3 Interesting Human Factors found in Duolingo that feed Ambition
Brief Analysis of Zeigarnik’s Effect, Recognition vs. Recall, and Hick’s Law in UX/UI Design.
Designers can learn from analyzing human factors principles in existing products. Most language learning enthusiasts have heard of or used Duolingo. Duolingo uses gamified techniques to help people study and to achieve language certifications.
I first started using Duolingo to practice my Chinese when I was in high school. Years later, I continue to use Duolingo to both practice and learn foreign languages. As a curious user experience and product designer, I wanted to examine its interface.
I researched various cognitive influences and human factor principles commonly used in applications. Three were prominent: recognition over recall, Hick’s law, and Zeigarnik’s effect. This analysis of Duolingo’s interface shows how human factors motivate language learners.
Hidden Influences on Our Behaviors
Good design is intuitive, allowing the user to achieve their goals with little friction. Design and human factor principles influence the product’s interface and user experience. An interface bridges people and the provided service. (think: everything you see and interact with on your screen at the surface level).
Alan Cooper talks about design principles in his book, About Face. He describes them as, “applicable guidelines that address issues of behavior, form, and content” (173). And, he argues technology should conform to human abilities and support human intellect.
In short, human factor principles is a broad design guideline. It roots itself in scientific understandings of human abilities and limitations. Let’s discuss three examples of human factor principles that affect Duolingo’s interface.
Zeigarnik’s Effect
There are two types of factors that influence the Zeigarnik effect. These are intrinsic, or coming from within, and extrinsic, or coming from outside the self. Designers frequently reference Jon Yablonski’s book, laws of UX. According to him, the Zeigarnik’s effect is, “people remember[ing] uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.”
Duolingo incorporates this cognitive influence. For instance, the visual cues for lesson completion as well as the overview of the lesson units and components.
But, externally-focused motivation can arguably drive learners to stop practicing. Condry predicts activities with “no inherent completion point” (qtd. in McGraw 58) that are subject to:
“extrinsic factors as deadlines and rewards will undermine intrinsic factors so that the person will cease work on the task once the extrinsic constraint is met, regardless of the status of the project relative to internal standards” (qtd. in McGraw 59).
McGraw and Jirina put this prediction and this principle to the test. They conducted a study where some participants were volunteers and some received rewards. They found the Zeigarnik effect is a result of internal motivation. And, extrinsic influences mitigated the extent of the effect (McGraw 60).
Duolingo’s design combats McGraw’s and Jirina’s study conclusions. The user interface comprises many layers of extrinsic motivators. These include features from community ranking competitions and friend quests to private lesson and story completion challenges.
Most of Duolingo’s audience started using the product and service for intrinsic reasons. But, Duolingo emphasizes using external influences to drive their language learning further.
Recognition vs. Recall
Recognition and recollection both impact the accessibility of design. Recognition rather than recall is a concept derived from how memory retrieval works. Our neurological structure indicates that recollection is more difficult than recognition (Johnson, 121–29). A healthy balance of the two processes can lead to a successful learning experience.
One example where this principle is applied is with the use of symbols. Johnson describes related, successful instances:
“memorable icons and symbols hint at their meaning, are distinguishable from others, and consistently mean the same thing, even across applications” (126).
Due to the usage frequency of common symbols, these symbols are quickly recognizable. A house icon, for instance, in a menu bar is generally assumed to lead the user to the product’s homepage.
On the other hand, new or unfamiliar symbols can mislead people interacting with the product or service. Lack of assisting text or other means of accessibility can also add to these user’s confusion. Oftentimes, people won’t interact with these obscure symbols.
Duolingo uses standardized symbols in their navigational menu for easy recognition. The interface also incorporates clear imagery within the lessons to convey vocabulary meanings. The navigation menu changes to suit each language category with more or less options. But, similar menu icons remain consistent and logical in location.
Hick’s Law
Design assists people in getting to their desired goal in the simplest way possible. Design averts complexity to not overwhelm the product or service user. As the quantity or complexity of choices increases, so does a person’s decision time. The laws of UX define this correlation as, “Hick’s law.” When solving related problems, a designer requires an open, curious mindset.
