Travel Q: Questifying Micro Activities Using Travel Photos to Enhance Travel Experience

Travel is a series of micro activities. With the proliferation of digital cameras and smartphones, it is now common for travelers to record their micro activities in fine detail by taking photos without ever missing a moment. However, how to enhance the travel experience by utilizing such recorded micro activities has not been determined. Thus, we aim to 1) investigate how travelers record micro activities in photos through a user study and 2) design a system to enhance travel experiences utilizing travel photos. Based on the user study, we devise a "questification" strategy that motivates travelers to change their photos into quests. We implement a research prototype, Travel Q, a community platform that allows users to share their micro activities through photos. The results of a field study with the prototype suggest that questification is an applicable strategy for enhancing travel experiences.