  More and more learning apps like Duolingo are using some form of gamification
(e.g., badges, points, and leaderboards) to enhance user learning. However,
they are not always successful. Gamification misuse is a phenomenon that occurs
when users become too fixated on gamification and get distracted from learning.
This undesirable phenomenon wastes users' precious time and negatively impacts
their learning performance. However, there has been little research in the
literature to understand gamification misuse and inform future gamification
designs. Therefore, this paper aims to fill this knowledge gap by conducting
the first extensive qualitative research on gamification misuse in a popular
learning app called Duolingo. Duolingo is currently the world's most downloaded
learning app used to learn languages. This study consists of two phases: (I) a
content analysis of data from Duolingo forums (from the past nine years) and
(II) semi-structured interviews with 15 international Duolingo users. Our
research contributes to the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Learning at
Scale (L@S) research communities in three ways: (1) elaborating the
ramifications of gamification misuse on user learning, well-being, and ethics,
(2) identifying the most common reasons for gamification misuse (e.g.,
competitiveness, overindulgence in playfulness, and herding), and (3) providing
designers with practical suggestions to prevent (or mitigate) the occurrence of
gamification misuse in their future designs of gamified learning apps.
