My Role

• UX Research

• UX Design

• UI Design

• Information Architecture

• Branding

Time frame: 2 weeks

As the UX/UI designer, I was involved in all phases of the project, from mapping out delivering final designs, branding, and UI design.

Tools

• Adobe XD

• Figma

• Photoshop

• Invision

• Miro

Secondary Research

For years Hemp and Cannabis and derivates have been a part of controversial discussion. Adding stigma on people experimenting with various types of oils and cannabis led to a cultural movement ensured by a brave scientist continually working to prove CBD qualities independent of the adverse effects and documented with THC usage.

But looking at the historical usage of CBD oils in particular, here are some exciting FAQs: 

• Like many other natural remedies – the use of CBD is rumored to have been a part of ancient societies since the first recorded use case occurred around 2727 BC.

• Emperor Sheng Neng of China used cannabis-based tea to help with various health ailments that included poor memory, malaria, and even gout.

• The Atharva Veda (a collection of sacred texts of an unknown author) mentions cannabis as one of five sacred plants, referring to it as a source of happiness, donator of joy, and bringer of freedom

• Getting acknowledged by WHO in 2017 revealed that CBD is neither addictive nor harmful; the number of financial institutions banking Marijuana-Hemp businesses increased rapidly from 2018.

If you are a CBD consumer, do your homework before you travel! CBD is still not legal around the world. Every country acts according to its laws.

Business&Customers

After gathering secondary research data, I used a lean UX canvas to define my user and business problem. This tool allows you to consider hypotheses and focus on the domains that needed more research.

Interviews & Surveys

Survey Statistic

The next step was to understand who my user is? Who can be?  

I distributed surveys on Slack and Reddit, and my social networks, and conducted six interviews to gather quantitative and qualitative data.

My first set of questions were focusing on the causes of stress and what they use to reduce it. Later I narrow it to the ones who use CBD for different purposes.

1. What cause them stress?

2. What they use to reduce the stress?

3. Do they experience any type of pain and what they use to reduce it?

4. Do they use CBD and for what?

5. Where do they get their informations about CBD?

My second questioner was focusing on the app itself.

1. Would they appriciate having the app with information about CBD?

2. The app that will match the users with right CBD expert?

3. App that will work as a diary?

4. The app that will follow the progress of the individual?

5. The App with news about the CBD?

Interviews - Responses and Statistics

I got an instant answer about what causes the pressure, but I was more interested in why my user is reaching for CBD?

• How does CBD help?

• Why did they stop using CBD oil?

• What would they like to know more about?

• Are there side-effects users are experiences?

I managed to identify my users:

• People interested in reducing stress

• People targeting specific conditions (from migraines, fibromyalgia, arthritis, sleeping disorder or any pain). 

I discovered that their concerns and discouragement are from a lack of resources to treat specific matters and how CBD oils' random usage does not target specific needs.

Interviewees with CBD users assure me and point it out on obvious: 

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I lost interest in the second bottle.
I think a recommendation from an expert can help me with
my anxiety and stress.

K, Florida

I want to set a goal and focus more on my condition - Back pain can be annoying.
I am opened to alternative options and still experimenting with CBD, getting recommendations from a friend that works in the dispensary in California

D, California

As a Therapist, I use and recommend CBD oils,
after all it is natural antidepressant that reduce pain.
I can’t prescribe medications but so far I can say it gives the results.

L, Nevada

After talking to users and defining their problems and obstacles, I decided to ask professionals in the field.

I wanted to know their opinion, experience, and express my interviewee's concerns and reasons for stop using CBD oil. They did address the issues and gave me another perspective, where I realize how the human factor plays an important role, especially with health.

It is all about tracking your condition! Communication is the key! And only why how the product will work! There is a stigma about cannabis and anything related to it here, and we need to put extra effort to educate, first ourselves and then people around us! I noticed that majority of clients still thinks that CBD will show on drug test??! Big mistake!

I , Distributer of CBD Oil in Europe

Sometimes I feel like I am working in Pharmacy! I am glad to have happy customers, that condition improved with the right advice and product selection. From Migraines to severe illnesses, I got calls, shared my experience, and made new friends. What I noticed is that lot of people use CBD instead or in addition to other remedies.

A , Manager in Dispensary, Las Vegas, NV

I get calls from people from all around the States asking for a recommendation and more returning and new clients seeking natural products to treat their illness, reduce stress, or have fun. I noticed they are using it more since the pandemic.

V, employe of dispensary, Las Vegas, NV

With all this information, and still in the discovery stage, I went back for more answers and studies I found online.

Here is the statistic about CBD oil and its effectiveness with responses from my survey and educational texts:

• 68% of users are finding CBD oil Effective

• 32% Find it Ineffective

The excellent answer came from Tony Spencer, Founder of Spruce CBD. 

“Further research was conducted and found effective results came from getting a sufficiently high dose, use of a superior method of intake such as tincture under the tongue, and avoiding isolate,” 

I read the articles with encouraging arguments, coming from scientists working daily to improve and educate themselves and others.

