Every Woman’s Marathon
2024 || Client: MilkPEP
Develop a digital strategy and a joyful ecosystem to excite, educate, and enable registration for a new marathon designed for women by women.
Methods:
User research, competitive analysis, content strategy, UX writing, wireframes, prototyping, stakeholder presentations
Impact
2,000+ signups in the first week and sold out in 6 months (7,000 participants)
10,000+ new members of our “Team Milk” community
Strong site peformance- long engagement times and bounce rate of 21.7%
The Challenge
Milk hads long supported women at marathons with recovery lounges (The protein and nutrients in milk provide a well-rounded boost for athletes that is particularly helpful post-activities) and cheer squads, but wanted to take a bold step forward.
What if we didn't just show up after the race-what if we designed the race? We set out to create a marathon rooted in accessibility, inclusivity, and community.
KPIs
Registrations for race (Sell Out = 7,000 signups)
Additional sign ups for ‘Team Milk’ community
Low bounce rates, high engagement time
My Role
I led UX strategy, content design, and product development for the web experience. This included:
Conducting research with 30+ runners across experience levels
Synthesizing user insights to define core experience pillars
Leading the content strategy, wireframing, and prototyping of a mobile-first site
Working with branding and creative to develop the EWM design system
Collaborating with clients, project management, strategy, and dev teams
(I also ran in the race …🏃♀️)
Research
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Competitive Analysis
We began doing a competitive audit, looking at other marathon/race groups such as the Boston/New York/Chicago marathons, Tough Mudder, Rock’n’Roll Marathons, etc. We also studied groups like Nike for inspiration on education.
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User Interviews & Surveys
We spoke with 30 women runners, ages 18-64, who were a mix of aspirational and experienced runners. We learned about their motivations, barriers, and pain points regarding running and preparing for marathons.
Research Takeaways
🚧 Barriers
43% surveyed said finding time and resources for training prevents them from signing up for marathons.
The mental commitment and risk of injury are also daunting factors.
For newer runners, the course time limit (typically 6 hours) is intimidating and discourages them from participating.
📣 Motivators
82% of women said they’re more likely to sign up for a race if a friend/ club will sign up with them
Most would sacrifice their race time to help motivate others to finish
96% of mothers interviewed said they run to set an example for their children
These insights shaped our core experience pillars:
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An Accessible Race
From first-time to seasoned runners, this race is designed to be inclusive to all running abilities and body types.
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A Community of Women
Join a supportive community of women to connect with throughout the marathon journey.
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A Weekend of Fun
It’s more than a race, It’s a festival! Celebrate with live music, fun classes, wellness chats, and a party!
Design Kickoff
Content Strategy and Wireframes
Armed with user insights and defined objectives, and with 5 months until the marathon announcement, I collaborated with the strategy and creative teams to map out the website's structure and functionality.
Our strategy targeted mid-funnel users arriving from paid and organic social and prioritized storytelling, race information, and easy registration.
We also created additional value by providing support for training with running plans and nutrition tips (highlighting milk’s benefits in training to bolster brand equity).
While wireframing and creating interactive prototypes for client reviews, I also began contributing UX writing to guide messaging and story.
Prototyping
See mobile prototype here
Branding & Design
Bright, Bold and Brave
In partnership with a design studio, we helped build this new brand from the ground up- defining the Every Woman’s Marathon visual identity and digital design system. I collaborated closely on visual direction and worked within the design system when adding new content to the site.
The brand broke the mold of typical marathon websites. Bold, celebratory colors and vibrant visuals brought energy and emotion to the user journey.
The look was unapologetically fun- designed to welcome and excite runners of all kinds, and to stand apart in a space often defined by rigid competition.
It went live.
Impact
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Record Sign Ups
Over 2,000 signups in the first week. Sold out within 6 months
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Strong Site Performance
Average site engagement time of 1m 54s and bounce rate of 21.7% on top 7 pages
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10K New Members
Team Milk membership has increased from 20,000 members (January 2024) to over 30,000 members (July 2024)