Pokémon Go

Collaboration in Pokémon GO

Link to project

We conducted participant observations, surveys, and interviews with people who play Pokémon GO to understand how people who play Pokémon GO coordinated for collaborative goals online and in-real-life. Using the lens of small group interactions, we analyzed how the global aspects of game design can scaffold differences and input on the community level.

Group Interactions in Location Based Gaming: A Case Study of Raiding in Pokémon GO. Arpita Bhattacharya, Travis W. Windleharth, Ivy Acevedo, Rio Ishii, Cecilia Aragon, Julie A. Kientz, Jason Yip, Jin Ha Lee. CHI 2019, Glasgow, UK. (PDF) (DOI)


Playing Pokémon GO with family

We conducted observations and interviews to analyze how parents play Pokémon GO with their children and how the design of the game facilitated these bonding among family members using the lens of joint media engagement.

Families and Pokémon GO. Kiley Sobel Link to Blog

“It wasn’t really about the Pokémon”: Parents’ perspectives on a location-based mobile game.Kiley Sobel, Arpita Bhattacharya, Alexis Hiniker, A., Jin H. Lee, Julie A. Kientz, & Jason C. Yip. CHI 2017. (PDF) (DOI)

Codesigning for health with Pokémon GO players

We conducted design workshops with expert players of Pokémon GO on how the game can better support their health and wellbeing.

“It Should Be a Game for Fun, Not Exercise”: Tensions in Designing Health-Related Features for Pokémon GO. Yoojung Kim, Arpita Bhattacharya, Julie A. Kientz, Jin Ha Lee. To appear in CHI 2020. April 2020, Hawaii. (PDF)

Playing Location-Based Games during the COVID-19 Pandemic

We conducted diary study and online design workshops with players of Pokémon GO, Ingress, and Harry Potter Wizards Unite on how their gameplay changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Players want to construct socially meaningful places using VR and AR by leveraging the cultural contexts of the physical spaces in theses game.

Life goes on with Pokémon. Arpita Bhattacharya, Jin Ha Lee, Jason C. Yip, Julie A. Kientz (DOI)

The Pandemic as a Catalyst for Reimagining the Foundations of Location-Based Games. Arpita Bhattacharya, Travis W. Windleharth, Cassandra Lee, Amulya Paramasivam, Julie A. Kientz, Jason C. Yip, Jin Ha Lee. CHI PLAY 2021. (PDF, appendix) (DOI)