Q3 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the third quarter of FY2023 (April - June 2023) visitor traffic increased from the previous quarter by 60% with 16.2 million visitors, 30 million sessions, 84.1 million pageviews, and 3 million transactions; an expected seasonal increase in traffic. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the quarter was 23.8, a healthy increase from the previous quarter of 14.1. As we parsed through the data, we found that dissatisfaction scores and reasons for not accomplishing their goals were predominantly linked the increase in demand leading to lack of availability. The top two reasons for task failures are items being sold out and difficulty finding information, which outweigh all other task failure reasons combined. More than half of all Recreation.gov customers use the service to make campsite reservations and nearly half of all transactions across the platform are campsite reservations. These visitors are often frustrated and disappointed when campsites are booked for their desired dates. We regularly receive requests from users inquiring about waiting lists for campsites or an availability notification service. As a result we are now piloting Campsite Availability Alerts (launched June 2023); a service that provides visitors with updates regarding changes in campsite availability. Visitors create an availability alert when they encounter a campground or campsite that is already booked for their desired dates, and they want to be notified if a campsite becomes available. Setting an alert does not guarantee a reservation, and it does let a visitor know that a campsite is available meeting their criteria. Another new feature, is flexible dates offered as part of an initial campground search. Visitors choose a month and specify the number of nights they want to stay, and they are presented with options that match their date range and set filters like RV length, hook ups, etc. This helps visitors find available dates during the busiest camping months. We are currently looking at how this feature is being used, and plan to improve upon it and expand it to other inventory types like tickets.

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Q2 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the second quarter of FY2023 (Jan - March 2023) visitor traffic increased from the previous quarter by 25% with 10.1 million visitors,17.8 million sessions, 54.4 million pageviews, and 1.4 million transactions; an expected seasonal increase in traffic. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the quarter was 14.4, a sharp decrease from the previous quarter of 49, which is the highest NPS score since we began using this metric. As we parsed through the data, we found that dissatisfaction scores and reasons for not accomplishing their goals were predominantly linked the increase in demand leading to lack of availability. The top two reasons for task failures are items being sold out and difficulty finding information, which outweigh all other task failure reasons combined. Our Cx teams continue to monitor feedback and deploy improvements and features as a result. We found that users were confused by campground sort order and filters that help them narrow their searches were being overlooked. The teams made sort orders more explicit and consolidated filters to make it easier to see and use. As a result and during a one-month test period, the team noticed a 6% increase in the conversion rates. Another improvement launched and monitored, was the ability to save and display the last five searches made by users. After deploying this feature in early November 2022, we noticed a 26% higher conversion rate. We also revamped the homepage to simplify the design, thus increasing load-time speeds. Since deploying the new designs, we noticed a 31% higher conversion rate, bounce rates declined from 18.9% to 8.8%, and about 1/2 second was shaved from page speed.

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Q1 2023

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the first quarter of FY2023 (Oct - Dec 2022) visitor traffic decreased dramatically from the previous quarter at 7.4 million visitors, 13.8 million sessions, 29.1 million pageviews; an expected seasonal decline in traffic. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the quarter was 49, which is the highest NPS score since we began using this metric. In response to consistent CSAT feedback for why visitors were not able to accomplish their tasks due to “difficulty finding information,” the teams planned, designed, developed and then tested new global navigation features by adding quick access to account login, filters to popular inventory, and links to important topics located in the footer. As a result, conversation rates were 30% higher for customers who encountered the new global navigation vs those who encountered the existing navigation. Another improvement was in response to customer comments about page load times when making reservations. The teams designed and tested a new availability grid view that shows individual dates for specific inventory sites and presented 10 dates at a time, vs 15. The results of this improvement was about a 17.6% faster load time. Also, locations with a large number of sites experienced even faster load times than before. This simple improvement will make a difference for those in areas with slower internet speeds, helping to level the playing field especially for high-demand locations that tend to book up quickly.

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Q4 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the fourth quarter of FY2022 (July - Sept 2022) visitor traffic on the website was about the same as the previous quarter at 15.1 million visitors, 28.1 million sessions, 79.7 million pageviews, and 2 million transactions. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the quarter was 37.3, which is a massive improvement from the year-over-year NPS in FY21 Q4 of 17.2. Also of note, is customer satisfaction with the contact center, which continues to report an above-industry-benchmark (75%) score of 81.9%. Another strong satisfaction score is for the Recreation.gov mobile app. The scores for both iOS and Android have been at a strong 4.8 since launch, and for this quarter the iOS app bumped up to 4.9. Our teams find that field site visits provide valuable information and insights into how visitors and field managers are experiencing the service. As a result, we conducted site visits to multiple locations in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennesee and interviewed field staff as well as campground visitors. The information gained from these visits will help our teams develop enhancements to the overall user experience.

Service details

Q3 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the third quarter of FY2022 (March - June 2022) visitor traffic on the website signifantly increased from the previous quarter for expected seasonal variance – 15.1 million visitors (up from 6.5 million), 28.2 million sessions, 84.7 million pageviews, and 2 million transactions. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the quarter was 35.4, which is a massive improvement from the year-over-year NPS in FY21 Q1 of 13.7. Also of note, is customer satisfaction with the contact center, which continues to report an above-industry-benchmark (75%) score of 80.6%. Another strong satisfaction score is for the Recreation.gov mobile app. The scores for both iOS and Android have been at a strong 4.8 since launch, and for this quarter the iOS app bumped up to 4.9.

