Planet Flip: Clean Air Challenge

UC San Diego | 2025 | UI/UX Design, UX Research

About

Clean Air Challenge is a real-world simulation game that aims to not only educate individuals about environmental issues and motivate sustainability habits but also provide an engaging and interactive experience.

Problem Statement

Environmentally conscious individuals need an interactive and engaging way to understand the impacts of air pollution because a lack of awareness and accessible information prevents them from recognizing how their daily behaviors contribute to environmental damage and health risks.

Goal

Our objective is to use Construct3 to develop an environmentally-focused online mobile game to encourage climate change action by SoCal climate groups. We are implementing four key criteria in the game: fast-pace and fast loading gameplay, easy to understand instruction with intuitive controls, aesthetically pleasing and visually stimulating design, and realistic flow, ensuring a smooth and engaging experience. Through this game, we aim to raise awareness about how to reduce pollution and highlight how daily routines can negatively impact the environment. Additionally, we want to show the long-term effects of pollution on our body and the planet.

Solution

To address environmental pollution in an interactive and engaging environment, our team uses a human-centered design approach that includes research, prototyping, coding, and evaluation to ensure that our design game effectively motivates players to take real actions or to better understand and empathize with the impact of pollution on the environment. Our design and prototyping will be done using Figma or Sketch for UI/UX design, and programming will be implemented in Python using Construct 3. Through online research and surveys, we will gather background information and identify key challenges related to pollution, such as air, water, soil, etc., to ensure our game is both impactful and entertaining.

We will conduct primary and secondary research to identify user needs and challenges faced towards climate-action-related games and the effectiveness of our potential solutions. We will conduct semi-structured interviews to collect more qualitative data on people’s attitudes towards pollution and gaming, as well as challenges of engaging in climate action. Our target users are online gamers and environmental advocates.

Existing Solutions

AirPocalypto: City of Smog

A platformer where players battle air pollution, raising awareness through survival and city-cleaning challenges.

Recycling Hero

A mobile game where players sort waste correctly to promote recycling awareness.

Half-Earth Socialism

A strategy about balancing climate policies, energy use, and land conservation.

1. What types of pollution are you familiar with/ most interested in?

Checkbox: Air, Water, Soil, Noise, Light, I'm not familiar with any type, other...

2. How concerned are you about pollution’s impact on the environment and health?

1- Not at all concerned, 5- Extremely concerned

3. Do you check air quality levels before going outside? Why or why not?

Free response

4. How often do you recycle items like plastic, paper, glass?

1- Never, 5- Always

5. What motivates you to adopt eco-friendly behaviors?

Checkbox: Protecting the environment and future generations; improving personal health and well-being; saving money (e.g. lower energy, reduced consumption); influence from family, friends, or social media; government policies, laws, or financial incentives (e.g. tax credits, bans on plastic); seeing tangible environmental improvements in community; other...

6. What types of games do you enjoy the most?

Checkbox: Puzzle, Strategy, Adventure/Story-driven, Action, I don't play mobile games, other...

7. Why do you enjoy the types of games chosen in the above question?

Short free response

8. What features make a game engaging and worth playing for a long time? Why?

Checkbox: Storytelling and immersive experience, competitive and leaderboards, reward and achievements, multiplayer/social interaction, relaxing and stress relief

9. We are exploring different game ideas to make learning about pollution fun and engaging. What are you interested in?

Free response

10. Would you be willing to take real-life actions (e.g., reducing waste, signing petitions) if incentivized through a game?

Multiple choice: Yes, Maybe, No.

Interview Questions

Interview Responses

User Profile

Empathy Map

Journey Map

Design Requirements

Functionality

The game must teach at least 3 key concepts about air pollution through interactive scenarios because the primary goal is to educate young adults more about the dangers and solutions related to air pollution.

Desirability

The game should be at least a ⅘ on the 5-point Likert scale because it must be engaging and entertaining for our audience.

Performance

The game must run at 60 fps on most devices because young adults and kids should be able to enjoy the smooth and lag-free gameplay on any device they have access to.

Aesthetics

The game must feature modern graphics because young adults enjoy more visually appealing games.

Relatability

The game should include at least 1 relatable scenario and choice that reflects a real-world experience because creating realistic scenarios will deepen the audience's engagements and make the learning experience more effective.

Gantt Chart

To effectively meet our project goals, we used a Gantt Chart to plan, track, and manage our project timeline effectively. We broke down tasks into four key phrases: Project Definition, and Planning, Project Design, Project Implementation, and Project Wrap-Up. The chart provides a clear timeline with the following tasks, roles, and assignment deadlines for efficient time management and collaboration.

Team Gantt Chart

Concepts and Low-Fidelity Wireframes

The designers developed several lo-fi wireframes for key introduction screens, including the game title screen and instructions. These wireframes helped us visualize different layout possibilities and user flow. After brainstorming the possible options, we selected the designs that best fit the game and ensured an intuitive and clear introduction for players.

Concept #1: AirAware Quiz

AirAware Quiz is a quiz-and-puzzle game that teaches air pollution, sustainability, and environmental practices in a fun, approachable way. Players start with basic questions and unlock harder ones, which progress from pollution facts to environmental strategies. After answering, they complete puzzles like matching terms or arranging recycling systems to reinforce learning.

