Camping World App - UX Case Study 2023

UX Case Study

Camping World

Designing an AI-Powered internal Sales app for Camping World.

Written by

Justin Watts

Duration

1 years

Team

1 UX

My Role

UX Lead

Type

B2C

INTRODUCTION

Camping World was ahead of the game.

The RV enthusiast outlet Camping World is a forward-thinking company. I worked on the IT team as a lead UX designer and was asked to help define and design a Salesforce and AI-backed mobile app for internal the sales team.

PROBLEMS

Sales Associates needed support.

The RV Sales team across the country used Salesforce to manage, track and log all sales activity. While the CRM is an incredible tool in many respects, it slowed down the staff who had to wade through a lot of screens and customer information to complete basic sales tasks.

APPROACH

Communication. Tools. Data. Products. One App.

The idea was to take the Salesforce data and AI-infused functionality and simplify it into a simple, modern app. It would allow Sales Associates to track sales numbers, RV inventory and communications with customers.

UX Deep Dive Below

WHAT I DID

A Full-Stack of UX fun.

My role on this project was UX Lead. As a UX team of one I was the researcher, designer and managed a lot of stakeholder conversations.

UX Deep Dive Below

Wireframes

Prototypes

Design System

User Research

UX Strategy

Team Manager

DISCOVERY

User Research

Interviews with external client users and internal stakeholders. Since the site is very customizable it was helpful to learn about specific issues, pain points and requests.

DISCOVERY

User Research

Interviews with external client users and internal stakeholders. Since the site is very customizable it was helpful to learn about specific issues, pain points and requests.

RESEARCH

Paying Sales Associates a visit.

I was able to round up numerous in-person interviews at various Camping World and Gander RV locations around the country. After the interviews I learned an absolute ton about the good and bad aspects of Salesforce and how it impacted users.

UX Deep Dive Below

User Research. Camping World sent me to 6 RV Dealership Locations to conduct user research. From conversations with 16 Sales Associates and 4 Managers the UX team began to understand the main pain points and themes that users were experiencing day-to-day using Salesforce.

Sales Artifacts. How did Sales keep track of all RV and customer information? Old school notepads and rolodexes. They felt it was much easier than needing to input everything into Salesforce manually.

Findings Report. After traveling the country and learning from employees I wrote a report with 50 findings and 20 designs indicating how to could approach solutioning for the Sales Associate's issues.

INSIGHTS

A wealth of Data. Ripe with opportunity.

During research, the Sales team was clear that they would not adopt Salesforce as-is. The Information, which was powered with AI and machine-learning was not optimized for their consumption. Gradually, the Sales team revolted against Salesforce overall.

Time Consuming

In research, I learned that Salesforce was not optimized for Sales Associates. They were clear that digging for and adding Customer information was a timesuck and they often were unclear how to follow up.

'Opportunities' required too much information that Sales was just not interested in adding to the system.
RV and Customer information was hard to decipher and locate in Salesforce so Sales used other sources to supply it.
The 'layers' of Salesforce required multiple pieces of information to proceed, adding frustration to the process.
The process was far from streamlined and so Sales rebelled against it.

Solution

Design simplified, modern navigation system. Remove hover action. Allow design to accomodate large and small catalogs.

Confusing Interface

In research, I learned that Salesforce was a great CRM for trained users, but it was very challenging for a busy and uninterested Sales team.

Solution

Redesign catalog using updated layout. Remove the hover action. Ensure user can purchase product on list view.

The scattered nature of the system required associates to navigate through many tabs and screens.
There was little indication of how to proceed and since there was so much information onscreen users were often confused how to proceed.
The example shows tabs on the top combined with tabs in each section. This type of setup is poor usability and caused many issues for users.
Participants cited loving the Customer and RV information in Salesforce but hating how it was presented.

Findability Problems

In research, I learned that there are too many different types of Salesforce 'objects' and this made searching difficult.

Solution

Expand global search to make more obvious. Ensure that it displays results without leaving the page. Ensure all item information displays at correct levels.

Users cited lack of findability as a primary issue and reason they do not like Salesforce
The example shows global search results which display numerous 'Objects' which confused users.
Communications and all tracked information in Salesforce was extremely important but so hard to find so Sales stopped using it.

