A national operator of campsites and RV parks wanted to know how they could attract more millennials, a demographic they felt they did poorly in. I spent time pouring over available industry reports (Coleman, KOA, NPS etc) to look at trends. I analyzed their web site traffic and in-house data to examine their current user base and I looked at their competitors, not just their traditional direct competitors but those who are vying for the weekends of millennials (outdoor music festivals, Airbnb, Hipcamp etc.). In addition I organized a quick weekend trip with myself, some millennial friends and my dog using Hipcamp. They had limited to no camping experience or equipment. I did a before interview with them on their ideas around camping and then recorded with video the experience of booking, traveling too the site and staying at the Hipcamp property, including their struggles with setting up a tent, finding firewood and realizing they did not bring basic supplies. The site was on a small working farm and within the first 20 mins my dog managed to find some dung and roll around in it, so included for free was issues around bringing pets. We used this information to help build out personas, a pitch on the industry and trends, and suggestions to explore how a more mature site provider could package their current offerings into a “Just show up and start camping” experience.

A national garage door brand who was moving into home access wanted to think beyond simple access and home automation. They wanted to look deeper into why access was granted, to whom, and the context. My team targeted home managers, those tasked with most of the day to day operations of keeping a household running, as well as those who often did not have a partner (e.g. single parents, the elderly). We scoured available data on these households, trends for delivery, surveys on access of garages vs doors and overall trends on garages. We conducted some interviews, created personas, drew up assumptions, tested them and made adjustments. We did some observational research, watching specifically single parents and their “leaving” and “coming home” routines. We met with senior citizens and their families attempting to age in place, with a heightened need for help, IoT and delivery services as well as urban planners looking at connecting home and city services. From this we created not only highly refined personas and value statements, but deep understanding of the needs and how trust within communities are built. From this we created ideas for potential next generation features or products including:

* Visualizing skills and social capital within communities

* Tracking and visualizing both cost, value and earning potential of rooms and assets within a house

* Volunteer trusted neighbors for emergency response or tasks.