Why Just Park It?
The idea of what “American Dream” should look like is slowly shifting. Jeff and Bonnie decided it was time to change the narrative for themselves and start full time RV living.
Role: UX Designer
Scope of Work: User Research, Usability Testing , User Interviews, User Interfacing, Visual Design, Logo Design, Sketching and Wire framing
Duration: 80 hours
Challenge
Creating a modern blog post that is able to used to help fellow full time RV’ers and Van Life’ers be able to access tips and best practices.
Solution
Create a fun and inviting website/blog that can be used across multiple generations that lays the foundation for future marketing, branding opportunities, and sponsorships.
The Process
A little background
After selling their home, Jeff and Bonnie have decided to follow a 30 year old dream of traveling across the United States with their dog, Jewell, in a fifth wheel. Both of them are new to the idea of living on the road full time and are looking to document this journey for their family and friends back home. They have decided that one of the best ways to document their journey is through a website and youtube channel.
Understanding RV’ing Market Trends
In order to understand how I would be able to competitive position my blog website, I decided it would be important to look at the current market trends:
Market Trends
“RVing” — either full time or on weekends — appears to be picking up, especially among young couples.
— Long, Heather. "1 Million Americans Live in Rvs. Meet the 'modern Nomads.'" The Washington Post. WP Company, 28 Sept. 2021. Web. 14 Apr. 2022.
A million Americans live full-time in RVs, according to the RV Industry Association.
— Long, Heather. "1 Million Americans Live in Rvs. Meet the 'modern Nomads.'" The Washington Post. WP Company, 28 Sept. 2021. Web. 14 Apr. 2022.
Half of new sales are going to Americans under 45, and purchases by people of color are rising, RVIA found in its 2016 surveys
— Long, Heather. "1 Million Americans Live in Rvs. Meet the 'modern Nomads.'" The Washington Post. WP Company, 28 Sept. 2021. Web. 14 Apr. 2022.
Millennials have pushed this industry to record highs in recent years.
— ("Latest RV Statistics 2020-2021: Latest Data & Trends")
After researching current market treads, I decided it would be time to conduct my competitive analysis through this new lense. During this, I found
With the rise of housing cost, many Americans are looking at full time RV’ing as a way to be able to own house verse renting.
With the pandemic and housing boom, many Americans decided to sell their home for a profit to be able to not only continue to travel but to help get out of debt.
Although alternative lifestyle living is nothing new, it has become more popular and mainstream in recent years.
Who are Jeff & Bonnie?
To better be able to understand what Jeff and Bonnie were wanting for this site, I decided that it would be best to sit down with them to understand what their needs and wants. During this conversation, they decided their 3 main goals were:
A custom logo that would be able to not only be used for their future Youtube channel
A website that they would be able to upload and post their tricks and some of their lessons learned throughout this journey.
A place that would allow them to document their journey for their friends and family back home.
User Interviews
After reviewing my research and my conversation with Jeff and Bonnie, I created a guided conversation script for me to understand my users perspectives, needs and pain points. For this, I conducted 4 remote interviews to understand how people viewed alternative life styles and what information they would need to feel comfortable to want to try this lifestyle out.
My Findings
Many my users have heard of the idea of people living in RV’s full time, but for 3 of them, it was never an idea that they thought they would be able to do. For 1 user, they looked at living in an RV full time as the life style change that they needed to finally feel free from the pressures of every day life. For 2 of my users, they felt that RV living was a cool concept however they didn’t understand how people would be able to live with such minimal items still feel like they had a lot. All users agreed that “owning a home” could mean different things for different people.
Persona
After I finished conducting my research and interviews, I shifted my focus to create a persona that was able to encapsulate my findings. With this persona, I used it to help guide my work so I would be able to stay focused on my target user and find creative solutions to help open peoples minds to alternative lifestyles but also what it would take for them to be interested in joining the movement.
Making the Just Park It logo
After my conversation, with Jeff and Bonnie, I went to the drawing board to start designing their new logo. Some of the main thing they wanted their logo to have were
Their rig (5th wheel)
Mountains
Was able to convey the feeling of travel, fun and whimsical
After a few additional conversions with Jeff and Bonnie, we were able to come up with the final draft of the logo
For Jeff and Bonnie, this final logo design was perfect design to build their brand around.
Addressing Fustrations by Providing Solutions
To help guide my work for the rest of this process, I revisited my users frustrations to create needed solutions by:
Creating a website that is able to make this alternative lifestyle easier to obtain for the average user.
Understanding what will be needed to be able to build trust in my website for my users.
Redefining how people view RV living and what goes into it
Bringing it to life
Creating my wireframes, I made it a priority for users to be able to find information easily through the heavy text.
Going from idea to reality
RV living and the freedom that it allows is something that I have been interested in for the last few years. After reaching out to Jeff and Bonnie, I knew that this was an opportunity to not only expand my knowledge on the topic but to also create a brand that would be able to follow them for the foreseeable future.
Understanding my Target Audience
After creating my wireframes, I conducted a small usability test with my users from my interviews. During the testing, I provided each participant with my low fidelity wireframes in hopes of creating a real world experience for my users and to gather feedback on what they liked or disliked. During the usability testing, participants shared:
That would want a easier way to be able to find where Jeff and Bonnie have been.
Users loved how much information was on each wireframe but 2 of the users felt overwhelmed by how close the text was in some of the frames.
After gaining this feedback, I went to work rework my wireframes to provide a better experience for my users. During my testing i noticed:
Problem
Users wanted to be able to have the ability to be more interactive with where Jeff and Bonnie have been and what they are currently doing
Solution
Added a map feature that would allow users to click on any state that is highlighted and allow them to see articles or tips for that state. I also took the time to redesign the articles to showcase more pictures and less words to help users gain a better understand of who Jeff and Bonnie are and what the blog would be about.
Problem
Users were overwhelmed by how much text was on eaxh page
Solution
Break up the text into easy to read paragraphs, add more pictures to help keep users engaged, and add a highlight quote section to help users understand the main point of the articles faster and easier.
High- Fidelity Solutions
Making the RV life style obtainable
Although RV living may not be something for everyone, it is a concept that many people are interested in. For this homepage, I wanted to be able to bridge the gap between those who are living in a RV and those who are interested in the movement
The power of pictures as story telling
To be able to help the user, I decided that it would be best to use pictures and highlighted quotes to be able to help tell the story for Jeff and Bonnie verse them having to write all out themselves.
Where to next?
For this page, I wanted to focus on making sure that no matter you lifestyle, if you were looking for your next adventure, this would be the blog you would want to come to.
Final Design
A family friendly travel website that works to bring people back to the great outdoor through an alternative lifestyle.
Reflections
For this project , I found myself working to balance all of text for the is blog while also making sure that user was able to still want to be engaged. One of the biggest things that i am the most proud of in this project was i was able to create a brand that would be able to be followed for my clients.
If given more time, I would like to be able to add more features to the site itself to help more up and coming RV’ers.