Duolingo app update with Path UI facing backlash from users | Hacker News Reader

Duolingo app update with Path UI facing backlash from users

piunikaweb.com

19 pointsMarkoff23 comments

The old one was good for keeping your previously learned skills sharp, because you had to periodically revisit older lessons to keep the icon from showing as shattered.

However, when all you’re doing is revisiting old lessons, you stop making significant progress…

So it’s a bit of a double edged sword really.

One thing is certain, some people will complain no matter what. Do you cater to the vocal minority?

I had exactly same problem. I was not making any progress and instead of that I was repeating "broken" badges. The moment when you got too many broken badges, it is just endless chore and you can't move forward.

So I actually welcome the change as I can move forward, while repeat via "Practice to earn hearts"

you had choice, you could ignore broken badges or go on with new lessons, everything clearly about specific topic, now you don't have choice, I fail to see how is removal of choice any improvement in any software

I've had to edit title because it was too long:

Duolingo app update with Path UI faces backlash from users, demand company to revert the change

Personally I've got this update like 3 days ago, luckily for me I was few days away from 1000 days streak, which I wanted to finish, so I forced myself to use this horrible new Path layout, which is not organized at all for me to choose what I wanna learn or practice specifically (regular practice vs stories) and app removed user's choice (very popular idea among devs to take away existing options from users with each update, same goes with browsers, Signal SMS or Android OS), so finally after finishing 1000 days I'm done with the app. I will maybe keep it for few days/weeks to see whether they will revert the change our give users a choice, but if not I'm uninstalling it and certainly stopping daily usage.

Oh did I mention months ago I've got for hard practice 25 points, this was reduced to 10 points and with this latest update reduced to 5 points, so while lube half year ago I could gain quickly 25 points, now I need to spend 5 times more time to gain same amount.

Such a shame ruining app with unnecessary update nobody asked for.

I like the new one better.

You can still choose to do practice or stories.

Stories are under dumbbell icon/collections/stories.

OK and how can I have 25 points for 1 practice instead of 5 now without spending 5 times more time? This UI change has nothing with improving experience for users but forcing them to pay up.

I'm done with Duolingo (just finished 1000 days streak yesterday or day before), last night installed bunch of apps to compare, they use different approach, but Drops and Memrise seem to stand out among those I tested.

Lingodeer is coded by idiots, it will launch, I can also quickly do something before they realize I don't have Google Apps and then it will show prompt and force exit the app, although it has nothing to do with functionality, since clearly app works fine before they detect no gapps, hate apps like that, if you are such asshole then at least don't allow launching app at all to not make it so obvious you wanna discriminate without real reason.

Well, at first I also didn't like it, but I found its benefits:

1) old things do get repeated - but not like you having to jump back in the path, but by introducing things to repeat inside the current lessons. And you still have the "weights" button to practice manually if you wish to

2) what you used to have on one level in the three (e.g. three lectures on the same row) and you had to learn them one by one or mix them manually, now gets automatically mixed for you. This makes learning harder, since to get the purple level, you have to complete the purple challenges of several lectures mixed all together

3) levels in the new path are just spaces where you learn a concrete new thing. But lessons from previous levels get mixed into the new one. So it is like learning a new layer of your tree AND practicing the previous layer at once.

I was up to a 50 day streak but decided to stop after this update. It feels like it's removed all agency from me to choose what I learn, or what type of lesson I do (although the new UI also got rid of some types of lessons that apparently won't be restored for another year). The amount of wasted space and scrolling in the UI make lessons feel so sisyphean. I literally spent 30 seconds scrolling and couldn't find the end of the path. I'm not going to give myself carpal tunnel trying to review a lesson I need a refresh on.

The CEO did a damage control AMA on reddit saying that the update is a boon for whatever metrics they measure, so the only feedback that matters is if people vote with their feet. I've ended my Super subscription and am trying out LingoDeer.

