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SmartSustain Recommender System: Navigating Sustainability Trade-offs in Personalized City Trip Planning

Ashmi Banerjee, Melih Mert Aksoy, Wolfgang Wörndl

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of balancing environmental impact with personal preferences in city-trip planning. It introduces SmartSustain, a modular web-based recommender that uses decision-science visualizations and UI nudges to surface and manage sustainability trade-offs. Key contributions include an interactive multi-factor dashboard, Dynamic Trade-Off Banners for context-aware suggestions, and Real-Time Impact visualizations to make consequences tangible. A preliminary study with 21 participants demonstrates strong usability and perceived effectiveness, while identifying avenues for refinement and broader evaluation. The work offers a practical platform for advancing eco-conscious travel decisions and can inform future real-time data integration and large-scale studies.

Abstract

Tourism is a major contributor to global carbon emissions and over-tourism, creating an urgent need for recommender systems that not only inform but also gently steer users toward more sustainable travel decisions. Such choices, however, often require balancing complex trade-offs between environmental impact, cost, convenience, and personal interests. To address this, we present the SmartSustain Recommender, a web application designed to nudge users toward eco-friendlier options through an interactive, user-centric interface. The system visualizes the broader consequences of travel decisions by combining CO2e emissions, destination popularity, and seasonality with personalized interest matching. It employs mechanisms such as interactive city cards for quick comparisons, dynamic banners that surface sustainable alternatives in specific trade-off scenarios, and real-time impact feedback using animated environmental indicators. A preliminary user study with 21 participants indicated strong usability and perceived effectiveness. The system is accessible at https://smartsustainrecommender.web.app.

SmartSustain Recommender System: Navigating Sustainability Trade-offs in Personalized City Trip Planning

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of balancing environmental impact with personal preferences in city-trip planning. It introduces SmartSustain, a modular web-based recommender that uses decision-science visualizations and UI nudges to surface and manage sustainability trade-offs. Key contributions include an interactive multi-factor dashboard, Dynamic Trade-Off Banners for context-aware suggestions, and Real-Time Impact visualizations to make consequences tangible. A preliminary study with 21 participants demonstrates strong usability and perceived effectiveness, while identifying avenues for refinement and broader evaluation. The work offers a practical platform for advancing eco-conscious travel decisions and can inform future real-time data integration and large-scale studies.

Abstract

Tourism is a major contributor to global carbon emissions and over-tourism, creating an urgent need for recommender systems that not only inform but also gently steer users toward more sustainable travel decisions. Such choices, however, often require balancing complex trade-offs between environmental impact, cost, convenience, and personal interests. To address this, we present the SmartSustain Recommender, a web application designed to nudge users toward eco-friendlier options through an interactive, user-centric interface. The system visualizes the broader consequences of travel decisions by combining CO2e emissions, destination popularity, and seasonality with personalized interest matching. It employs mechanisms such as interactive city cards for quick comparisons, dynamic banners that surface sustainable alternatives in specific trade-off scenarios, and real-time impact feedback using animated environmental indicators. A preliminary user study with 21 participants indicated strong usability and perceived effectiveness. The system is accessible at https://smartsustainrecommender.web.app.
Paper Structure (16 sections, 6 figures)

This paper contains 16 sections, 6 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Sustainable Tourism Recommenders
  4. User Experience and Decision Support
  5. User Journey and Interface
  6. Landing Page
  7. Explore Workspace
  8. City Details and Booking Flow
  9. Dynamic Trade-Off Nudges
  10. Visual Encoding and Animations
  11. Journey Culmination
  12. System Design and Validation
  13. Core Recommendation Logic
  14. Implementation
  15. Preliminary User Study
  16. ...and 1 more sections

Figures (6)

  • Figure 1: Card view with sustainability tags, transport summary, and interest alignment bars. The dynamic banner below, highlighted in red, aims to encourage users to make more sustainable choices.
  • Figure 2: Map view with interactive markers and polylines representing destinations and transport options. Upon clicking on one of the markers, users can view detailed information about the destination and available transportation (highlighted in red).
  • Figure 3: Booking component with transport and accommodation options showing financial and environmental impacts.
  • Figure 4: Different banners promoting sustainable travel options. They are contextually displayed based on user interactions and preferences to nudge them towards greener choices.
  • Figure 5: Alternative destination suggestions shown on the booking page when a high-emission option is selected. These alternatives are greener and align well with the user's interests, encouraging more sustainable choices.
  • ...and 1 more figures