development of technology, the broad application of mobile applications has deeply changed people’s lifestyles so that mobile phones become the major information search and collection tool. Such a trend further promotes the formation of new-style learning habits with mobile devices as the core [1]. Along with the multiple development of mobile applications, including various learning APP, a lot of learners start to explore learning opportunities on mobile phones and tablets. They eager to grasp the learning initiative that results in larger motive and participation [2].

Duolingo, promoted in 2011, is a free online language learning platform. The statistics by 2023 shows that it provides courses more than 40 languages and over 5 hundred million downloads to become one of the education applications with the most downloads. Duolingo is popular due to the unique gamification elements and social media interaction. In comparison with other language learning software, Duolingo, through the ingenious gamification elements, provides learners with rich interactive experience. For this reason, it is necessary to discuss the user experience.

Based on the essential emphasis on user experience [3,4,5,6], it becomes the consensus of designers to place users in the core of the design to ensure the good and pleasant interactive experience. Such an idea is especially important for discussing Duolingo application. By deeply understanding factors of culture, language, and user habit in such countries and areas, the application better adapting to their needs and closer to local users’ expectation with rich interactive experience could be provided. This study first focuses on applicable people in Taiwan, and will be expanded to more countries for user needs in different countries and areas.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Duolingo

Duolingo, a language learning application with the slogan of “The world’s best way to learn a language”, was created by Luis Von Ahn and Severin Hacker, allowing users creating a free account and choosing the learned language. It presents several advanced language learning methods, ensures students to learn well through courses, activities, tests, and games, including tracking progress, motivation, feedback, and vocabulary, and assists students in comprehending the learned content, inducing the interests, and enjoying learning fun. The application also tells learners about the information of points acquired, models watched, and time spent. The asynchronous forums link learners to enhance a lot of learning communities, allowing users reflecting and responding time in the forums [7,8,9].

Duolingo, the language learning App, uses gamification as the core, creates game roles to become the reading partners in the learning, and converts language learning contents through challenging and interesting game challenges. The App supports social media interaction, allowing users seeing the learning progress of each other to commonly promote the motivation to learn (see Fig. 1). Along with upgrading challenges, the App offers rewards, e.g. badges and encouraging dialogues, to induce users’ learning interests (see Fig. 2). Duolingo provides more than 40 languages for learning choices; meanwhile, it provides individualized learning plans to ensure each user being able to appropriately learn in different courses. Moreover, the App would organize wrong answers for users’ review to reinforce the memory (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 1.
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Challenges in the learning-through-play Duolingo

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Fig. 2.
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Duolingo learning incentive interface

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Fig. 3.
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Duolingo creating individualized learning courses

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2.2 User Experience

The idea of user experience (UX) was first proposed by Norman, a psychologist and designer, in 1988. Norman, for the first time, introduced the term “User Experience” in the writing The Design of Everyday Things, to describe the overall perception and emotional experience in the interaction between people and products or systems. Nielsen emphasized that user experience was a comprehensive idea, which did not simply contain the actual interaction with products, but also the expectation before use and memory after use. Such comprehension had the evaluation of user experience become more comprehensive and consider users’ feelings and emotion in the entire use process. Aiming at the term “user experience”, ISO 9241-210 defined it as users’ feelings and responding feedback after using and participating in products, systems, and service.

2.3 Gamification

“Gamification” was first proposed by Pelling, a British computer program designer and inventor, in 2002. Pelling contributed to introduce the interactivity and fun in games into other fields, such as business and education. Deterding [10] defined gamification as using game design elements in non-gaming environment. It revealed that gamification applied the design idea of games in situations not in traditional gaming scenes. Non-gaming environment referred to fields or scenes not in traditional games. In such situations, people participated in activities mainly for learning, enhancing skills, or fulfilling goals. According to the comments in studies on gamification, it was one of the most common applications in education or learning [11, 12]. Hamari pointed out positive learning outcome of gamification in education or learning practice and stressed on the potential advantage of gamification in enhancing education effect. Tsai [13] revealed that learners regarded gamification as a reward, being able to eliminate learning dullness for enjoying the learning process and strengthening the motivation to learn. The research result indicated that Duolingo combining Arabic grammar audio and video with games allowed learners learning with easy and interesting ways [14].