People experiencing the product or service have a different perspective than designers expect. This is especially true if it is their first time interacting with it. Soegaard indicates that simplifying the decision process is essential for a user-friendly experience. But, he notes there are exceptions, such as when someone made a decision before engagement.
Here are two examples of clutter-reducing methods that Soegaard mentions:
1. using categories to clump choices
2. breaking apart complex processes into fewer options displayed across separate screens.
Duolingo incorporates these ideas in their content breakdown. The platform groups language content into themed lessons and lessons into units. Each lesson consists of a short, two-minute series of practice activities. These activities display one question at a time and a visible progress bar.
As such, decision fatigue is minimized and users are more likely to complete a lesson. They feel satisfied after making progress towards reaching their goals. Reducing decision-making complexity, in turn, causes people to return to using Duolingo.
How Duolingo’s Interface Keeps Us Practicing
Duolingo curates many target language learning experiences for their learners. Yet, the experience across languages maintains a similarity in experiences. Various human design factors influence this similarity. They encourage learners to practice their target language.
So far, I addressed three of these principles. I touched on how:
- recognition is easier for people to accomplish than recollection (recognition vs. recall)
- intrinsic factors are central to the urge to return to finish uncompleted tasks (Zeigarnik’s effect)
- simplifying choice complexity reducing the time taken to reach user’s end goal (Hick’s law)
Also, I overviewed instances of these human factors principles within Duolingo’s interface. There are many facets to Duolingo design. But, I will dive deeper into these select examples: the application’s gamification, language learning, and user interface experiences.
Gamification for User Engagement
Language learners wanting to practice their target language download and keep up with Duolingo. Their internally-derived motivation is the foundation for their interactions with the application. The easy onboarding focuses on getting users to jump into lessons as soon as possible.
This introduction influences people’s decision to keep the application for future use. But, does Duolingo build off of and support the user’s intrinsic motivation? Or, does it deflate the learner’s interest and drive them away with extrinsic features?
People continue to use Duolingo to practice for many reasons. One of these reasons is the language progress trackers existing on the interface. For example, progress rings around individual lessons; rankings on community competition boards; and progress markers for personal achievement awards. Duolingo also begins to “break” 100% complete lessons to prompt review. This constant “incompletion” encourages learners to return to practice their target language.
But, Duolingo’s gamification builds off of extrinsic, rather than intrinsic motivating factors. According to Silva, this fact means that the Zeigarnik’s effect is not as effective. External motivators in Duolingo include experience points (a.k.a. “XP”), gems, crowns, and weekly community competitions.
Given that most learners started Duolingo because of their own goals, does Silva’s argument always apply? These outside motivators can be a mechanism for keeping that initial, intrinsic rationale alive. They could add to the “fun” of the learning experience — like for people who thrive in competing on the boards.
After all, Duolingo’s vision centers around making language education manageable and enjoyable.
Language Learning Experience
At the center of Duolingo’s service is the promise for users to be able to learn and master a target language. Duolingo provides a variety of practice methods, which revolve around translation and transcription. These activities usually provide aid in the form of a vocabulary list or an audio recording. In doing so, the language learner doesn’t have to completely recollect the words or phrases.
Thus, Duolingo’s interface emphasizes language recognition. Makaar speaks about his language learning experience on Duolingo. He points out, “multiple stimuli — visuals, audio, writing — to enhance your learning experience.” He also says completing a lesson takes “less than 2 minutes” (Makaar). These factors allow Learners to move quickly through the lessons on Duolingo.
Duolingo users are repeatedly exposed to the target language words and phrases. This exposure boosts their ability to understand and retain the language. Simple and quick lesson completion lets learners gain confidence. And, they continue to desire practicing the target language on Duolingo.
User Interface Design
Duolingo provides various ways to engage and learn a target language. Streamlining these many ways ensures the user is not scared away. Gothelf defines simplification as, “reducing the elements on the screen down to the most basic ones, the ones that will facilitate the task that the user has to complete.” (Gothelf).
Duolingo embodies this simplification down to their “play first, [create a] profile second,” strategy. This strategy is bound to the idea:
“if they cannot make account creation fun, then they want to minimise it as much as possible. Their model in one mantra: the more you learn, the more you return” (McGowen).
In the same vein, Duolingo makes getting bored difficult. The learner is able to choose between activities. And, they feel excitement as they make progress towards their language goals.
