REI Co-op (Camp)
My Role: Creative Lead, Co-Product Manager
Creative Challenge: Push the boundaries of REI’s storied brand experience and voice.
Product Challenge: Parents with little outdoor experience (and free time) find outdoor vacation planning mentally exhausting. And they think REI is for experts.
The Solution
REI Co-op Adventure Camp makes outdoor getaways effortless by providing families everything they need for a gorgeous and memorable camping experience that’s still close to home.
We’ll offer comfortable lodging, delicious camp meal, and guided activity options that are flexible and kid-friendly. Guests can customize their getaway to their budget and family needs. So they can stress less and focus more on making memories with the people they love.
The Process
Research
Acting as an interim UX Research Designer, I partnered with the Product Manager to refine the concept through qualitative testing using Play Money and Card Sort tests along with customer interviews and user testing.
A/B Testing with Google Ads
In collaboration with search marketing, we used landing pages to test waitlist conversion for a pilot of this camp, and whether they preferred an all-inclusive camp or wanted to pay a la carte. See the A/B landing page experiences.
I outlined the value propositions, wrote the landing page copy, and created the headlines, descriptions, and keywords for Google Ads. In 8 days, and using 1/3 of our original budget, we exceeded our target of a 2% sign-up conversion. The precision of targeting allowed us to use the remaining budget to test in two other regional markets and gain results in a total of three weeks.
The waitlist sign up included required questions about their preferred lodging and ZIP code.
While it was a near tie between all-inclusive and a la carte, we decided it was operationally more feasible to go with all-inclusive.
Pilot Proposal
Using the quantitative and qualitative feedback from nearly 2,800 target customers, we proposed moving forward with a pilot of the REI hosted camp. Those voices also shaped our recommendation of location, features, pricing structures, activities, and lodging.
Pilot Planning
Once our partners on the Experiences team gave the green light, the Product Manager and I began the sprint to pilot. We onboarded a UX Product Designer, Project Manager, Engineer, and multiple people on the Experiences team whose expertise was required to make this camp a reality.
My focus was on REI Co-op Adventure Camp’s new website, booking experience, and communications. Creating the customer’s journey requires me to nail down the specifics of a pilot to best prioritize and communicate it with users. I used my ability to see the big picture while zooming into the details to craft the journey with help from a small but skillful agency Season Studio.
Leading up to the pilot launch, I collaborated with our internal legal team, brand, marketing search marketing, finance, and experiences/adventure travel teams.
The Pilot
In March 2024, REI will host 40 cohorts of families over the course of 4 weekends in Arizona. This will be the ultimate “do” test and first of several pilots with a mind to refine the offering using real-world user testing.