My foray into location based gaming started because as a web designer, I felt that I wanted to expand my practice from one that consisted of straightforward interface design, to one that encompassed a wider variety of skills by improving on my knowledge and expertise in the burgeoning field of interaction design. This allowed me at the same time, to incorporate other aspects of design that include the usercentred design of tools for collaboration, content creation and community creation. I take a particular interest in the opportunities afforded by the convergence of web and game based technologies, especially when mobile interaction is afforded by such convergences. This exegesis describes the theoretical underpinnings that have informed the creation of a series of graphical interfaces that serve to bridge the gap between system capabilities as envisaged by the developers and a user's experience facilitated by an interface. The actual research into creation of the interface was preceded by an exploration of the field of location based gaming from which the initial area of interest was derived. Due to the fact that location based gaming is still an emerging field, it required the creation of a custom taxonomy for the works to be systematically separated into their various elements for analysis. The taxonomy to be created involved the combination of three smaller individual taxonomies in a way that has not been attempted previously and in a way that would give a balanced account of what makes up a location based game. The area of interested identified was how location based games might be made more readily available for a wider audience. Cipher Cities, which was a system in development at the time, was one that was already designed for such an application, but now required an interface that would appropriately represent what it aimed to achieve. I joined the team as their interface designer and it became clear that due to the location centric nature of the game, the only feasible way to go about democratising the participation in such games was to make it easy for people to build their own. The issue that arose was how an interface could encourage the creation of as well as participation in location based games. This required reference from current Web 2.0 applications that use members as creators of content as well as research into the theories behind community building, content creation and distribution in support of such an interface. These theories were put into practice and implemented before being evaluated and verified through a series of user testing sessions that served to refine the system in terms of user interface design and system functions. The result of the research is the first interface ever created that works to support a system for the creation of location based games by the public. More importantly, it is a robust, interface that is attractive as well as usable.

After the Paris Agreement, the people of the world have a more clear understanding of the goals to combat climate change and reduce carbon emissions. Previous studies have shown that improving people's carbon literacy could play a role in achieving ambitious climate emission targets. Being the country with the largest carbon emission and the largest population, more efforts should be made to increase environmental awareness and promote carbon literacy among Chinese people. This study investigates the features of such a game intended to raise awareness on carbon emissions in China. The study involves the design and development of the game and the insights learnt from the process. The goal of this project is to design and develop a mobile game. In this game, the player interacts with a virtual pet penguin. During the interaction, emotional attachment could be developed. This study investigates the features of such a game that can raise awareness on carbon emissions in China. This game aims to promote carbon literacy among Chinese young adults, focusing on eating habits, garbage classification and carbon emissions due to traditions. According to the evaluation of this game, it is possible for such a virtual pet game to raise carbon literacy in China. / Efter Parisavtalet har världens människor en tydligare förståelse för målen för att bekämpa klimatförändringarna och minska koldioxidutsläppen. Tidigare studier har visat att en förbättring av människors koldioxidkunnighet kan spela en roll för att uppnå ambitiösa klimatmål. Eftersom det är det land som har de största koldioxidutsläppen och den största befolkningen, bör fler ansträngningar göras för att öka miljömedvetenheten och främja koldioxidkunnighet bland kineser. Denna studie undersöker egenskaperna hos ett sådant spel som syftar till att öka medvetenheten om koldioxidutsläpp i Kina. Studien involverar design och utveckling av spelet och de insikter man lärt sig från processen. Målet med detta projekt är att designa och utveckla ett mobilspel. I det här spelet interagerar spelaren med en virtuell husdjurspingvin. Under interaktionen kunde känslomässig anknytning utvecklas. Denna studie undersöker egenskaperna hos ett sådant spel som kan öka medvetenheten om koldioxidutsläpp i Kina. Det här spelet syftar till att främja kolkunskap bland kinesiska unga vuxna, med fokus på matvanor, klassificering av skräp och koldioxidutsläpp på grund av traditioner. Enligt utvärderingen av detta spel är det möjligt för ett sådant virtuellt husdjursspel att höja koldioxid kunnigheten i Kina.