Interactive Media Appraisal: Duolingo

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1 1 Steven Koontz Dr. Mabrito Engl 436 3/15/2017 Interactive Media Appraisal: Duolingo Duolingo is an application that many people, especially students, currently use when attempting to learn a new language. The app can be accessed via smartphone, tablet, or computer, with its ease of accessibility as a mobile learning platform acting as one of the key features responsible for its prominence. The app functions as an excellent example of interactive media being utilized for educational purposes. Examining what has made Duolingo so successful can yield beneficial insights about how to create an effective informative interactive media product. Duolingo, as a piece of informative interactive media, demonstrates an astute understanding of its audience and methods that successfully convey information to users. The app is configured in a way that is appropriate for its aim of teaching individuals a new language. When looking at the definition for interactive media, it becomes immediately clear that Duolingo fits the bill. The key difference between writing for linear media, such as television and movies, and writing for interactive media is interactivity, which allows the user of the program to have control over the flow of the information or story material (Gallman, 6). As can be seen to the right, Duolingo offers a somewhat linear system of progression that you must advance through in order to unlock new activities, but it s contained within a network of interactivity that affords the user agency in determining what they want to work on, and when. Each node, such as Basics 1, involves multiple levels of accomplishments, how far the user wants to delve into each level is up to them. Once unlocked, they can decide on their own what category they want to work on, and there are a plethora of extra side activities that can be accessed outside of the primary activities stratum. The flow of information is in the hands of the user, though there is a hierarchical structure that automatically starts the user at the most basic level in order to become acquainted with the fundamentals of a language. This is an instance of the company limiting interactivity in order to facilitate their goal of bestowing language skills to the user. Is unlimited interactivity the most effective way to communicate with multimedia, if technically possible for the user? It depends to a great degree on what your goals are (Garrand, 7). Duolingo has clearly recognizable goals that are evident in the limitations they impose on the audience. In order to unlock more advanced sections users must be able to demonstrate a necessary level of competency, an appropriate requirement from an educational standpoint. A basic and essential component of interactive media is the site map. An element of good interactive design is a sitemap or map that represents the overall structure of a piece in a concrete manner. A sitemap illustrates how the player should

2 2 interact with the interface and navigate through the program (Garrand). The site map is crucial because it dictates how the user will navigate the virtual environment created by the developer. As can be seen in the following images, Duolingo s site map is well constructed and delineates the content contained within quite effectively: As the user scrolls down, new objectives are displayed. The system of progress and different difficulty tiers are clearly defined. The user knows exactly what the subject matter of each activity will be, while also understanding how the activity fits into the broader framework of the app as a whole. While there is a system of advancement that prevents unlimited interactivity within the framework of the app, the exercises and activities contained within the app are all interactive, and the user has the option to select what areas they d prefer to focus on at will for the most part. Each exercise features a simplistic design interface that communicates the necessary information, facilitates interactivity, and is easily understandable. Another way to help users find their way through the complex structure of an interactive media production is through good interface design. The interface is simply the face or basic on-screen visualization of the information or story material in a program. The interface governs how we will interact with multimedia...interface design is crucial in deciding how multimedia content will be organized. It affects the structure of the script for the writer and dictates how the viewer will interact with that content. (Garrand, 13). Duolingo does a great job at this as can be seen in the following images:

3 Even without a tutorial, most people would likely be able to discern what was expected of them in these exercises. The text and audio present in these type of segments meets the standards of good writing outlined by Garrand. Keep sentences short and use simple sentence construction (Garrand, 25). You won t find any long blocks of text in this program (save when necessary for translating paragraphs in later advanced exercises). Another interesting layer of interactivity is offered when one successfully completes an exercise and is offered the option to share their accomplishment across social media platforms. The activities are readily comprehensible and provide the user with clear instructions. The interactivity involves both listening, reading, and actively translating. These exercises are among the most basic offered by Duolingo, but they seem to be quite effective when reinforcing the fundamentals of a language. One should note that Duolingo does provide new users with a tutorial, so there is no ambiguity regarding what the user is supposed to do when using the app. Another element of Duolingo s success is the variation of activities offered in the application. The app successfully avoids redundancy by providing a wide range of activities for users to explore. These activities include activities that require the user to speak, listen, translate, and write. In each instance, the content keeps with the good design tenets set forth by Garrand, everything is as succinct is possible while also providing the intended effect for the user. Keeping the user engaged in activities that necessitates a myriad of different thinking modalities prevents stagnation and keeps the 3

4 activities compelling. One of the most interesting and impressive features is a real-time, simulated messenger chat with a character in the language the user has opted to learn: 4

5 The conversations quickly become more dynamic and complex as they progress. These activities illustrate the concept of taking user input into account. In a conversation the user has the ability to enter multiple responses, many of which could potentially be incorrect, unrelated, or nonsensical. It is difficult to predict how the viewer will interact with all the possibilities in a piece...for example, you have a telephone in one scene that your player must dial the writer needs to anticipate all the things players might try to do with that telephone. What if they dial the operator? What if they try dialing random numbers? (Garrand, 8). The developer did an excellent job here of taking every potential user response into account by having a coherent response for each possible outcome. There also is a feature built-in to assist users who may not know be certain of the appropriate response. The activity on the left prompts the user to speak. This is great because it causes the user to be physically engaged with the app, but the developers also anticipated that some people may be using the app in an environment in which they are unable to speak, providing an option for individuals in that situation. When the option is selected, users will get alternative exercises that expound upon the same concept the verbal exercise would have. While the app itself is informative, there is a game-like element to it that helps serve as an incentive for continued usage. The user accumulates points by doing activities and meeting other goals that can be used for different avatar type of objects, as well as other cosmetic augmentations. This is an impetus that many gamers will find familiar and effective when taking part in the app s activities. Though the things that can be purchased with the points are not tangible, it s been demonstrated that people often find virtual goods and customizable objects to be quite desirable. The system of points and the presentation that employs a friendly looking owl character, both serve to enhance the accessibility of the app for users. It eschews traditional, clinical or academic presentation, and favors something that is more reminiscent of a game. This is an app that takes what can be an onerous task, learning a new language, and tries to infuse it with simplistic, yet fun elements that encourage regular usage. A great deal of Duolingo s success can likely be attributed to its zero-dollar price tag. It s accessible to anyone who possesses a smartphone, tablet, or pc. There are practical limits to the potential of a particular user s interactivity. The viewer s equipment has to be powerful enough to support the level of interactivity (Gallman, 6). Duolingo effectively takes the limitations into account by optimizing their app for the average smart phone technology that is commonly owned by the public. The company s business model is based on providing translation services, and on offering language proficiency tests intended to serve as a credential verifying that an individual is fluent in a language. This is prudent, since the free price tag has given them access to a massive base of potential customers, leading to them becoming quite profitable as a business. 5

6 6 Overall, Duolingo is an app that achieves its goal of being an effective interactive education tool. The clear site map, consideration of user input, excellent interface design, and game-like elements, all imbue the app with qualities consistent with the tenets of good interactive media design laid out by Garrand. The app is configured to be accessible by as many people as possible while providing a legitimate educational service. Duolingo presents an excellent model to be emulated and adapted by future developers taking part in interactive media design. Works Cited Garrand, Timothy. Writing for Multimedia and the Web, 3rd Edition. Focal Press, VitalBook file.