A key strength is its potential to offer a sense of achievement while remaining accessible to a wide audience. However, the text-heavy format may cause information overload. Also, the lack of a strong narrative may limit emotional impact compared to more immersive storytelling games.

Concept #2: Trash Dash

Trash Dash is a fast-paced game where users clean up different environmental settings (ocean, forest, city) to save animals. Players race against a timer to remove misplaced trash, and if they succeed before time runs out, they win the level.

Strengths include, intuitive design, fast-paced gameplay, and variety of environments, which makes it easy and engaging for players. However, due to the lack of an educational angle, it does not provide deeper insights or actions to raise awareness about climate change and pollution.

Concept #3: Clear Air Challenge

Clean Air Challenge is a decision-based simulation where players navigate daily scenarios—like cooking, commuting, and temperature adjustment—to reduce air pollution. Through a point system, the game raises awareness of everyday behaviors by reinforcing eco-friendly choices.

Strengths include gamification, replayability, and real-world relevance. Players actively shape air pollution outcomes through story-driven gameplay, receiving feedback via scores, text prompts, and animations. Replayability allows exploration of different consequences, which encourages decision-making beyond a simple right-or-wrong approach.

A key weakness is the need for original scenario design for meaningful, educational choices. Furthermore, layout and information presentation (e.g. scores, pop-ups) may affect gameplay flow.

Mood Board

As it is an environmental game, we found inspiration through images with a bright, saturated color palette for a positive atmosphere. We made sure to add earthy colors such as blues, greens, and browns. References for background settings, such as cities, parks, work environment, were also considered.

High-Fidelity Wireframes

Clean Air Challenge guides players through three stages where they make sustainability-related decisions in everyday scenarios. Stage 1 introduces simple, multiple-choice questions (e.g. choosing a cooking method or a form of transportation). The feedback system is designed to be encouraging and educational, which emphasizes eco-friendly choices with positive reinforcement. A point system rewards environmentally conscious actions while tracking factors such as convenience, health, and budget.

Stage 2 introduces a more interactive gameplay beyond simple multiple-choice questions compared to Stage 1. For example, instead of just selecting a shipping option from a list, the player can click on a monitor to access the Order screen, where they choose between expressing shipping, standard shipping, or group ordering. This approach makes decisions feel more realistic, as if the player is directly engaging with workplace tasks. In addition, the feedback system not only responds to choices but also provides extra sustainability tips—for instance, if the player selects standard shipping, the feedback advises with, "Consider bulk ordering to reduce the number of shipments and make the process even more sustainable!".

As the player progress through the game, the complexity of decisions increases, which requires more critical thinking about sustainability. Stage 1 introduces familiar, everyday scenarios that act as a tutorial. Stage 2 adds interactive elements with a puzzle to make decisions more immersive. By Stage 3, the players are encourage to make difficult trade-offs, such as balancing health and work against environmental impact. The game's settings—city, workplace, and home—mirror real-life environments, which makes sustainability challenges feel relevant and relatable to everyday experiences.

We incorporated interactive puzzles, such as matching causes and effects of air pollution to reinforce environmental awareness. For example, instead of simply selecting answers, the player connects burning fossil fuels to increased greenhouse gases or deforestation to reduced air purification. The player can also sort different types of produce by dragging food items into categories of local produce, processed foods, or imported produce. These puzzles encourage active learning and critical thinking to deepen the player's understanding of environmental and personal impact.

User Testing

Test Participants

Results

Key Findings

Educational Impact

Engaging, non-lecture tone
Promotes critical thinking
Feedback helps users reconsider choices and think long-term

Engagement & Interaction

Aesthetic, structured experience
Mix of multiple-choice scenarios and mini interactive puzzles
Immersive and enjoyable learning journey

Usability & Accessibility

Average Rating: 4.9 / 5
Navigation: Smooth, intuitive
Visuals: Appealing with well-organized text & emojis
No major usability issues reported
Minor Issues:
- Some grammar inconsistencies
- Restrictive multiple-choice options. Consider adding open-ended prompts

Limitations

Small Sample Size: Only 3 users (all college students)
Limited Diversity: Need wider demographic representation
Subjective Feedback: Self-reporting may not reflect actual learning
Realism Gap:
- High-impact sustainable options often felt inaccessible
- Need more realistic, achievable in-game choices

Final Thoughts

The Clean Air Challenge is a cost-effective, browser-based simulation game that promotes sustainable thinking through interactive, real-world decision-making. Designed with accessibility in mind, it uses free tools like Figma and Construct 3 to minimize development costs while maximizing reach. Beyond environmental awareness, the game encourages economic, social, and cultural sustainability by:

Presenting inclusive, realistic scenarios
Supporting cost-saving behaviors and community-based solutions
Offering non-judgmental, informative feedback that empowers players to make achievable changes

By combining meaningful gameplay with critical reflection, our design bridges education and engagement. As we continue refining the prototype through user feedback and expanded content, our goal remains clear: to inspire everyday action toward cleaner air and a more sustainable future.