Overview
The Challenge
People enjoy how foreign media immerses them in a language, but exposure alone does not always translate into learning. Our challenge was to connect entertainment with structured practice while keeping users engaged.
My Role
Research
Stakeholder Analysis
We mapped direct and indirect stakeholders affected by a product combining streaming and language learning. Language learners and educators emerged as the primary stakeholders. Learners’ differing abilities and skill levels made flexibility an important product consideration.
Name Concept
Value Scenario Analysis
Set2Learn is a language-learning software extension that is compatible with streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu. The goal of Set2Learn is to apply structured practice and instruction that facilitates language-learning while watching TV shows and movies. Such features include vocab quizzes after each episode, detection of commonly used vernacular or slang, and customized lesson plans based on watch time. While Set2Learn is starting with just a couple popular languages, it has plans to expand into encompassing more diverse languages that traditionally do not have much foundation for learning.
Stephanie is a first-generation college student who has always wanted to learn Japanese. This stems from her love of the culture, as she has taken karate for many years and enjoys watching anime. She started using Set2Learn as soon as it was released since it was easy to install on Netflix, where she watches most of her anime. Stephanie watches a couple episodes a day usually, so she is getting routine practice throughout the week. After a couple months of consistent use, Stephanie has achieved a beginner’s comprehension level of Japanese, and can even get by without watching subtitles sometimes. She will soon move onto more intermediate vocab and grammar.
Michael has been the director of the language program at a city high school for over ten years. With the release of Set2Learn, Michael now has to decide whether or not to allow Set2Learn to be integrated into his program’s curriculum. On one hand, Set2Learn has been shown to demonstrate effective results in language-learning, and is being recommended widely to language instructors. On the other hand, Set2Learn might be exploited by high school students as an excuse to watch TV shows and movies, without focusing on the language practice.
After a couple decades, Set2Learn has been widely adopted as the number one way to learn a new language, being used by people of all ages and demographics. The extension has expanded to include dozens of languages, including more specific and local dialects. Several production companies have begun tailoring their work to create movies and TV shows to be specifically conducive to Set2Learn’s language-learning format. Because of this, writers and translators have become even more vital roles in the entertainment industry.
Most people seem to be happy with the booming success of Set2Learn; students can learn languages quickly and effectively while enjoying entertaining content, several cultures are getting more public recognition and appreciation than before, and occupations like translators, writers, and producers are seeing increased work opportunities. However, there is one group that has been rendered almost entirely obsolete as a result of Set2Learn: language instructors. Since students can learn language entirely from Set2Learn, traditional language courses in a classroom are nearly extinct. Most people aren’t losing sleep over this though, citing that these formal settings were rarely an effective way to learn how the language is authentically spoken in everyday interactions.
We used speculative scenarios to examine how the extension might affect learners and educators. These were design exercises, not observed user outcomes or evidence of product adoption.
A learner scenario followed Stephanie, a first-generation college student interested in Japanese through karate and anime. It explored how regular viewing could support a learning routine and a progression from beginner vocabulary toward more advanced comprehension.
An educator scenario followed Michael, a high-school language-program director weighing engaging media against the risk that students would use the tool as an excuse to watch television without focusing on practice.
A longer-term scenario considered broader language and dialect support, increased cultural recognition, and new opportunities for writers and translators, alongside the risk of displacing language instructors. This exercise surfaced potential trade-offs between engagement, educational value, and the role of educators.
User Interviews
Our team needed to determine the current systems users were using to learn languages and any pain points they were having with existing applications. Thus, we conducted empirical user interviews with four participants that were learning a secondary language. Our goal was to identify how useful users currently found entertainment media to be when it came to language-learning.
Our Participants
Participants | Age | Language |
|---|---|---|
Participant #1 | 15 | French & Japanese |
Participant #2 | 20 | Tagalog (Ilongo) |
Participant #3 | 22 | Korean |
Participant #4 | 24 | Japanese |
Key Takeaways
Design Process
Balancing Structure & Flexibility
Research pointed toward three complementary experiences: everyday vernacular, configurable lesson plans, and conversational practice. The design lets learners choose a focus and decide whether to follow a structured schedule or learn whenever they have free time.
Concept Scope
The concept envisioned streaming-compatible lessons, vocabulary quizzes after episodes, detection of commonly used slang, and lesson plans informed by viewing time. Expansion to languages with fewer learning resources was a future ambition, not an implemented outcome.
The Solution
Slang/Everyday Vernacular
Based on our empirical information, users learn languages in order to communicate and connect with other people that speak in the targeted language. A majority of our interviewees mentioned that they would like to be able to speak in everyday conversations and slang that are typically not taught in the traditional classroom environment. To display this emphasis on slang to the user, our interface has multiple focuses that the user can select. As you can see in the prototype above, one of these 3 focuses includes slang/everyday vernacular.
Lesson Plans
Users have access to multiple options that affect their learning structure. If users want to learn the language in a more structured environment, they will be presented with a selection page where they can choose a specific lesson plan . The program will then allot specific times during the week for the user to learn, which can be changed based on the user’s own personal schedule. The program will remind the user to start learning and assign media for the user to watch. If the user would rather learn in a more flexible/relaxed environment, they can simply learn the language whenever they happen to have the free time to.
Conversational Environment
We wanted to incorporate features that simulates a conversational environment that imitates how the user might learn with another individual (i.e. another learner, tutor, etc.). Our program allows users to practice conversations that they have previously watched in TV shows or movies . The user will essentially play as one of the characters in the scene and the program will replay the next line. Although this does not completely simulate a real-life conversation, the user can practice vocabulary in the language in the context of a conversation as well as reiterate the meaning of those words.
Impact & Results
Reflection
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work