Tourism Tasmania • Go Behind the Scenery
A dynamic campaign site encouraging visitors to “Go Behind the Scenery”
[Red Jelly, 2018]
I led the design and development of an immersive campaign site that inspired visitors to explore Tasmania’s hidden gems. By combining engaging digital storytelling with intuitive navigation, the site successfully boosted user engagement and contributed to a notable increase in tourism interest, helping the campaign exceed key performance targets.
Challenge
Tourism Tasmania’s "Go Behind the Scenery" campaign was designed to reveal the lesser-known, stunning landscapes of Tasmania and encourage visitors to explore beyond the usual tourist destinations. The challenge was to design a campaign site that not only captivated users with immersive storytelling but also provided a seamless experience that encouraged them to plan trips and explore Tasmania. The goal was to inspire engagement while driving real-world tourism, aligning with key performance indicators for boosting visitor interest in the region.
Approach
Over previous campaigns, the website had evolved in an ad-hoc manner. As a result, it offered a sub-optimal user experience and no longer met accessibility requirements. A confusing information architecture did not facilitate a meaningful user journey, resulting in low time on site and a high drop-off rate. It was slow-performing and hard to maintain due to legacy code and layered tagging. Further, the new campaign necessitated a brand refresh. My detailed assessment found a complete redesign and build would deliver the best ROI for our client.
The main objectives were four-fold:
to design and develop a brand-aligned website that would provide clear pathways for users along the customer journey from discovery to conversion;
to ensure the site was intuitive and engaging to use, met user needs, and built trust;
that the site was accessible; and
to meet a strict launch deadline within a predefined budget.
During the discovery phase, we worked closely with TTAS to identify what would deliver the most value to their audience within the budget and timeframe. Working with the project team, I wrote a Requirements Definition – our guidebook to the project – that outlined goals, features, a roadmap to launch, and how we would measure the site’s success.
Another task to tackle was content strategy and asset management. The client was relying on us to determine an efficient way to handle a large amount of content and associated assets efficiently and accurately.
To manage the content workflow and migration to the CMS, I recommended GatherContent, a Content Ops platform. GatherContent allowed us to deliver on our content strategy and provide a clear structure, guidelines, and approval process for TTAS.
We developed a consumer-centric site map explicitly designed to help users in the discovery of relevant content and to invite exploration. Synthesis of the existing site’s analytic data informed the information architecture, in conjunction with qualitative research on the motivations and barriers to travel to Tasmania.
Working with brand elements, I designed a site that supported the broader campaign collateral while providing users with a coherent, consistent, and engaging experience as they traveled along the customer journey.
The interface design supported the IA strategy, leveraging movement and rich media to guide users to relevant content and encourage them to journey from discovery to conversion. Visitors were met with subtle and fanciful motion via large format cinemagraphs, while CSS animations rewarded inquisitiveness and nurtured users along their travels.
We conducted usability testing throughout the project. Interactive prototypes allowed the client to test the feel and function before development. A panel of testers performed User Acceptance Testing, informing our final refinements before launch.
We supplemented UAT with our internal quality assurance, accessibility, and performance audits, ensuring the site met performance goals and WCAG Level AAA requirements.
Results
The "Go Behind the Scenery" campaign site was launched on time and within budget and exceeded expectations in user engagement and satisfaction:
Over the 17-week campaign, the site attracted 5.15 million unique visitors, with 23% of users completing assigned goals.
The campaign metrics surpassed client-set KPIs, with an increase in target users entering the aspiration and consideration stages of the customer journey.
25.2% of users were returning visitors, indicating strong user retention and showing that the IA and content hierarchy successfully supported the inbound channel strategy.
The campaign was well received by both the client and the broader tourism industry, and the site became a key part of Tasmania’s digital strategy for promoting tourism.
Key Takeaways
This project highlighted the power of digital storytelling in tourism marketing. By creating a visually immersive, interactive site, we were able to inspire users to explore and plan their own adventures in Tasmania. The success of the "Go Behind the Scenery" site demonstrated how thoughtful design and user experience could directly contribute to achieving business objectives and driving measurable results.