USER EXPERIENCE/USER INTERFACE
Influencing sustainable tourism using Instagram.
Instagram Travel
Status: Ongoing
Project Type: Academic - Master of Digital Media, Ryerson University
Publishings: Ryerson University Library (coming 2020)
Role: Ideation, market/user research, UX/UI design
Software: Adobe XD, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Mobile prototype: Adobe XD
Abstract
Sustainable tourism is defined as a development of tourism that does not exploit natural and constructed environment and instead preserves the culture, inheritance, and artistic values of the local community (Dávid, 2011). Global mass tourism, a form of tourism that involves tens of thousands of travellers going to the same destination during the same time of year, has contributed to an increase in waste, carbon, water scarcity, cost of living, overcrowding, and misconstrued cultural identities (Juvan, Ring, Leisch, & Dolnicar, 2016; Eraqi, 2014; Smith, 2018). Instagram is a visual storytelling social media application owned by Facebook Inc. With over one billion active monthly users worldwide, Instagram allows users to post, view, comment, and share photographs and videos (Instagram Inc., 2019). Millennials in 7 of 9 markets surveyed by Facebook are more likely than Gen Xers to consider social media as the best way to learn about new travel experiences (Facebook, 2018). The use of social media has changed the way people discover, research, discuss, and book travel destinations. As a tool that hosts travel discussions and affords travel experiences to be documented, viewed, and narrated, the content posted to Instagram plays an instrumental role in shaping pre-travel narrative.
Using studies on sustainable tourism, social media, and persuasive design, this Major Research Project (MRP) analyzes how Instagram can promote sustainable tourism by integrating new features to its platform.
Introduction to Market Analysis
Instagram is a visual storytelling social media application owned by Facebook Inc. (Instagram Inc., 2019). With over one billion active monthly users worldwide (Instagram Inc., 2019) Instagram allows users to post, view, comment, and share photographs and videos. Since its inception in 2010, Instagram has iterated its design to adapt to user wants, combat competitors, and respond to societal issues (Instagram Inc., 2019). Currently, Instagram is on version 95.0 for iOS, with approximately 50 of the 95 iterations introducing new product features, such as Instagram Stories, Direct Messages, and the muting function (Instagram Inc., 2019). Though originally created as a mobile application meant for sharing and liking photos, Instagram is a platform that has grown to have a significant impact on society. The tourism sector, in particular, has seen exponential growth in the past few years (Leung et al., 2013; Xu & Pratt, 2018). According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (2019), the tourism industry generated 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals and $1.7 trillion USD in international tourism exports in 2018 (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2019).
With the growth of the tourism industry, there is a growing body of research that focuses on the use of social media in tourism (Xiang & Gretzel, 2010; Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014; Xiang, Magnini, & Fesenmaier, 2015; Smith, 2018; Xu & Pratt, 2018). With much success, tourism authorities use social media marketing techniques and tools, such as the recruitment of social media influencers, to promote and commodify their destinations (Xu & Pratt, 2018). While research has shown that many people are traveling more than ever before (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2019), there is also evidence suggesting that social media use is contributing negatively to the quality of travel as well as the quality of living for the local communities in privileged and underprivileged, heavily touristed areas (Muench, 2017; Karsten, 2019). Travellers often fail to experience the authenticity they had hoped for due to overcrowding as well as resort lodging that does not accurately mirror the essence of foreign cultures (Annand, 2017). Correspondingly, the profit of tourism commonly fails to be evenly distributed back to locals—instead, profits fall into the hands of large corporations (López-Guzmán et al., 2011). Using studies on persuasive design, this study focuses on Instagram and sustainable travel. Just as Instagram has integrated seamless shopping into its interface and enabled comment filtering to promote prosocial behaviour (Instagram Inc., 2019), this study strives to uncover how Instagram can integrate new features to its user interface aimed at influencing users to make sustainable travel plans.
Persuasive Design
Persuasive technology is defined here as an interactive computing system designed to change a user’s attitude and behaviour through the use of psychological and social motivation theories. The design of persuasive technologies play a fundamental role in influencing user behaviour (Oduor et al., 2014). The principles of persuasive design are commonly employed in digital product that requires a target market’s long-term engagement, such as e-commerce and public health technologies (Sethumadhavan, 2018). According to Sethumadhavan (2018), persuasive design can take a variety of forms, including wearables, smartphone apps, games, virtual reality environments, and robots. Following this explanation of persuasive design, it is undeniable that Instagram is a platform that successfully runs on the framework.
Using psychological motivation theories (Fogg, 2009; Ryan & Deci, 2000) and influence principles (Kaptein et al., 2015), Instagram Travel possesses features of gamification (social graphs, achievements, and content unlocking), elements of motivation (pleasure and pain; hope and fear; social acceptance and social rejection), as well as the elements of ability (time, money, physical effort, brain cycles, and routine).
The Prototype
Prototyping is the main research method of this study. Drawing on the literature review, this study utilizes the techniques of persuasive design as a way to better motivate users toward sustainable trip planning while using the Instagram platform. To understand the current gaps in sustainable tourism persuasion on Instagram, the current Instagram interface (version 95.0) was analyzed. After determining what the platform currently affords its users to do in relation to everyday use and analyzing the successful design features of popular digital competitors, this study then turned to prototyping. The evolutionary design of this study’s artifact entailed two iterations of its analysis, design, and development. After the completion of each iteration, the working artifact was analyzed by the research committee and I, resulting in this study’s current prototype.
Instagram Travel is a prototype that introduces five new features to the Instagram interface: (1) Travel Resume, (2) Travel Book, (3) Travel Wish List, (4) Travel Home, and (5) Travel Insights. Travel Book is the digital recreation of the traditional tourism travel book, providing users with dynamic information about weather, currency exchange rates, and upcoming events. Travel Wish List uses personalization to feature posts with locations saved by a user. Travel Home allows users to experience 360° travel videos in virtual reality (VR), as well as see trending travel photographs and standard videos. Finally, Travel Insights expands Instagram’s current “Insights” feature by affording users the opportunity to view real-time data of the location and migration habits of Instagram users in a specific area. Overall, Instagram Travel boosts sustainable travel motivation and makes travel planning simpler.