Suomenlinna, enjoy with care: Designing for visitor guidance service with behavioural insights

Abstract

Suomenlinna has seen a steady rise in visitor numbers and is one of the most popular visitor destinations in Finland. Despite the benefits of increased tourism to this UNESCO World Heritage Site, it has also brought some additional challenges. Commissioned by the Governing Body of Suomenlinna, this practice-based thesis began with exploring the issue of visitor safety through motivation and signage.

Using service design as the main approach and informed by behavioural insights, early exploration into visitor safety concerns revealed that these concerns were part of a wider systemic issue stemming from visitor behaviours. These behaviours, such as walking in areas that are not recommended by the Governing Body, affect not only the visitors’ own safety but also have an effect on the privacy of Suomenlinna residents and conservation efforts. This thesis further identifies that these behaviours result from a combination of the misaligned perceptions visitors have about Suomenlinna and its ineffectual visitor guidance service.

In this thesis, the findings and insights from primary research, which consisted of a workshop, field observations, interviews, and shadowing, formed the basis of discovering the underlying issue and reframing the design brief. Theoretical frameworks in the fields of service design, behavioural studies and tourism were researched during the literature review in order to shed light on the possible cause of the underlying issue and strategies to tackle the issue.

This thesis suggests that by addressing both the conscious and unconscious sides of visitor behaviours, an effective means of shifting behaviours could be achieved. In order to create practical and implementable solutions, the thesis develops a design proposal consisting of an awareness campaign and on-site interventions. The awareness campaign focuses on addressing the conscious minds of visitors with the aim of re-aligning perceptions to be more in line with the historical value of Suomenlinna. Improvements in the visitor guidance interventions on-site focus on the unconscious minds of visitors to address momentary lapses in areas where impulsive behaviours can overtake the judgement of visitors. The design proposal was prototyped and tested in the field, gathering feedback and results. The thesis concludes with a discussion on future steps for pilot implementation, limitations, and future research to ensure meaningful behavioural changes for Suomenlinna.

This thesis demonstrates that service design informed by behavioural insights can be an effective catalyst for guiding the behaviour of visitors to ensure that the integrity of Suomenlinna and its future tourism can coexist.