Speculative Work: UX / UI Design
THE GREEN DOT
A three week redesign sprint focused on aligning the e-commerce site with the in-store experience
A three week redesign sprint focused on aligning the e-commerce site with the in-store experience
The Green Dot is a cannabis dispensary located in Marina Del Rey California. They offer a wide range of medicinal and recreational cannabis products and are committed to providing excellent customer service.
Recently The Green Dot has begun offering a delivery service through their website, however it is challenging for new users to complete the shopping flow.
Project Goal
Optimize the usability of The Green Dot's website through user focused research.
While gathering my initial data, the scope of my research was framed by two main questions:
What do customers expect when shopping online for cannabis products?
How could this experience be improved for the user?
With this in mind, I conducted a heuristics evaluation- breaking down all the elements that made up the original site, I looked for errors, inconsistencies and points of friction in the user-flow.
I also conducted a comparative analysis to see how The Green Dot’s website stacked up to their direct competitors. Specifically two other dispensaries in Los Angeles with online delivery features, and an app dedicated to delivery service within California. The app eaze has a delivery service which people can order from directly off their website which is what I referenced for this analysis.
Next I decided to try going through the purchase flow and complete the checkout process. Upon adding payment information and uploading my ID, the purchase order was completed. Without an order confirmation or way to modify/cancel this order, I wasn’t sure if this order would, in fact, go through.
Although not friction-free, this step was incredibly informative and the experience was pleasant. The delivery service was quick, and (through a link sent via text message) easy to track.
Inspired by this positive experience I decided to visit the brick and mortar store to compare it to its digital counterpart. The in-store experience was tech-forward and not what I had expected. The space was large and sleek, and easy to navigate.
Upon entering the lobby customers use an ipad to check in, and once cleared are buzzed into the main room. Daily menus are displayed on large flat screen tv’s mounted all across the room. Like a high end candy shop products are displayed in illuminated glass counters and divided based upon product type.
The budtenders were knowledgeable and friendly, and even answered some of the questions I had about their website. This field trip provided me with a deeper understanding of The Green Dot’s brand and would later inform my redesign of the menu section on the website.
It became clear to me there was a disconnect between the website, delivery service, and in-store experience.
The challenge with The Green Dot was to not only redesign this site, but to do so in a way that aimed at bridging this gap.
Armed with my research I composed a questionnaire for my interviews. In addition to user testing The Green Dot's site I wanted to learn how my users purchased cannabis, and the factors that influenced these decisions. I conducted 4 user interviews with Los Angeles based millennial cannabis consumers familiar with The Green Dot.
I created a persona - Brooke, to represent the type of user I was designing for, in this case a ‘professional Millennial on the go’.
Scenario:
With tax season just around the corner, Brooke is trying to plan ahead and have her weekly essentials delivered straight to her house. She recently found out one of her favorite shops started offering a delivery service and decided to try the site out after a long and stressful day at the office.
She tries to place an order through the website but cannot figure out how to create a new account to complete the purchase flow. How might we assist Brooke in completing the purchase flow?
Next I was ready to sort out all of the information I had collected from my interviews. Through the use of affinity mapping I sorted and then clustered information categorically. As a result I was able to spot trends from a birds eye view and gain insight from the users perspecive.
To further understand mental models and how people arrange information, I conducted 3 open card sorts.
Now that I had a better understanding of user expectations in regards to information architecture, I redesigned the site navigation and user flow.
Next I was now able to map out the features I wanted to include in my redesign. I plotted the specific features on a feature prioritization matrix.
With my redesigned site map, user flow, and list of features I was ready to begin wire-framing.
I began drawing with markers, playing with spacial arrangements on paper. After a few rounds of drawing I was ready to digitize these wireframes using Sketch and created a paper prototype.
After testing my paper prototype with a few different users, I digitized my sketches. I uploaded the file to Invision Studio creating a medium-fidelity clickable prototype.
I user-tested my prototype in multiple states, adjusting designs after each round of testing.
The flow for the user test was designed for users to:
1. Explore the home page
2. Find an indica for $55
3. Add this item to your cart
4. Go through the checkout process
This redesign focused on the purchase flow and key forms for The Green Dot's website. I aimed to create designs that were straightforward, intuitive and easy for first-time users to complete.