3 Methodology

This study aims to understand Taiwanese user experience in using Duolingo for learning-through-play and discuss challenge, preference, interactivity, learning effectiveness, and satisfaction in order to comprehensively understand users’ feelings and points of view in the learning process. User feedback is collected through semi-structured interviews, and the study focuses on deep discussion of such topics, but remains the flexibility for the respondents providing personal opinions and experiences for richer data.

3.1 Research Subject

6 heavies Taiwanese Duolingo users are selected as the respondents for this study to show the preliminary exploration of Taiwanese user experience in learning-through-play with the language learning App (Table 1).

Table 1. Basic information of respondents
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3.2 Interview Design

To understand Taiwanese user experience in learning-through-play with the language learning App, the interview is set the experience in learning-through-play and focuses on the dimensions of challenge, preference, interactivity, learning effectiveness, and satisfaction. Three questions are designed for each dimension for the respondents’ feedback with the past use experiences.

Challenge.

Hammer [15] mentioned that introducing gamification elements, e.g. tasks or challenges, into education could help provide learners with more challenging experiences. Zichermann [16] proposed a similar viewpoint that introducing challenging goals could induce the participants’ positivity. Such goals might cover completing tasks with higher difficulties, solving complicated problems, or achieving certain achievement. Those studies emphasized that the introduction of challenging elements in the gamification learning experience could induce learners’ positive participation and further enhance the learning experience.

Preference.

Helander [17] indicated that a designer could better adapt to the user interface, promote user satisfaction, and enhance good interactive experience by understanding user preference. Considering and comprehending user preference in the product or service design could have the product better approach users’ expectation to enhance the acceptance and satisfaction.

Interactivity.

Interactivity, referring to a two-way or multiple-way communication and operation process, generally occurs between users and systems or users and contents. In human-computer interaction and digital environment, interactivity is one of important elements in user experience, covering several layers of interaction. Interactivity might positively affect users’ satisfaction, effectiveness, efficiency, and overall attitudes [18].

Learning Effectiveness.

Clark [19] considered that learning effectiveness was mainly relied on teaching objectives and students’ learning activities. Learning effectiveness was the effect of learning activity or education interference, aiming to ensure whether students successfully achieve expected learning goals. This study intends to discuss users’ learning effectiveness in using Duolingo, with gamification, interfering the learning process.

Satisfaction.

Satisfaction, as users’ subjective evaluation of products or service, reflects the feelings and attitudes after the use. Such evaluation covers several dimensions and is affected by the interaction between users’ previous expectation and actual perceived performance [20]. Hassenzahl and Tractinsky [21] regarded satisfaction as an important indicator of user experience that understanding satisfaction could help more comprehensively discuss user experience.

4 Results and Discussion

This study aims to understand user experience in learning-through-play with Duolingo. According to the semi-structured interview results, dimensions of satisfaction, challenge, preference, interactivity, and learning effectiveness are organized to respond to the research objective of the preliminary study on Taiwanese user experience in learning-through-play with the language learning App, Duolingo.

4.1 Challenge

From the interview, it is discovered that the learning-through-play Duolingo App successfully corresponds to learning diverse challenges, which do not simply provide opportunities for skill growth, but also increase rich and fun learning experience. Users, during the use of the App, encounter two major challenges, including learning diverse challenges and challenge to complete learning objectives.

Learning Diverse Challenges

The newly contacted courses causing increasing errors result in frustration. (U2-Q3 21012024) Particularly difficult and challenging tasks have not yet perceived. (U3-Q3 22012024)

Users encounter several learning challenges in the learning-through-play Duolingo App. The course design shows moderate difficulty for beginners, but might be inadequate for learners with basis, revealing the subjectivity on challenge.

Challenge to Complete Learning Objectives

The major challenge now should be turning on the App for learning at fixed time every day. (U2-Q2 21012024)

Logging in every day to update learning records is an effective way to cultivate learning habit; however, the respondents generally regard it as a challenging task. It reflects people’s needs for continuous learning and the difficulty to cultivate good learning habits.

4.2 Preference

In the process of the respondents using the learning-through-play Duolingo App, the users reflect the preferred functions or characteristics on individualized learning path, social elements, pronunciation assistance, language preference, and the comfort of visual style. Such elements successfully attract users to have learning become more interesting and attractive. User preference is classified into individualized learning experience and fascinating gamification mechanism.

Individualized Learning Experience

Individual error exercise allows me knowing the shortage. (U1-Q4 21012024)

In the process of using the learning-through-play Duolingo App, individualized learning experience is one of the favorite elements of users. It reflects on several parts where error exercise wins users’ favor, as it offers targeted learning directions to have users clearly understand the weakness and frequent mistakes and further reinforce the learning effect.

