Research: Defining Community

Inclusive design begins with intentional inclusive research practices.

Based on previous explorations done by the co-op’s Customer Insights team, there is clearly a correlation between a person’s environment/geography with how they recreate outdoors/outside. As one of the goals of the study is to ensure a broader and more inclusive understanding of what community is, four distinct key markets were mindfully identified and targeted in this study. By doing so, the study would be based on a curated participant pool that would include a larger range of varying lifestyles, attitudes and mentalities.

Though somewhat geographically aligned as geography and environment does play a factor in shaping lifestyles, the four markets we identified are as follows: The Pacific West/Rockies, the Warm Southern Borders, the Urban Eastern Metros, and the Expansive Midwest. The study consisted of 21 participants, each of which were interviewed in-depth for 60+ minutes by a dedicated research lead and were additionally observed by product team leads to ensure the quality of practice. An intentional, extensive screening process was established specifically for the study to guarantee diversity.

Additional customer segmentation typing tools were utilized in the study to ensure the four key markets aligned with REI’s priority segments as well.

For those in the Pacific West & Rockies, most participants sought out community broadly and expansively: they were willing to cast a wide-net and narrow things down through trial and error. Once they found others through online mediums, going to activity watering holes, or through some sort of affiliation, they would narrow down who they wanted to recreate with and build out branch communities from the reduced pools.

As all participants in this segment were transplants of some sort (self-identified either based on geography or culturally, or both), they didn’t have the established personal social network or felt comfortable enough to just meet others in the local area. Community for them meant the community at large and dwindling down to the right fit.

For those in the Warm Southern Borders, most of the participants sought out communities by placing themselves in the local activity hubs, whether it was the beach, the trails, or the climbing crags. By placing themselves in the activities they were interested in, they would then narrow down who they may want to learn from, or recreate with because they might be on the same level as them. By placing themselves in the heart of the action, so to speak, it was then easy to identify affinity and build brand communities from there.

As all participants in this segment noted that access and community hubs were not difficult to discover or participate in and thus it was a very low-lift for them to find the “right” community for their interests.

For the Urban Eastern Metro segment, most participants sought out community through established, personal networks first. This group often relied on those they already know, trust, and/or are familiar with to explore and recreate with. Once recreating, they either meet others on the trail or through an extension of their own personal network (i.e. a friend of a friend) and other secondary connections.

As all participants in this segment noted that time and access were largely factors in their outdoor recreations and so when doing it with others and being part of a collective is the goal, the connivance of an extended branch community was a huge factor in how their recreate with others.

For the Expansive Midwest segment, most participants, relied heavily on meeting others and building community groups through shared association or affinities (i.e. they go to the same church, gym, work for the same company). Once they’ve found those with similar interests from their shared affinity groups, they will then build out brand communities based on shared goals.

Although this group does utilizes other “pathways” in finding community for their recreational pursuits, they more often than not, align back to the pathway of a shared commonality (i.e. facebook group for after work meet-ups). Individuals in this segment were very clear that the socialization aspect of community should be built upon the basis of a shared commonality first and foremost.

So what is “community”?

Conclusively, three themes were clearly expressed by the participants that makes up the cornerstone of what community is to prospective users. Community means being supported, feeling belonging with a group of like-minded individuals, whether that’s through interests, purpose or something else. These three dominant themes often drive and fuel one another and are thus very interwoven with one another for the vast majority, if not all, of the participants.

Though the primary, dominant themes were somewhat expected, it was important to notice the secondary themes that arose from the study.

An interesting point to note: the secondary themes were concepts that over-index with our self-identified BIPOC participants. As the total participant pool measured at around 71% mark, 80-89% of the participants who associated “community” with one or more of the secondary themes self-identified to belonging to the BIPOC community. There was a clear divergence in which the secondary themes were more identifiable for the BIPOC participants.

What this all led to….