Intro to Strain Directory:

As the legalization of cannabis becomes more prevalent in the United States, and as the industry continues to grow, technology has and will continue to have an increasing role to play. Realizing this, Weedmaps took advantage of what the future might hold about a decade ago, and is still going strong as one of the major cannabis tech platforms. For the past few years, other players have joined in; however, Weedmaps remains near the forefront. Although they have thrived and continue to improve with each software update, a major component that the platform is missing is educational information about the actual products that they help businesses promote.

Background:

This project was completed as a part of my individual product for Product School (2018), where I gained my Software Product Management Certification (PMC®).

Objective:

Currently, users can locate dispensaries in their area, view inventory, find deals, discover brands, read and write reviews, and learn about different aspects of cannabis and the regulations surrounding it when using Weedmaps. One of the key features that the platform is missing is actual information on cannabis strains. While this missing feature hasn't rendered Weedmaps useless, many of its users are forced to go back and forth between them and other competitors, like Leafly, to educate themselves on different cannabis strains when making shopping decisions. This leads to user frustration and less time spent on the Weedmaps platform.

The following were my objectives after performing research and determining what was needed:

• Provide more of a learning experience for new and experienced users for different product strains

• Foster a stronger and more meaningful user community

• Make Weedmaps more of a one-stop shop for users

Hypothesis & Validation:

Product/market fit was determined and validated via the following methods:

Mission Analysis

Evaluation of company goals and objectives

User Information

I conducted 3 user interviews with participants who were all current Weedmaps users. Each interview lasted around 30 minutes and along with demographic information, I collected input on the users’ goals, motivations, pain points and satisfaction when using the platform.

Additionally, I reviewed the user reviews of the Weedmaps app on the Android platform. From these reviews, I learned that many users describe the app as helpful (on the positive side) and believe that many of the reviews on the app itself are fake, which is something they don’t particularly like.

Importance vs Satisfaction

From user interviews, I gathered information on what users felt was most important to them when using the app and how satisfied they were in regard to the app meeting their needs. Based on this data, I chose not to focus on the aspects of the app that seemed to be satisfying users.

Two thirds of the users that were interviewed mentioned that they wished the app provided more concrete and comprehensive information when it came to the cannabis itself (e.g., background, information on strain differences, pictures). The Weedmaps company mission includes striving to help people find, learn, and talk about cannabis. This prompted me to take the educational route to create a directory that provided missing information that consumers desired.

Solution:

Based on the information I learned, I decided on 4 major features that needed to be considered.

Features

Metrics for Success

• Visits
  (#, frequency) to the app itself compared to before product launch; determine if feature possibly increases app use
  

• User voting engagement
  (# of votes per strain/per user, frequency of votes per user) determine if valuable as a part of feature
  

• Picture submissions
  (# submitted, frequency per user) determine if valuable as a part of feature
  

• Bounce rate — Strain Directory
  determine if feature is being used
  

• Bounce rate — Learn platform
  compared to data from pre-launch to determine if feature prompts users to explore educational platform more than before

The Plan

UX & Design

During the design process, also included in the PRD, I knew it was important to make sure this new feature was added in the least invasive way in order to maintain the usability of the Weedmaps platform. The mobile app, in particular, has been described as simple and "easy to use" by several users and I wanted that characteristic to be maintained. By doing this, I was able to ensure that my design was as user-centered as possible.

To fully understand Weedmaps users, I created user personas embodying four major user groups:

I created these user personas by using the information collected during user interviews and customer reviews. With these personas, I was able to create three primary use cases and user scenarios, or epics, that demonstrate how the Strain Directory will be used.

To start off the design process, I thought about what was important to the users and created a rough sketch of what I envisioned the information architecture to be.

In Balsamiq, I also created an interactive prototype and tested the design with Weedmaps users. After validating the design structure via user feedback, I used Sketch and Photoshop to create high-fidelity mockups of the feature.

Using the mockups I designed, I was able to create a clickable mobile prototype using InVision. I sent this prototype to Weedmaps app users along with prompts of specific tasks I aimed for them to be able to complete in order to get feedback on the design's content. I received positive user feedback regarding the usability and usefulness of the design; therefore, I did not make any changes for this iteration. The user flows can be seen via the prototype recordings below:

Development

Due to time limitations and the scope of the Product School course, this feature was not able to be developed; however, the PRD does outline the most important features to be included in the Strain Directory MVP and those to be tabled until a later date after the initial launch. Acceptability criteria for each of the features is included in the PRD as well.

The Launch

In order to have a successful launch, I created a Go-To-Market (GTM) Plan in order to outline the Strain Directory launch strategy. Within the GTM Plan, I outlined the launch goals for pre-launch and post-launch periods. The GTM document can be found here. A summary of what's contained in the GTM Plan is discussed below:

Messaging
Occasional Cannabis User:
New to the game? Don’t really know what you’re looking for? We got you. Check out the new Strain Directory — there, you’ll find a simple rundown of the most popular strains and the high you’re most likely to get from each of them. Just search for the experience you want, and we’ll do the rest.

Cannabis Enthusiast:
You’ve asked. And we’ve answered. Introducing Weedmaps’ new Strain Directory: A provider of your most important product information needs. The Strain Directory offers background information on the most popular flower strains, their effects, and even lets you weigh in on the how accurate our predictions are of your high. Finally, no need to jump back and forth between apps to get the info you need. Weedmaps: an all-encompassing guide to achieving your most impactful high.

Strictly Medical Patient:
We haven’t always made it easy to know what’s right for your medical needs. That’s about to change. The new Weedmaps Strain Directory gives patients a rundown of the medical benefits that many popular strains provide and even provides an option for patients to share what these strains have specifically helped them overcome in an effort to educate the rest of the medical cannabis community. No more need for hassling with trial and error. Let’s work together to expedite our journeys up the path to healing.

Pre-Launch

• Drum up internal awareness about new feature

• Beta test with power users

• Create and gather assets

Launch

• Gather success metrics prior to launch to compare to data immediately after launch

• Obtain user feedback on new feature (after about 1 week)

Post-Launch

• Email all users about feature

• Based on data, determine if further development is necessary

• Publish blog post/media article introducing new feature

Assumptions & open issues:

There were several assumptions that were made due to time constraints and limitations in regard to available information. These assumptions lead to potential issues that may affect the design, development, and/or launch of the Strain Directory feature. Below are the assumptions that were made, possible issues, and outstanding items to address:

Assumptions

• Male visitors are over-represented users of the Weedmaps app because this is true for the users of the Weedmaps website

• Users preferred the information/regarded the information provided in the Strain Directory as most important to them

• More users use the Weedmaps mobile app than they do the website

• Keeping more users on the app for longer will result in more revenue; more users on the app = increase in businesses that desire visibility on the app via sign ups/being featured (2 streams of revenue)

Open Issues

• Only 3 users were interviewed and prototype design feedback was obtained from 5 users; more user research is needed

• More user information about the social and educational use of Weedmaps would be helpful to further evaluate app use

• Input from business users is missing from this project

• Access to Weedmaps' financial information was not able to be obtained and therefore the new feature does not take financials into consideration

• No knowledge of design and development teams' capacity

• No knowledge of Weedmaps' usability and other requirements

• No knowledge of what is currently on Weedmaps' roadmap