alt Hacker News> I'm not sure what the best way to solve this problem is. I would much appreciate any advice.
Serious answer: All the dark patterns.
Loot boxes even if they only give users a digital hat, small animated bird (like the green one, but not) doing a silly dance when users get enough correct answers, some weird phrases sprinkled amongst the lessons which make the users laugh.
Just, please let them have an off switch for people like us :)
Something funny is that I watched someone use my app for the first time yesterday, and she specifically requested more dark patterns. She said "you should add something that makes you want to come back like the duolingo owl looking sad". I don't know if I can bring myself to do that, but I have a feeling that I can find a way to play to my strengths rather than copy duolingo. Specifically, my advantage is that my app will actually teach you the language, so I can maybe find a way to turn that into motivation rather than needing to rely on dark patterns.