Affinity Map

To arrange a large amount of data, sort it, and group it based on their genuine relationship, I used the Affinity map. I connected and synthesized them in groups to determine users' needs and pains and thoughts about gains.

Here is some insights form the Affinity map that caught my attention: 

• The majority of users will use CBD to reduce pain and stress;

• They get their information on Social Media;

• Their knowledge is pretty limited based on and considering specific needs;

• They have concerns regarding CBD and how effective it is?

User Persona

Interesting, but majority responses came from women, and the study showed that women are more likely to use CBD. Besides that, I need to understand my Persona mental model and focus on needs, experiences, behavior, and goals.

Meet Marie Ann. She suffers from migraines and is seeking to find a natural remedy. She learned about CBD welfare and is willing to try it.

I referred to my persona throughout the entire product development process.

Journey Map

Focussing mainly on the context persona helped me understand the user's physical and emotional state at the moment of the interaction.

The information about persona, goals, and frustration explained in the Journey Map significantly affected my design decisions.

Key Findings

People are in constant search of natural, organic remedies. CBD oil is still in that stage.

1. They want to know more, but they are limited based on knowledge, geography, and condition.

2. The consumer wants to know how particular products affect specific symptoms.

3. The majority of users will use CBD to reduce pain and stress.

4. They have concerns regarding CBD and how effective it is?

Ideation

I decided to focus on my user's pain points transformed into "How Might We" questions and surround them with many ideas.

MoSCow Method

I used Moscow Method to organize features that would add the most value to the app and those that are not necessary.

User Flow

From there, I create a User flow with a Happy path in mind. I tried to take my user through an app with no effort. I wanted to make it simple and easy to navigate. Here I focused on the conversation with coaches.

Low fi Prototype

Following User flow and bringing together all data from research, I start sketching and making concepts on paper. Considering icons and focusing on communication with coaches and following symptoms and progress.

Mid Fi Prototype

I applied all the suggestions from usability testing to the Mid-Fi prototype I was about to create. I add all the steps, from onboarding, creating a profile, communication with experts, and applying recommendations.

Mid prototype served well as for the UX part and logic behind the app. Later I develop extra screens and adjust some.

Usability Test:

I managed five usability tests via Maze and had the opportunity to talk with my testers, who helped me with suggestions, such as naming the sections, icons, and what they find easier to follow. 

Here are some questions that raise concerns: 

• By adding symptoms, will the expert be selected based on that?

• How the goal is will be recognized?

• Will there be a brand selection?

Visual Competitive Analysis

The next step was analyzing the commonly used Apps and their visual appearance.

My two competitors are CBD and Me and CBD green. I noticed that both apps are offering texts, news, and playing safe with shades of green.

Mood Board

Having brand attributes sorted, I created a mood board and tested it again. It reflected everything I was trying to accomplish and set the direction for the visual identity.

Brand Atributes

From there, I moved to create brand attributes phrasing the words I read and heard from users, who were for a safe, healing, supportive, and holistic place. With more guidance from users, I put all words together that set the path to the visual design.

UI Kit

I constructed various elements to define the brand - logo, color palette, typefaces, and UI elements. 

I Placed them into a Style Tile - a visual reference to the design language of a website. 

In the beginning, I was leaning toward the light green color. Still, I moved to a darker version, find it goes better with the color palette, and the reaction was positive:

"It is more serious, which I would expect from the app where I had to reach out and talk about my medical condition." - T, User

Even though it is an alternative, it is still in context with the medical approach.

Finally, I created an Design System inventory.

I kept this board close during my design process, reaching for each building block while creating a Hi-Fi prototype.

Hi-Fi Prototype

After all of the research and testing, I created a high-fidelity prototype of the app and entire Optimal Dose brand.

“The design is very bright and clean” was one of the comments.

Onboarding is one of the essential phases in an app user’s journey. I built this process to explain to users what to expect and adding icons that will help with navigation once the profile is setup.

I incorporated micro-interactions in the “Setting the profile” stage, even though I wanted to create something functional, following logic principles since my user age range is significant. 

Below is the high-fidelity happy path and video posted on Vimeo.  

User Testing

After all of the research and testing, I created a high-fidelity prototype of the app and entire Optimal Dose brand.

“The design is very bright and clean” was one of the comments.

Testing Results

After all of the research and testing, I created a high-fidelity prototype of the app and entire Optimal Dose brand.

“The design is very bright and clean” was one of the comments.

Testing Results

After all of the research and testing, I created a high-fidelity prototype of the app and entire Optimal Dose brand.

“The design is very bright and clean” was one of the comments.

Learnings 

• Research is imperative! Without real help from people who use the product and ones directly involved in distribution and sale, I couldn’t go this far!

• Get to know your product! Read, listen, and ask!

• The user is always right – Conducting user testing and evaluating feedback at all stages helped me discover and eliminate sufficient material and kept me more focused.

Next Steps

With additional time, I would like to develop the entire App. 

Consult with scientists and business owners.

And finally, launch it as the first digital product related to the CBD community that offers help from experts trained to recommend the right product making the user experience the best possible. 

Medium Article