I tried duolingo for the first time in like 6 years - pretty sure I was using the “old” design and not this latest. The gamification seems obscenely high. It feels like 50% of the experience is either watching animations or clicking things that say “ok” “next” or “no thanks.” Plus it’s all tests - no teaching! It took me a long time to realize that is a quite hidden tips section that actually teaches you some things prior to the tests, but those are clearly not part of the main flow.

> I tried duolingo for the first time in like 6 years - pretty sure I was using the “old” design and not this latest.

It would seem unlikely that an article would appear now about a 6 year old update, and the article mentions changes made on November 1.

Not everyone has new path still. They are rolling it out slowly. Everyone who has enough updated app should get it eventually, but it is not there yet.

To clarify, I tried it a couple months ago for the first time in 6 years.

They’ve been talking about the rollout of this update for at least three months. So it was unclear to me if the latest version I used was indeed this new one.

you can (and should) disable those animations in the settings

you can also disable sharing your progress with others (only on website, not in the app, very well hidden option) to disable those stressing leagues every week, some people like it to force them to keep up and not deep out of league, some people don't, I wonder if they removed this choice as well (I disabled sharing/leagues, so dunno)

Anecdata: I like that it's now much easier to locate the next lesson you were doing if you chose to do them in order. Having gotten all of the French lessons to level 1, it always scrolled to the bottom, no matter what I had just done.

But what I don't like is that there is now exactly 1 thing to do. I used to like being able to choose between a regular lesson and a story. I find the stories easier, and sometimes I'm in the mood for one. I liked that they were always accessible.

Today... I had to do a lesson I found oddly difficult (even though I've been exposed to all of the material). I actually failed it, and had to buy more hearts or I'd have broken my (very, very long) streak.

Buying hearts was just a teensy bit aggravating, but the dearth of options was a bit confounding.

If it were me, I'd love to see them just bring back the "stories" tab and leave everything else unchanged. Though I hope they do some thought rather than just reverting or hastily patching the UX. They do so much good work and it's worth them thinking it out.

800+ day streak here and top 2% user according to last years statistics. I have taught myself Spanish using just Duolingo to a pretty decent level where I can now follow along with a decent amount of TV.

I have been using the new path for the last few months and can categorically state that it is much more effective for learning. Duolingo are aligning themselves with proper educational frameworks, baking in scientifically proven spaced repetition and paving the way for more diverse modes of communication such as email conversations and stories with interconnected plot lines. More information can be found in these blog posts:

https://blog.duolingo.com/new-duolingo-home-screen-design/

https://blog.duolingo.com/how-are-duolingo-courses-evolving/

https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-advanced-stories/

I like the new UI. As with all major UI changes there will be some backlash. People become set in their ways of old UI/UX, accustomed to the training and ease of use. Users will have to adapt. And that takes effort. People hate forced effort.

I am very happy now that the android UI matches the web. I have been waiting for this for sometime, and the disconnect prior was disorienting.

People hate change. It's not news.

I have a two year streak. It doesn't really change anything for me, except making fewer choices.

If they had changed from the new UI to the old one, the same articles would be written. It's the change people don't like, not the quality of the UI.

I like the new one better. About 120 days in. I can see how it sucks for people who are deep in, 300+ days etc. I would love to see a page with more dense menus for drilling into subjects, selecting what you want to learn, etc.

My wife doesn't like it--some lessons she wants to write stuff down (it helps her to learn) and sometimes she doesn't have the time for that or even the ability (if we are out somewhere.)

If you drill into users' specific complaints, it seems like the update is so unpopular because it was designed to increase monetization above all else.

Yes, the UI changes are questionable and many long-time users find them offensive. But that is beside the point. The new UI is here to stay, because it is designed to add more frequent paywalls, more friction for non-paying users, and more of a competitive edge for paying users in the gamified social aspects.

Personally, I cancelled my subscription and dropped the app, because nickel & diming longtime users is a big red flag indicating that a company is starting to circle the drain. C'est la vie.

…with the mandatory change.org petition.

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