The Family Adventure Club was designed by myself and my wonderful product partner, Aaron. The Co-op has been looking for new ways to engage families because they represent both current customers (young parents) and a next generation of customers (their kids).
In this project, we sought to solve this audience’s problems with a profitable solution for the Co-op that leverages existing strengths (e.g., Experiences, retail) but falls between silos in the organization.
Aaron and I researched and developed this product over a year and a half and it was truly a labor of love. We spoke to hundreds of parents and kids and surveyed thousands to get to the heart of the customer truth and design a solution that would truly serve the Aspirational Outdoorsy Family.
• External Research Scan
• 35 Customer Interviews
• Existing Product Reaction Review
• 3400 Person Quantitative Study
To wrap up this phase of research and discovery we took our insights and ran 3 workshops with 18 internal stakeholders and external participants who work with kids and family in a range of disciplines.
We left those sessions with 4 unique solution concepts that we moved into the next round of testing which was Play Money tests with parents in Nashville, TN,
Pain points
They feel they’re failing to facilitate consistent outdoor activity. They’re frustrated when their kid’s motivation begins to wane, because it threatens the identity they aspire to have.
“I feel guilty that I’m not planning enough outdoor activities for my family.”
Needs and goals
Parents want consistent, easy, local experiences that help them recreate outside together in a variety of ways each month so they can make memories and live out their aspirational identity.
“I want my kids to grow up as people who identify with being outdoorsy.”
To clarify, our team defines a pilot as a temporary test— most often taking between 3-6 months to collect material “do” data to inform if the concept should be developed. In this case, we envisioned the pilot taking place over a 3 month season with a cohort of approximately 30 families in the Denver area because of the relationships we build while putting on the Kids Co-op event.
After sharpening the edges of the concept and redteaming a potential pilot with key stakeholders it was time to create the pitch deck. I’ve already shared most of the information in the pitch deck but just in case you’re curious— you can flip through the deck below.
Aaron and I presented this to the the leadership teams of the Denver flagship, Experiences, and Marketing. The response was enthusiastic and we planned to do the pilot in Spring of 2024. Because of economic circumstances and labor relations issues discussions continued into December of 2023.
Although this is an active project, economic uncertainty has put it on “pause” until Q1 2024 (at least). If we receive budget and a green light then I’ll promptly kiss my family goodbye and retreat into my design-cave to begin the monumental task of building out the digital and IRL pilot experience. It’d be a lot of work and it’d be a blessing. It’s been a dream to be given infinite trust and the space to run free and solve this problem in the best way I know how.
If you made it this far— thanks! It was a long one. This was truly a labor of love and while this case study only has a fraction of the amount of work we’ve done over the past 2 years I hope this gives a sense of how I think and work.
As always, if you have any feedback or suggestions on how I can make this novel easier to read please give me a shout.
I also mapped a first version of the pilot’s user journey. It includes everything from marketing campaigns to end of season surveys.
Kids at the concept test we did in Denver, CO. We has a lot of families with younger kids but appeal of the Club remained consistent which is a good signal for desirability outside our target customer.
Kids focus group in Oakbrook, IL. The focus group started as a conversation and ended with kids creating their own club! It was so helpful in figuring out what kids consider fun and engaging.
First iteration of Family Adventure Club for in-store intercepts in Oakbrook, IL.
Key customer learnings
• Customers will pay for a Family Adventure Club solution that helps them achieve the “outdoorsy” identity they desire, primarily by getting outside as a family consistently.
• It must be sticky. A direct communication platform + gamified engagement mechanic will reinforce the value of the Club, drive repeat engagement every month, and propel word-of-mouth growth. Parents want to feel like their kids are pulling them into outdoor activity— not the other way around.
• Customers who engage with Experience offerings have much higher attachment rates and we have reason to believe that this concept would significantly increase LTV.
• Kids crave variety just as much as parents do but contrary to core REI belief, not all “outdoorsy” activities need to be outdoors. Both kids and parents expressed strong interest in attending smaller activities like camp food testing and short film nights.
Through all our research, testing, and concept iteration one thing was clear: families were really interested in signing up for the Family Adventure Club. Everything from the “shark tank” sessions to kids to seeing family dynamic at our a gamified Kids Co-op event yielded valuable insights that helped us more clearly define what the club must be for parents and kids.
As our leadership team discussed, Aaron and I found an amazing agency called Season. They had done illustration work for REI before and they had the organic, funky, energetic style I knew the club needed. Over 3 months I worked with them closely to develop the brand and character illustrations. To be clear— Season did all the incredible brand work! I just helped to guide it with mood boards, feedback, and workshops.