Gamification System

Gamification elements are friendly to people lack of concentration. (U3-Q6 22012024).

Duolingo successfully introduces a fascinating gamification mechanism to outstand the language learning field. The design of counting the number of continuous using days induces users’ continuity to be full of learning motivation every day.

4.3 Interactivity

The learning-through-play Duolingo App presents excellent achievement on interactivity. The ingenious design of feedback mechanism successfully induces users’ positive participation in learning and motivation of continuous participation. Through the interview, users’ interactive experience is classified into feedback mechanism of interactivity and incentive effect of social media interaction.

Feedback Mechanism of Interactivity

The “jingle” sound for right answers is nice to feel being awarded. (U4-Q7 22012024)

The feedback mechanism design in the learning-through-play Duolingo App successfully integrates multiple elements to induce users’ positive participation in learning and motivation of continuous participation, containing promotion of challenge, real benefit incentive, praise of game role, sound encouragement for correct answers, guide with the number of loves, and shaking encouragement.

Incentive Effect of Social Media Interaction

Benign competition is the motive of progress and is more effective than struggling alone. (U2-Q8 21012024)

The social media interaction function of the learning-through-play Duolingo App, such as linking good friends and checking learning progress, shows positive effects on users. The respondents stress on the positive effects of social media interaction, including incentive of benign competition, promotion of motivation to learn, and satisfaction with observing good friends’ learning progress. Such a social media interaction mechanism successfully induces users’ learning interests and enhances the entire learning experience.

4.4 Learning Effectiveness

6 heavy Duolingo users are interviewed for this study. The learning gain from Duolingo contains improvement of learning attitude and actual application.

Improving Learning Attitude

The climate is comparatively less serious that the use is persisted to cultivate the habit of continuous learning. (U2-Q12 21012024).

Improving learning attitude: The users, after using Duolingo, feel the improving attitude towards language learning, no longer feel pressure, increase vocabulary through daily practice, and perceive the motivation to learn common words, revealing that the design of Duolingo induces users’ initiative in learning.

Actual Application

I use it for review before the TOEIC exam and receive favorable score. (U1-Q11 21012024)

The language learning application of Duolingo presents significant effects on the promotion of language ability and actual application. First, Duolingo shows extraordinary performance on promoting test results. Some users perceive the promotion of learning effect in specific language tests, e.g. TOEIC exam. It highlights the practicability of Duolingo on the preparation for tests. Users could more confidently cope with language tests and enhance exam performance.

4.5 Satisfaction

Users show positive satisfaction on the learning-through-play Duolingo. Satisfaction in this study covers two dimensions of user interface and special impressive function or design.

Evaluation of User Interface

Simple and easy operation interface allows finding out the required buttons. (U6-Q13 22012024)

Most the respondents show positive evaluation on the user interface, interactivity, and learning effect on the App, and the design of switching language is reputable. Nonetheless, there are some suggestions for improvement, including fluency of sentence translation, unity of pronunciation for word questions, and reduction of advertising frequency.

Impressive Function or Design

The challenge mechanism is similar to playing games that I unconsciously learn a lot. (U3-Q14 22012024)

The error review function is regarded as a considerable function to help users clearly understand the part for reinforcement. Furthermore, the application of challenge mechanism is praised to have learning be similar to playing games and interesting. It offers help for people who are tired of traditional learning from textbooks. The lively animation and picture design has language learning become interesting and the emphasis on shaking effect promotes the operation motivation.

5 Conclusion and Suggestions

This study delves into user experience within the gamified learning app Duolingo. It concludes that users are generally satisfied with the app, attributing this satisfaction to its excellent user interface, interactivity, and gamified learning effects. Duolingo effectively addresses diverse learning challenges and, through personalized learning goal setting, enhances users’ motivation and sense of challenge. The gamification mechanisms and interactive community successfully engage users in positive learning participation, showcasing tangible learning benefits through gamification.

Future research could delve further into the varied feedback from users in Taiwan and other cultural contexts, examining differences in user preferences, needs, and challenges. Through future cross-cultural studies on Duolingo user experiences, insights into cross-cultural preferences, needs, and challenges can be uncovered, offering more refined and specific cross-cultural design recommendations to enhance user experiences. This will facilitate better understanding and optimization of cross-cultural user experiences, promoting enhanced cross-cultural interaction and comprehension in language learning.