The mobile application I have evaluated is Duolingo, the popular language learning application that is available as an app and on a web browser. The users of Duolingo are trying to learn a new foreign language or to brush up their skills in a language they already have some proficiency in. Individiausl use Duolingo when they want to improve their foreign language pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, and conversational abilities. The app can be used to supplement academic foreign language courses or as a means by itself to learn the language. On Duolingo users can choose a variety of options that help them learn the language. For example, users can change the setting of their Duolingo app so that they only select available words from a word bank or so they have to type the answers themselves and are graded on their spelling.
When I opened the app it let me know there were course updates, but it did not specify what the updates were. When I hit “check it out,” it did not route me anywhere new, I remained on the same screen. This violates heuristic 10 because Duolingo stated there were updates, but did not provide additional explanation as to what was updated. I checked all three of my courses and none of them had anything in the lessons that was flagged as new.
The new updates are not marked in any way to indicate to users that they are new. It also appears the “check it out” function may not be working properly, as it did not take me to a different page.
A frustrating aspect of using Duolingo is that users are required to take a test or start from the basics of a language in order to begin lessons and have to comply with Duolingo’s fixed progression pace. This violates heuristic 3, user control and freedom because users are unable to start lessons where they want to.
It does not inhibit users from using the app broadly speaking, but it discourages users from using Duolingo because the initial test and testing-out of a unit test are lengthy.
An overarching problem is the use of excessive and confusing graphics and pages, which violates heuristic 8, aesthetic and minimalist design. There is an excess of irrelevant information and pages as users work through each lesson. When trying to leave a lesson, there are 7 different screens that pop up asking users to make decisions instead of letting them exit the lesson. The moving graphics are very distracting and do not enhance learning or memorization.
This is a purely cosmetic issue where content needs to be removed from the app to make it more streamlined.
Duolingo violates heuristic 6, recognition rather than recall with their confusing fixed icons at the bottom of the screen. These icons do not have any text on them, and it is unclear what each icon represents because they are arbitrary. Clicking through all of the icons wastes users time, as the icons are unclear.
I rated this a 1-2 because while it is a cosmetic issue that could be solved easily, it also is a usability issue. The arbitrary icons make completing user tasks more difficult as they spend time flipping through the six main pages, some of which have numerous subpages.
Duolingo’s confusing paid content violates heuristics 4 and 7, consistency and standards and match between system and the real world. One of the icons at the bottom of the app is a dumbbell, which again is very unclear, and takes users to the Practice Hub. This entire Practice Hub (mistakes review, perfect pronunciation, and listen up) can only be used if you have a Duolingo Plus account, which is a paid subscription. If a user decides to check it out, the app tells you that you can “try for $0.00,” which is signing the user up for a free two-week trial of the feature without disclosing upfront that this is a subscription that will then charge you monthly.
The paid content should not say that it is $0.00 to sign up, because users can use Duolingo Plus for free for two weeks, after which they will have a new monthly subscription that they will have to go out of their way to cancel. Although many companies lure unsuspecting customers into monthly subscriptions this way, it is deceptive and Duolingo should make it clearer that the $0.00 price is for two weeks only and display what the actual monthly cost is.
One of my user tasks was to locate what version of the Duolingo app I was using, and I was unable to locate that information. This violates heuristic 1 and 7, visibility of system status and flexibility and efficiency of use. Users expect settings to be a gear or wrench and screwdriver icon that is easily recognized and accessed from the main navigation menu. Duolingo’s settings are under the user’s profile, which took me twenty minutes to find.
This is a major usability concern because adjusting settings can make the difference between using the Duolingo app everyday to never using it because a user finds the sound effects annoying. The hidden settings are also an accessibility issue, as users need to find the settings to turn off speaking or listening exercises if they are a person with disabilities that impact their speaking or hearing.
1.What is the requirement for this assignment?
The purpose of the heuristic evaluation is to identify general usability concerns with an app. For this assignment, we employed a heuristic evaluation as an early-stage step in a design or re-design process that provides important information for app development teams
2.What did you do? Explain your work.
I evaluated the popular language learning app Duolingo for this assignment using Nielsen’s Ten Heuristics. I downloaded the app onto my phone and set a timer for one hour to evaluate Duolingo as a single evaluator. During the hour, I made a list of any issues that I noticed while using it. I took all of the usability violations and identified the most prevalent and assigned them a severity rating. At the end of the assignment, I provided some recommendations for how I would fix the usability problems on the mobile app.
3.What was your role – group or individual?
This artifact was completed individually.
4.What skills and competencies does this example showcase?
Heuristic evaluation, usability/accessibility, user experience
[pdf-embedder url=”https://insc589.infosci.utk.edu/khames/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2022/05/Usability-Testing-Assignment-3.pdf” title=”Usability Testing Assignment 3″]