While 75% of users chose to use Duolingo to learn another language, NONE of them have actually completed the courses.
WHY?, the two main reasons were:
- “I felt the program was too long” ⏳
- “I just got bored and quit early.” 😬
Questions Raised:
- Why did they feel the program was too long?
- Why did they get bored?
- Why weren’t they motivated enough?
100% of users agreed on really liking the simplicity and gaming approach of Duolingo.
Real User Interview of Duolingo
- “It was easy to navigate, and I get points every time I reach a level”. 🏆
- Fun, interactive, easy to use, and with an extremely engaging visual interface.
- The onboarding process took less than a minute; I created my account, selected the language I wanted to learn and I was ready to go.
- The whole setup was curiously simple.
Questions to be answered
👩🏽🎓What motivates a person to learn?
🏁How do people commit to reaching their goals?
About user motivation
I found that there are basically two types of user motivation
Extrinsic and intrinsic.
(EX)trinsic motivation (think about outer sources) involves doing something because you want to earn a reward or avoid punishment, while (IN)trinsic motivation (think about inner stimulus) involves doing something because it’s personally rewarding to you.
In the vast majority of cases, extrinsic motivation seeks reward, which can be tangible (money, prizes, diplomas, certificates, trophies, medals, etc.) and intangible (praise, support, recognition, etc.)
On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is the inner engine moving a person to self-improvement. It involves engaging in a behaviour because it is personally rewarding.
While intrinsic motivation is often seen as the ideal, both extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation are important ways of driving behaviour.
Duolingo’s gamification approach to boost motivation is a check ✅ for extrinsic motivation, but a fail ❌ for intrinsic motivation, which clearly represented an opportunity for improvement, and possible boost on user engagement/completion rate.
Takeaway
Including user intrinsic motivations into your designs really makes you think about the why behind people’s needs.
It facilitates your design thinking process to be more empathetic, and leads you on the path to build products that people will actually use, and most importantly, engage with.
I hope this article helped you get an insight to Duolingo’s Design and Business Model. Do share the article with relatable audience and follow for more such content.
