Juan Octavio – Magnolia, Visit

The challenge

The Gaines, famous for their home improvement show Fixer Upper on Discovery’s HGTV, have already established a well known magazine, Magnolia Journal, and lifestyle brand. But the brands website, Magnolia.com needed a major overhaul to coincide with the launch of Magnolia Network (a collaboration between Chip and Joanna Gaines and Discovery) I was responsible for the entire customer experience and redesign for the tourism section of the Magnolia.com site

The goal

The goal was to develop a new site architecture for the Visit vertical that would consist in the creation of 20 + web page designs for Magnolia’s vast portfolio that includes 30+ brands and an ever-growing list of joint venture partnerships.

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Discovery

I began working on Magnolia’s tourism site in 2020, during the pandemic, so myself nor the team were able to travel to Waco to gather information. Instead, I had to look at photos and videos, and read various blog posts that covered all the experiences Magnolia offered in Waco, Texas. As part of my research, I learned that Chip and Joanna Gaines has revolutionized Waco, Texas and created an amazing empire which includes a 12,000-square-foot retail store, food-truck park, garden store, bakery and lawn area. The market attracts millions of visitors each year to the silos to shop, explore, and soak up the atmosphere the Gaines crafted.

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the process

I needed to create separate web pages for the various entities at the Silos and around Waco so customers are able to learn more through copy, photo galleries, and videos. Because Magnolia has such a dedicated loyal fan base - Millions of people would visit these pages as a digital resource hub for Waco tourism and Magnolia produced events.

I worked with product to establish various customer use cases. We asked ourselves, “what information does a Magnolia customer need or expect to have when they visited the Visit vertical.” Here’s a condensed bulleted list of the various use cases we compiled to place ourselves in the shoes of a customer interested in visiting the Silos...

‍As a customer, I want to….

see the locations and hours of operations for all of Magnolia’s entities.
learn about upcoming Magnolia events at the Silos and around Waco, TX.
see a FAQ that may answer my questions about visiting Magnolia.
see an overview of the store and any related history
be able to view the menu (for the bakery, restaurant, and coffee shop)
be able to view the menu for the Silos

This helped in mapping out this site experience and finding every last detail about the product while simultaneously educating myself on the rich history of the Silos and Magnolia empire.

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