Salesforce Sync Issues

In research, I learned that users did not trust the system because it would never be 'in-sync' with the backend system.

Solution

Redesign checkout experience. Add components to help users work through the process. Ensure process is clean and simple.

Participants discussed not trusting the data and information in the system and felt their own pad and paper were more trustworthy.
Participants cited taking a long time to add information into the system and it never populating or 'saving' causing huge frustration.
This lack of synchronization slowly eroded trust between Salesforce and the Sales team.

UX Deep Dive Below

DESIGN

Simplifying Salesforce for easy consumption.

The design strategy was to streamline Salesforce. The reality is that there is an enormous amount of great RV and Customer data, which when used properly - would make Camping World and the Sales team a lot of money. The plan was to learn the processes and build an app on the back of all those processes and remove some of the legwork that Sales needed to do. I started with quick and easy concepts at a low fidelity and built up from there.

UX Deep Dive Below

THE APP

Complexity into simplicity. The benefits of Salesforce in a usable package.

After the research and analysis I knew that we needed to simplify the entire Salesforce experience. To do this, I needed to streamline the interface while still using the valuable data from the CRM. The design solutions below were designed and mapped from multiple 'Objects' in Salesforce and simplified into a modern interface.

UX Deep Dive Below

DESIGN SOLUTION

RV Detail Page

Salesforce is a powerful CRM but lacks a traditional 'eCommerce' experience. The RV Detail page was designed to reinforce the benefits of each make and model so the Sales Associate could easily explore and educate themselves.

DESIGN SOLUTION

Homescreen Dashboard

Since all information in Salesforce was fragmented the approach was to consolidate it into holistic and usable information. This was true for Sales Data, RV Information and Customer Messages. Presentation was key and displaying relevant information up front spoke to Sales Associates.

DESIGN SOLUTION

RV Showroom

Salesforce has 1,000s of RV 'Objects' but no easy way to share the information with customers. The RV Showroom was designed from the ground up to easily search for and share RVs. Once a model was found, it could be shared with customers directly from the app.

DESIGN SOLUTION

Recent Interactions

Salesforce is powerful and tracks all calls, texts and emails. Prior to the app there was not an easy way to track it. Sales Associates told me this is their 'lifeblood' for sales. I wanted to provide a simple, ongoing way for them to communicate with customers no matter which method they prefer.

OUTCOMES

Stats and figures.

Measurable results and figures accomplished what I set out to do: make Sales Associates' lives easier. Below are a few examples of efficiencies that were created as a result of the new Camping World app.

UX Deep Dive Below

22%

Average increase in Sales Associates communications with customers.

+26%

Percentage increase in RVs shared with customers.

+02

Hours time saved per day inputting information in Salesforce.

+11%

Average sales per Associate during the app pilot process.

WRAP UP

Salesforce. Modernized. Simplified.

I worked with Camping World Sales Associates throughout the process for research and refinement. The app was piloted and well-received but due to technical issues and abandonment of Salesforce another solution was used. I had a blast learning about the Sales team's needs. The design was unbelievably fun and was a great test in using knowledge to unearth issues and provide elegant solutions.

UX Deep Dive Below

Processes Simplified

10+

Designs Created

32+

Participants for Research

Fully Completed App

Time Consuming Issues

Fixed

Interface Confusion

Fixed

Findability Problems

Fixed

Synchronization

Fixed

Thank you for reading!

ABOUT The Author

Justin Watts

Sr. UX Lead, Usability Fanatic and Avid Record Collector

Product Design. UX Strategy. User Research.

Justin Watts is a user-centered designer with a decade of experience. He attended Kent State University and received a Master of Science degree in User Experience Design. He has worked on UX projects in enterprise, agency and startup environments. He has spoken a various usability engagements and is active in the UCD community.

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OLD SITE

Before

Outdated interface, excessive links, missable search, unclear icons, inconsistent navigation and visual hierarchy.

NEW SITE

After

Updated interface, streamlined navigation, primary calls to action, clear links, global search, message board, new functionality.

THANKS!

Thanks for checking out this case study! Please feel free to keep reading if you like.

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