Monica Iqbal: Exploring UX Research, Games, and Sustainable Technology
Congratulations to Monica Iqbal, a member of the Just Sustainability Design Lab, on completing her Master of Information thesis at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information!
Her thesis builds on Undecided?, a collaborative educational board game originally developed by a research team including Professor Christoph Becker. The game simulates software development projects, challenging players to navigate decisions with uncertain future outcomes. Monica expanded the game by designing Earthbook, a new scenario in which participants envision an environmentally focused social network. She also developed a companion facilitation app using Onsen UI, an HTML5 framework incorporating HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Monica designed and conducted a UX research study, collecting data through surveys, interviews, and observations, and analyzing the findings to evaluate the game’s usability and educational value.
Her research found that the companion app improved the efficiency and accessibility of gameplay while strengthening its educational potential. Participants gained insights into software development and the long-term implications of design decisions, while the Earthbook scenario encouraged speculative thinking about environmentally responsible technologies.
Learn more about Undecided
Becker, C., Tsang, T., Booth, R., Zhang, E., & Fagerholm, F. (2020). Undecided? A Board Game to Study Intertemporal Choices in Software Projects. In Proceedings of PPIG 2020: The Psychology of Programming IG Workshop. Read the paper.