Sveriges Geografi : Gamified geography tool: Development and Evaluation of an Interactive Learning Application

As the world becomes increasingly digital, mobile phones and computers have become a major part of our everyday life. As a result, there has been a push to integrate learning with digital platforms. This project aims to develop an interactive geography application that combines learning with an enjoyable gaming experience, targeted at students and tourists. The goal is to create a game that makes learning Swedish geography fun and accessible. By using pedagogical theories such as constructivism and behaviorism along with principles from user interface design, a game was developed with different game modes that test geography knowledge regarding Sweden’s provinces and cities. The game was developed using React and Github. and tests the users knowledge through clickable maps, trivia questions and pictures. Three rounds of user testing were conducted. The first round identified issues with feedback and color design, resulting in player frustration and a low score in the learning aspect. Round two, after modifications such as clearer feedback, improved color schemes and more consistent UI, showed improvements in both learning and user satisfaction. Feedback from the final testing round laid the groundwork for future development. The results show that gamification, combined with a theoretical foundation and user centered development can improve motivation for learning and understanding geography. By implementing principles from user interface theory such as consistency in button placement, color schemes, the ability to choose between different interaction models, and clear navigational cues, we observed an improvement in ease of use during user testing. Additionally, the inclusion of features such as multiplayer and responsive visual feedback, grounded in learning theory, enhanced the learning experience for users. For future work, this project could be expanded by adding multiplayer to all game modes, more trivia questions, a more advanced result view and classroom tools for teachers to enhance the learning experience. Accessibility and language support could also be enhanced, by adding more language options a wider range of users would be able to play the game.