A door-to-door cannabis delivery app
Green Run
Project // Green Run Case Study Role // Product Designer Timeline // 4 Weeks Toolbox // Pencil +Paper, Sketch, Adobe Suite
Conveniently connecting consumers to high-quality cannabis products by the design of an on-demand delivery app
Green Run, a mobile app, was created to provide the highest quality cannabis products to medicinal and recreational consumers. Its mission is to offer user-centric on-demand delivery service through its nationwide network of licensed dispensaries. Currently, only a limited number of marijuana delivery apps are available, and very few prioritize the customer experience.
Green Run wants to change that through the development of their own convenient, safe, and dependable door-to-door delivery app - think of them as a Grubhub or DoorDash for pot. During a 4-week design period, I helped research, brand, and design their end-to-end mobile app.
Market Potential
Let’s be honest: As terrible as 2020 was for numerous business areas, it was surprisingly beneficial for the cannabis industry in many ways. U.S. pot companies began the year on a high note. Most states with legal marijuana markets declared MJ businesses “essential” in 2020, allowing them to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic. This decision highly decreased stigma around marijuana and made it more acceptable and accessible to millions of Americans.
In December 2020, voters approved recreational marijuana markets in Arizona, Montana, and New Jersey. Mississippi voters OK’d medical marijuana, and South Dakota residents approved both MMJ and adult use. As those states begin structuring their new cannabis industries, entrepreneurs have an excess amount of existing markets where regulators plan significant expansions.
Regulatory Challenges
Because marijuana is still federally illegal, businesses within the industry generally can't find banks or financial institutions that will issue them accounts, loans, or credit lines. As a result, most big banks have stayed away from the pot business, making it a largely cash-only industry. Although some small banks and credit unions in legal states serve pot companies, most dispensaries are limited to operating cash-only.
The SAFE Banking Act, introduced in 2017, would allow federally overseen financial institutions to serve cannabis-related businesses that comply with the laws in the states where they operate. Congress passed the act and now awaits U.S Senate approval.
The MORE Act, introduced in 2019, aims to correct the War on Drugs' social wrongs. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill on December 4, 2020, marking the first time a chamber of Congress approved legislation to end federal marijuana prohibition.
Medical Benefits
Along with recreational use, the medicinal applications of the cannabis plant are also diverse. The Cannabinoids present in the Marijuana plant help alter the brain's pain perception pathways, which can help people suffering from Chronic Pain in cases such as Migraines, Arthritis, Endometriosis, and so on. Many professionals also prescribe it to treat many neurological and mental disorders such as Epilepsy, Parkinson's Disease, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Tourette's Syndrome, and anxiety.
In many cases, people suffering from sleep disorders such as Insomnia have also benefited from the use of Cannabis. It has a relaxing effect, which can ease patients into sleep. CBD or Cannabidiol helps alleviate inflammation and is beneficial in inflammatory conditions such as Rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's Disease, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Over a hundred studies agree that Cannabis use positively affects cancer patients by killing cancerous cells.
There are many other benefits related to Cannabis use. With ongoing research, the industry is going to be a substantial part of the growing on-demand economy.
Key Takeaways
The cannabis industry is growing fast, with annual sales values expected to reach $30 billion by 2025. It enters 2021 with fresh markets and greater possibilities.
Though the industry continues to face banking and stigma challenges, it has seen significant improvement, particularly in legality laws.
As more states come forward to embrace the industry's legal development, business opportunities will continue growing. With so many medical benefits and ongoing research, the industry will be a substantial part of the growing on-demand economy.
Competitors
Generally speaking, there are plenty of cannabis apps in the market already catering to the on-demand Consumer. The majority of these apps, such as Eaze, Leafy, and Potbot, succeed in educating users on marijuana products and providing locations and resources to obtain them. Unintuitive UI design, minimal product selection, and lack of delivery services prove to be weaknesses of these direct competitors.
On the flip side, indirect competitors such as Doordash, Postmates, and Drizly offer fast door-to-door delivery complete with live tracking, 24hr customer service, and extensive selections. Although, high prices, long delivery times, and poor customer service are top complaints among these applications.
User Research & Insights
Convenience, quality products, education, and friendly customer service prove top needs for cannabis customers.
Most users revealed frustrations with unorganized menu product lists and a lack of self-accessible educational resources to streamline their purchasing experiences. Some suggested including top, middle, and bottom shelf labels and having the ability to filter products by mood and color. Others felt descriptions should include smell profile and flavors.
Participants felt a simple UI design would enable a good purchasing experience when using a cannabis app. When asked why they described their constant day-to-day use of technology exhausts them. Therefore, having a simple and straightforward app would be convenient and enhance their experience.
A live tracking feature was a popular ask among users. Even though participants choose to get products delivered, they want to be engaged somehow and feel like they are part of the purchasing process.
Almost all participants revealed discretionary income has been tighter due to the pandemic, so budgeting is essential, and users are always on the hunt for deals/rewards/savings plans.
In this technological age and under a cloud of COVID-19, the delivery market is exploding. On-demand services have taken hold of the E-commerce space, causing most industries to go online in some capacity. More and more businesses are trying to get on the on-demand train to cater to the growing user base that likes the comfort of on-demand services.
It is a lot more convenient for customers to order their cannabis goods from the comfort of their home, just as they would order food, groceries, and other supplies.
The timing and opportunity for Green Run to join the booming on-demand economy couldn't be better.