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Q2 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

The overall satisfaction score was slightly up and respondents were more likely to have accomplished their goal when visiting the site from last year at this time. Our overall contact center satisfaction rates are also up (over 80%), and well above the industry benchmark (75%). The number of people reaching out to the contact center is also down YOY, indicating that people are making online reservations without assistance.

Our teams are focusing on Cx initiatives, which are either in progress or in an exploration phase: 1) Help getting started; first-time visitors tend to be less satisfied. 2) Findability; the #2 task failure is difficulty finding information. 3) Customer engagement; seeking opportunities to educate, build loyalty, and improve on-site experience. 4) Accessibility; making it easier to find accessible campsites. 5) Working to reduce confusion with Help Center articles and other resources. 6) Reducing no-shows at campsites.

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Q1 2022

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the first quarter of FY2022 (October - December 2021) visitor traffic on the website signifantly decreased from the previous quarter for expected seasonal variance – 6.5 million visitors (down from 15.3 million), 11 million sessions (down from 28 million), and 866k transactions (down from 1.8 million). The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the quarter was 43.5, which is a massive improvement from the year-over-year NPS in FY21 Q1 of 23.2. Also of note, is customer satisfaction with the contact center. Last year at this time, satisfaction was 79%, which is also the industry benchmark we strive to meet or exceed. For FY21 Q1 that satisfaction score is 82.6%. Another strong satisfaction score is for the Recreation.gov mobile app, which has stayed at 4.8 stars (on a 1-5 star rating) in both iOS and Android, with more than 2 million downloads. As we move into the new year, our focus is more on listening to our customer and bringing their voices into our efforts to improve their experience

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Q4 2021

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the fourth quarter of FY2021 (July - September 2021) visitor traffic on the website declined slightly from the previous quarter – 15.3 million visitors (down from 17.1 million), 28 million sessions (down from 32 million), and 1.8 million transactions (down from 2.1 million). However, our conversion rate increased 2% (from 6.6% to 6.7%) from the previous quarter, and 8% (from 6.2% to 6.7%). An increased conversion rate indicates that more visitors were successful in completing a transaction and this connects directly to increased customer satisfaction. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for the quarter was 21, which is about 9 points from the previous quarter (NPS 12), and about 7 points year over year (NPS 14.2). Our highest satisfaction ratings come from those researching or reserving campsites; the lowest satisfaction is among those seeking timed entry, tickets, and passes. Two other groups whose CSAT metrics lag behind our overall ratings are first-time visitors and mobile-responsive visitors. We are using HotJar (a heatmapping and screen recording tool) to dig into “in the wild” customer behavior on the website, as well as running usability tests and focus groups, to help us better understand their expectations and frustrations. Monitoring our NPS trends over time, especially when segmented by the different visitor types, is helping us monitor the impact of the improvements we are making–confirming that we are moving in the right direction. For example, we can see that the NPS for timed-entry ticket seekers has improved 18 points year-over-year in Q4, thanks to a concerted effort to improve messaging and workflows.

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Q3 2021

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the third quarter of FY2021 (April - June 2021) metrics doubled from the previous quarter – users increased from 8.7 million to 17.1 million, sessions were up from 16.1 million to 32 million, and transactions rose from 1.3 to 2.1 million. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) decreased by about 12 points from the previous quarter with visitors expressing frustration over the lack of availability. In fact, lack of availability is the primary reason for visitor task failures for the past two quarters, according to the CSAT survey. Among those respondents who have the highest dissatisfaction scores are those making reservations for timed entry and tickets. With many locations requiring entry tickets, which is new since 2020 and in response to COVID-19, visitors express frustration and confusion about the need for tickets/reservations and often arrive without a reservation. New users are also frustrated when they are not able to reserve desired sites and activities. Since the demand has increased so dramatically, yet inventory remains relatively stagnant, our teams have increased efforts to suggest alternative locations that do have availability through the reservation flow recommendation engine and marketing efforts. We also imposed on-screen reminders to create an account and/or login prior to making a reservation, especially for areas that tend to book up quickly. Help Center articles also provide advice for seeking alternatives when the first choice is booked. In addition, our user experience teams have expanded our ability to get direct feedback from visitors and will continually update and enhance the reservation workflow to help visitors achieve their goals and better understand what is, and is not, available.

Service details

Q2 2021

What we learned from this quarter's data:

In the second quarter of FY2021 (January - March 2021) we noticed an increase in users from 6.6 to 8.7 million, sessions up from 10.9 to 16.1 million, and transactions rose from 962k to 1.3 million over the first quarter of FY2021. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) also improved by 5.4 points over the same time period in 2020. The NPS revealed that visitors who visit once a month were more satisfied than those who visit multiple times per week; which is indicative of those seeking reservations at high-demand locations with limited availability. In fact, lack of availability is the primary reason for visitor task failures for the past two quarters, according to the CSAT survey. The increased demand for recreation opportunities is decreasing the availability for reservable inventory on Recreation.gov, which is frustrating for visitors. The recommendation feature is a tool to help visitors find nearby locations that are available when the sites they originally selected are not. The team also focused on the needs of new users. With 2 million new users in FY2020, we looked at pain points for this specific user group. In response to feedback, we increased the consistency of terminology to reduce confusion, placed Help Center articles at key points in the workflow, and improved redirect flow after account creation. Usability testing is another way for our teams to see the customer experience through fresh eyes. Our team conducted 56 usability tests in Q2 across camping, permits, mobile app, timed entry and a few other features. Applying what we learned through persona-driven journey maps helps to highlight points of friction and frustration for our teams, and allows us to prioritize improvements, enhancements and updates accordingly.

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