P2 Case Study — MEC Quest

Discover opportunities to increase sales of camping gear and generate an increase in MEC memberships.

Project goals:

• Increase sales of MEC equipment
• Increase signups for MEC memberships
• Make choosing camping equipment for accessible and increase overall satisfaction
• Integrate the current MEC shoppin experience with theis new tool
• Better prepare and educate first time campers for their outdoor adventure
• Increase usage of Canadian camping location
• Create customized experience for each traveller

The Two Most Important Questions

My first set of interviews revealed that I would need to ask more questions that focused on what might get people interested in trying something new. After 10 one on one interviews and 33 returned user surveys I had good idea of how to approach the business objective of MEC.

The two most revealing questions I asked…

“What would encourage you to try something different?”

“What would like to take away from a guided camping trip?”

The answers to these questions informed me that if people have confidence that they are making the right decision in purchasing gear they would be more likely to try something different. Whether the choice was a new camping spot or upgrading their camping gear, people are more likely to try something new if they trust the advice they are recieving or if they felt they themselves could make the right selection.

Over 50% of the people surveyed already had a MEC membership. Even though these people already have a membership it was unlikely they would purchase camping gear online. The reason that was given by the majority of the people I talked to was - they wanted to get a better “tactile” sense of the product.

While the business objective did not clarify that the sales needed to be completed online, a web app could add some features to the online shopping experience that would bring people closer to that purchase descision.

This web app could also increase memberships by offering more value to their experience of searching for a camping destination and offering them gear that aligns with thier needs.

Competitive/Comparative analysis.

Consider the different approaches of two of MEC’s competitors.

Cheap and Cheerful

The cheap and cheerful everyday camper shops at Canadian tire. The Canadain tire website offers its visitor camping tips provided by staff members. The camping gear is broken down into categories for easy shopping by the type of camping: —Outfitter, Backpacker, Weekender, Comfort Camper, Family Adventurer, Day Tripper.

—MEC’s advantage: association with quality versus cheap/disposable

Vast and Elite—

REI makes an emotional connection between hiking and the people who hike, seamlessly weaving their selection of gear into the stories they tell.

—The selection of gear is huge and have a wide offerings of classes, videos and ways to join the hiking community both in person and online.

—MEC’s advantage: REI’s site is huge, and the camping area is not easy to find. All the gear is grouped together under camp/hike so it would be intimidating to navigate if you didn’t know exactly what to look for.

Who will use this web app: the user persona

She goes car camping every year to the same location, with the same circle of friends. She is ready to try something different but is overwhelmed by all the choices. Both the idea of visiting an unknown campsite and the choices of gear and different quality and price points is too overwhelming.

Ellen wants to be sure that her next camping trip gives her a chance to learn from the experience, plus she want to feel confident in her choices to purchase gear suitable to her needs right now.

What this web app offers

The approach that I took with this web app was to narrow the selection of camping gear down to only the top picks matching the camping style selected by the user. To futher build user confidence, they can read reviews on the product, watch videos on how to use the gear, and build a personal connection with MEC ambassadors.

MEC ambassadors are experienced camping guides who share articles and stories about the camping gear and accessories they used on guided trips (called MEC Quest) and helpful camping tips.

MEC Quest offers group camping trip destinations, experience guides give campers the opportunity to learn new skills and try different camping adventures knowing that they are in good hands.

The development of this web app

The first sketch drafts, I was trying to put a bit too much on one page. I was having the tough time integrating the MEC Quest into the process. In this iteration the landing page has all the features up front. It lacked a clear direction of which step to take first.

In this next draft I used the technique of disclosing providing one choice at at time. The first choice is either option 1) self guided adventure or 2) or MEC Quest, next step is to pick the BC Park region you want to explore.

The screens below show the first two options, then the option to select the BC Parks region, zoomed in to the different zones within that region, then the list of parks, followed by a “teaser” off all the web tool features.

After building out this option into a “clickable” prototype I did some user testing. It became immediately clear that I needed to reconsider the path I was taking the user on. Originally I thought that the web tool had enough value on its own that I could get the user to sign up for a MEC membership before the full results of their search.

See the snap-shot of the user test below. They come to this point in the web tool below where the “teaser” page is opened after you pick your camping style and BC Park. Note how when it comes time to join the user resists clicking on the “join now” link and looks for a way to back out.

This reaction was what prompted me to reconsider what I thought to be motivation enough to use this tool. Leaving the membership to the end of the process, if there is a purchase made, has more value than dropping a road block in the flow of the user expereince.

I was thankful for this opportunity to revisit the prototype and build a better flow for the user. With this next revision I cleaned up the typography, provided more navigation clues so the steps where clear. Once you get the results you can navigate across the pages by selecting the tabs, or more organically by the choosing the items that act as cross-sections to the other options.

Here is the final version that I have built:

Some future features I would like to add to this would be a weather app on the selected camp site that would show a forecast for the dates selected.