With that said, I started outlining and forming a clearer picture of what this app needed to include based on user's wants, needs, and desires:
Design a door-to-door on-demand cannabis delivery app with a focus on the below features:
Simple UI design educating and guiding users swiftly through their cannabis purchasing journeys
Self accessible categorized dispensary menu lists
Live order tracking
Highlighted quality, daily offers from local dispensaries
After empathizing with cannabis consumers and exploring market potential, I confirmed that Green Run's prospective clients are self-sufficient individuals that value convenience yet still want to be engaged during their purchasing journeys. To gain greater insight and stay on track of user's needs and goals, I built a persona including key traits confirmed through research.
Liam is an independent guy that likes to find what he's looking for easily. He works long shifts and spends a good portion of his paycheck on cannabis products, so convenience and deals are critical factors of his buying journey. Although he prefers delivery services, he still wants to feel like he is involved in the "process."
His pain points include low quality and minimal selections and inaccessible, unorganized product information with missing photos.
To define the advantages of designing the Green Run app, I created a value proposition canvas. I started by proposing some HMW questions as guiding points:
HMW help Liam find quality cannabis products in his community?
HMW make educational info on cannabis more accessible for Liam?
HMW better categorize dispensary product info so it is easily digestible?
HMW engage Liam while using a cannabis delivery app?
A few gain creators.
Access to extensive selections via multiple local dispensaries.
Engagement via live tracking feature.
Product feedback via customer reviews
A few pain relievers.
A user-centric interface
No hidden fees
Safe transactions
Organized and easily accessible products, and educational information.
Based on research, establishing Green Run's goals, and providing a clear design path, I created an app map for the navigation's key screens. The key screens included Home, Delivery, Pickup, Deals, Learn, and Orders. After identifying and laying them out, I color-coded and prioritized which screens needed attention first.
I created a user flow to illustrate the motivations, steps, and paths Liam, or a potential Green Run user could take when placing a delivery order. I also added two linear task flows to show how he could accomplish other goals, such as 1. tracking his order after closing out the app and 2. learning about cannabis laws in his state.
Low-Fi
To explore ideas and figure out the best design direction, I sketched some variations for mandatory screens. Keeping research and feedback in mind, I knew my goal was to provide options in an organized manner while keeping the design simple and easy to use. I chose to move forward with the below illustrations because I felt they conveyed a significant amount of information without overwhelming the user.
Home Screen - I felt the first design had good iconography and simple touch filter options.
Products Screen - I chose the middle screen here because the layout is straightforward and pleasing to the eye.
Learn screen - I picked the last screen here because it was most exciting and provided an excellent card layout for information.
Mid-Fi
To get to the next level of visual and content design, I updated my low-fidelity sketches to mid-fidelity wireframes. I focused on including essential elements and features requested by users such as easy-to-spot deals, single touch targets to sort by popular categories and color-coded moods, smooth and safe checkout process, live tracking, self-accessible educational information, and more.
Defining Brand Identity
To help bring Green Run's vision, attributes, and identity into focus, I created a mood board to represent the brand.
Natural raw textures and shapes provide an earthy and serene vibe, while an updated color palette adds a kick of modernism. Minimalism is present through white space and san serif fonts. Images reflect a brand focused on providing convenience, satisfaction, and relief to its customers.
When it came to creating the logo, I aimed to design a flexible, memorable yet straightforward symbol that would differentiate Green Run from its competitors and foster brand loyalty.
For the first round of illustrations, I focused on using the cannabis flower as the main element and created a few variations. After receiving feedback, I went back to the drawing board to incorporate a "run" element into the design.
I finally decided to move forward with number six because it felt modern and checked all the design element boxes.
Hi-Fi
Once I had a solid understanding of visual design, content, and interactivity, I proceeded to build my hi-fi designs. I used different resources such as the noun project for icons and took visual notes from already established cannabis websites and other successful door-to-door delivery apps.
Design System
I opted to create a custom-built UI kit including essential components such as responsive logos, controls, buttons, product cards, and more. This design system will serve as a visual guide and improve workflow for future Green App projects.
Usability Testing
To gather valuable feedback on designs, I created an interactive prototype based on user and task and user flows.
Participants were provided a link via Craft Invision to test the prototype on their mobile devices. They were asked to carry out a few tasks and encouraged to think aloud while I asked a few questions, observed, and recorded notes.
Testing Insights & Iteration
Post testing, I organized the results into an affinity map to evaluate where the prototype was successful and where it needed to be improved.
Overall, users were very excited about the app. They felt the navigation structure was straightforward and "flowed well." Participants mentioned it was effortless to find cannabis products through the category and filter options. Offers/deals, colors, and graphics caught their eye most when landing on screens. A few pain points included prioritizing certain content such as THC and CBD info, including driver info into tracking, and adding notifications.
After organizing and prioritizing user feedback, I created some design iterations for the next round of testing. These iterations included solutions to pain points users called out when testing the prototype. Some answers included moving strain info up higher on the page for priority, clarifying content and adding options to the checkout process, including a photo and option to communicate with the delivery driver, and notifications providing tracking and guidance on existing and new features.
To be continued…
Green Run was a fascinating and informative project. The research phase gave me great insight into the cannabis industry and a realization of how on-demand apps are on the rise in our economy. I especially appreciated connecting with users to understand what they would expect from an app like Green Run. I enjoyed testing the prototype with excited users and elevating designs based on feedback.
If I had the opportunity to continue working on this project, I would love to enhance the design with innovative features that would put Green Run on the map for being the most successful door-to-door cannabis delivery app.