ADDING A VOCABULARY FEATURE TO DUOLINGO.

USABILITY TEST PLAN.

BACKGROUND

Duolingo is a game-like and fun mobile app for language learners. Research proved the app’s users could benefit from adding a vocabulary feature to the app. Now, as the vocabulary feature prototype has been designed, it needs to be tested for usability flaws and successes.

GOAL

The testing is aimed to find out how user-friendly the new feature’s design is as well as determine the areas of it that might need improvement.

TASK

Locate the Vocabulary Feature in the Duolingo app and find the Word Details page for a certain word.

METHODOLOGIES

The testing needs to be performed via a video-call (Zoom, Skype, etc.) in order for the tester to observe the process directly and communicate with the participants in person when needed. The participants will be asked to share their screens with the tester. Every call will be recorded for further reference and data documenting (with the permission of the participants).

PARTICIPANTS

·         5-7 participants

·         Age – 18-60+

·         Gender – Any

·         Duolingo users

TESTING STEPS

·         Prepare the prototype

·         Recruit participants

·         Conduct usability tests via video-call, record every call

·         Document the data collected during the usability tests

·         Analyze the above-mentioned data and determine the successful and failed parts of the flows in order for that information to be used as base for possible further revisions (if and where it proves to be necessary)

SCRIPT

Introduction:

Hello, I’m Olesia. Thank you for your agreeing to participate in our usability test. Please keep in mind that the test is going to be recorded, and the recording will only be used for documenting the test results. Now let’s look at our product prototype. I guess you’re familiar with this page – the Duolingo app home page – but this time it has a new element added. Can you find it? What do you think it stands for?

Testing Task:

Ask the participant to find the French word “aimer” via the vocabulary feature and get to the Word Details page for that word.

Additional Questions:

·         What do you expect to find in sections My Words and All Words? What do you think the difference between them is?

·         What do you think the Sort By filter options – A-Z, Topic and Part of Speech – mean?

·         Do you find the filter options helpful?

·         Was it difficult for you to complete the task?

·         In what other ways do you think you could complete it?

·         Did anything make you feel frustrated, confused or annoyed? If so, what was it?

·         Is there anything about the vocabulary feature that you think should be changed, added or removed?

SUCCESS METRICS

·         Completion rate

·         Error rate

·         Average Number of errors

·         Time on task

·         Ease of completion

ADDING A VOCABULARY FEATURE TO DUOLINGO.

USABILITY TESTING RESULTS.

TASK

Locate the Vocabulary Feature in the Duolingo app and find the Word Details page for a certain word.

PARTICIPANTS

·         6

·         Age 21-62

·         Male and female

·         Duolingo Users

TESTING FINDINGS SUMMARY

Introduction:

Hello, I’m Olesia. Thank you for your agreeing to participate in our usability test. Please remember that the test is going to be recorded and the recording will only be used for documenting the test results. Now, let’s look at our product prototype. I guess you’re familiar with this page – the Duolingo app home page – but here it has a new element added. Can you find it? What do you think it stands for?

RESULT:

·         All 6 participants located the new feature successfully.

·         5 out of 6 participants guessed correctly about the meaning of the Vocabulary Icon.

Test Task:

Ask the participants to find the French word “aimer” via the vocabulary feature and get to the Word Details page for that word.

RESULT:

·         4 out of 6 participants completed the task via All Words – A-Z

·         1 participant did it via Search

·         1 participant did it via the Part of Speech filter option

Additional Questions and Participants Answers:

·         What do you expect to find in sections My Words and All Words? What do you think the difference between them is?

·         What do you think the Sort By filter options – A-Z, Topic and Part of Speech – mean?

·         Do you find the filter options helpful?

·         Was it difficult for you to complete the task?

·         In what other ways do you think you could complete it?

·         Did anything make you feel frustrated, confused or annoyed? If so, what was it?

·         Is there anything about the vocabulary feature that you think should be changed, added or removed?

RESULT:

·         All 6 participants guessed correctly about the contents of My Words and All Words sections.

·         All 6 participants guessed correctly about the meaning of the Sort By filter options

·         All 6 participants found sorting words in alphabetical order (A-Z) helpful

·         3 out of 6 participants supported the Part of Speech sorting as useful

·         All 6 participants agreed with the idea of sorting the words by Topic

·         0 out of 6 participants found the task difficult, expressed frustration, or experienced some sort of major confusion while using the Vocabulary Feature

·         When asked to find more ways to complete the same task:

-       all 6 participants switched between My Words and All Words first

-       3 out of 6 participants applied filters before using Search

-       3 out of 6 began with Search before using the filters

-       all 6 participants managed to complete the task successfully via the alternative ways of their choice

·         0 out of 6 participants pointed out something that they would prefer to be changed, added or removed

SUCCESS METRICS

·         Completion rate – 100%

·         Error rate – 0%

·         Average Number of errors – 0

·         Time on task – 2 minutes

·         Ease of completion – Easy

·         Participants quotes:

“Oh sweet! So it would show you all the words you’ve learned in that category so you can refresh your memory!?”

“That looks freaking awesome!”

“That’s really cool!”

“All was clear.”

“Very convenient. You should offer it to them. I’d use it.”

“It was really easy to use and would be really helpful.”

CONCLUSION

Although no design is perfect, the usability testing proved the Vocabulary Feature to be user-friendly and easy to use. No major flaws requiring correction were determined.