REI TrailMate
TrailMate allows users to log their adventures based around REI gear to create holistic reviews and stories using A.I.
The Mission
To design an experience that delivers efficient, accurate, relevant, and personalized content to REI shoppers.
Role
Designer on team of four
Timeline
2 Months. Oct-Nov 2022
User Research
We interviewed eight people who had an interest in REI or outdoorsy activities to get insight into the shopping experience. This helped us develop our pain points and gave us a strong foundation for our designs during our process.
"I appreciate detailed product descriptions, the ability to see pros and cons, as well as pictures. Besides the technical specs on a piece of gear, I don't think REI showcases the things I would like to know about a piece of equipment."
"When buying gear online, I would say that I value the ability to see as much about each gear/piece of equipment as possible. I like it when it is very efficient. I feel like I am often doing a lot of my own research outside of the REI website about the gear."
"I think it would be interesting for REI to allow us to create a profile that tracks what we enjoy so my experience feels more personal rather than focusing on what is profitable."
As-Is User Journey
We developed an as-is user journey to help us identify users' pain points when buying gear on the REI website. This outlined the design opportunities and informed our decisions going forward.
Research Analysis
We noticed four main pain points that continuously showed up in our interviews, and as-is user journey.
Persona
From here, we developed a persona that was a combined version of our analyzed pain points and interviewees.
Brainstorming
As a team, we went through multiple brainstorming sessions, concept ideas, and possible user journeys before coming to our final.
Finalized User Flow
Our user flow goes through the designed experience for a persona who buys an REI tent from the website.
Sketches
Before going into Figma, we drew out some basic screens as a way to visualize our user flow. We drew out ideas for what some key screens could look like.
Wireframing
We developed low-fi wireframes for all of our screens before developing our hi-fi finalized designs. These helped us lay everything out for key moments in our user flow.
Final Design
Our final design solution is the concept of personalized AI-generated reviews that are developed from other users' adventures with REI gear.
A.I generated review + map feature
A.I customizes reviews and modules to the user's interests/needs.
The map feature can be used to search locations that people have taken their gear.
Co-Created Trip Logs
A.I creates a trip log for the user based on their adventure with the REI gear. The user can edit and personalize these before sharing.
Notifications Along the Way
Micro-interactions are another data collection point and also provide the user with helpful tips.
Family Feature
Trip logs can include data from families who have memberships as well as individuals.
Explore Page + TrailMate Suggestions
A.I provides a list of locations that the user may want to explore + corresponding trip logs. There are also curated trail mates that showcase their profiles and adventures based on location, interests and experience level.
