Let's Learn German: game-based vocabulary module

Context

This was a university assignment built by a four-person team: a German language teacher as the subject-matter expert, two general-subject teachers who also acted as test users, and me as the eLearning developer.

The module is a simplified, Duolingo-style exercise for middle and high school learners. Each session covers ten German-to-Indonesian vocabulary items with game-based scoring and instant feedback. It was meant as a supplementary classroom exercise, delivered through an LMS or school portal.

Problem

The team needed to turn a short vocabulary exercise into something that was easy to use on a phone, gave immediate feedback, and could be reviewed for language accuracy before release.

The learners and the team set these constraints:

• Students have short attention spans and five to seven minutes per session.
• Devices vary, with small screens and limited bandwidth.
• Content accuracy depended on one subject-matter expert.
• Team skills were mixed, so testing had to be simple and guided.
• The mobile experience had to stay consistent: readable text and large tap targets.

My role

I was responsible for the interaction design and Storyline development: the visual flow, scoring variables, progress, feedback states, and preparation for user acceptance testing.

Approach

1. Learning need analysis and requirements.
2. Mockup and prototype of the story, flow, steps, scoring, and feedback.
3. Logic setup: variables, scoring, progress, and feedback.
4. Development in Storyline 360.
5. User acceptance testing with the subject-matter expert and two teachers, covering scoring and progress, content accuracy, mobile experience, and performance. The pass criteria were correct and consistent behaviour, legible text, and a load time of three seconds or less.
6. Release, observation, and feedback capture for the next iteration.

Deliverables

• A working ten-question Storyline prototype.
• Score, progress, retry, and instant-feedback interactions.
• A browser-based demo suitable for evaluation before LMS deployment.

Outcome

This university prototype was not deployed to a live learner cohort, so the following were design targets, not measured results:

• Learning: 80% accuracy per ten-item session, supported by instant feedback and retries.
• Experience: a session length of seven minutes or less and an 85% completion target.
• Operational: a mobile-ready package suitable for LMS or school-portal deployment.