IMA2 - Usability Testing Report on Duolingo

Usability measures how well users can utilize a product or technology to achieve a desired goal. For this project, I performed usability testing to determine the effectiveness of Duolingo in helping learners gain and retain knowledge of a foreign language. Duolingo is a website and mobile app that allows users to learn a language for free. Users can download either the Android or iOS versions of the mobile app.

Currently, Duolingo offers language instruction in 38 languages. In order to build language skills, learners are emailed daily reminders to login and practice their chosen language. Each language has associated skills that a user can gain proficiency in. There are 5 levels to each skill and each level (beginning with 0) contains lessons. Learners can earn experience points (XP) for activities that are completed in the app.

I conducted interviews with three participants to gather information on Duolingo's usability. I asked each of the participants to perform seven tasks while I observed them. To aid in my observation, I utilized a script and recorded whether they were successful in completing each task, how long each took to finish, the difficulty level of the tasks, and their satisfaction with the app.

Click here to see my usability report on Duolingo and to review the recommendations of the study participants on desired improvements for the app.