Duolingo consists of various practice and motivation techniques. For example, timed challenges, practice stories, and themed lessons. These techniques are then organized into categories within each language. Users can use the product to practice a target language at their convenience.
Additionally, the platform disperses activity and question types across interface screens and pages. These design decisions help to greatly reduce the user choices made at any given screen. In turn, Duolingo sufficiently integrates Hick’s law.
Language learners can simply and quickly learn and progress in their target language. The observed information hierarchy and target language progression serve to motivate learners. They return to use Duolingo with the belief that they can and are achieving their language goals.
Key Design Takeaways
Human factor principles are not the only element to consider while designing. There are many other components that make a design successful. Such as the product being useful, usable, findable, credible, desirable, accessible, and valuable. These are the 7 factors that influence user experience.
Integrating human factor principles into designs can be beneficial. But, they also come with compromises worth considering. Some of these shortcomings revolve around various conflicts. These tensions could be with cultural context or with variable human abilities. Or, they could be with the limitations of technology and external influencers.
For example, there is a generalized distinction between Chinese and Western designs. Popular Chinese user interfaces consist of a complex assortment of interactive components. Western user interfaces favor content reduction and ample white space (“UX in China”).
When applying human factors principles, designers must stay mindful towards many elements. Three of these important aspects we have to consider:
1. the target audience and market
2. the product or service’s intended solution and purpose
3. the accessibility and scalability
Summary
Duolingo’s interface exemplifies three human factor principles. I analyzed how Zeigarnik’s effect, Hick’s law, and Recognition over recollection influenced Duolingo’s design. I observed their role in enticing learners to continue their language practice. We uncovered the importance of stressing user recognition, intrinsic motivators, and simplifying choices.
Similarly, I discussed the limitations of recollection, extrinsic motivators, and complex interfaces. I revealed how these factors exist within Duolingo’s interface to feed user ambition. Examining these design decisions also showed they encourage a continued use of Duolingo.
The learning experience alleviates self-study dread with its simple, quick, and easy to use interface. Duolingo reinforces user knowledge by emphasizing recognition and building confidence with bite-sized goals. Yet, some learners stop using Duolingo because of a conflicting learning style. A loss of interest in the language or language learning can also cause users to stop using the service.
To conclude, human factors principles and other design tactics work together in Duolingo. They encourage users to continue to strive towards their target language goals.
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References
Cooper, Alan, et al. About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design. 4th ed., Wiley, 2014.
Gothelf, Jeff. “5 Interaction Design Tactics For Visual Designers.” Smashing Magazine, 9 Sept. 2011, www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/09/interaction-design-tactics-for-visual-designers.
Johnson, Jeff. “Ch.9: Recognition Is Easy; Recall Is Hard.” Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Guidelines, 2nd ed., e-book, Morgan Kaufmann, 2014, pp. 121–29.
Laws of UX. lawsofux.com/en. Accessed 20 July 2022.
Makkar, Gaurav. “Duolingo UX Analysis — UX Planet.” Medium, 26 June 2018, uxplanet.org/duolingo-ux-analysis-9631ff3f4eb1.
McGowan, Sean. “UX Case Study: Duolingo.” Usability Geek, 8 Sept. 2019, usabilitygeek.com/ux-case-study-duolingo.
McGraw, Kenneth O., and Jirina Fiala. “Undermining the Zeigarnik Effect: Another Hidden Cost of Reward.” Journal of Personality 50.1 (1982): 58–66. Web.
Soegaard, Mads. “Hick’s Law: Making the Choice Easier for Users.” The Interaction Design Foundation, 26 July 2020, www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/hick-s-law-making-the-choice-easier-for-users.
Silva, Maria Andrea. “Duolingo, This Is What You Are Missing — a UX Analysis.” Medium, 11 Dec. 2021, uxdesign.cc/duolingo-this-is-what-you-are-missing-7ba66559355a.
“The 7 Factors That Influence User Experience.” The Interaction Design Foundation, 12 Jan. 2021, www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-7-factors-that-influence-user-experience.
“UX in China: More Is More, Super Apps, and Community — Yuan Qing Lim (Config 2022).” YouTube, uploaded by Figma, 19 May 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohxyxGR9tsA.
