BACKGROUND
There is a unique opportunity, in a niche sector of the wellness market that is getting its time in the spotlight; Cannabis. This is a topic that has been spreading more widely, as many countries make access to cannabis more available.
CHALLENGE
While there are many anti-anxiety apps on the market, we wanted to create one that was directed at a specific demographic; cannabis users who want to use reflection journaling to improve their well being.
GOAL
We wanted to create a journaling and mindfulness app for cannabis users. As cannabis becomes more mainstream, there should be products like such, which can cater to the unique experiences of this demographic. The goal became to create a solution that could induce self-reflection and reduce anxiety in everyday life, while allowing users to track their daily habits and thoughts.
Over six weeks we each contributed 15 hours a week. We both had a hand in the UI & UX.
Project outline:
PROJECT PREP AND MANAGEMENT
We started with getting our survey out. Our questions were about peoples cannabis habits, journaling rituals and lifestyle influences.
In our market research, we found that most apps available had features that could only be unlocked through a paid subscription. The hole in the market was a free app, that balanced on the boundary of meditative and educational.
In our secondary research we looked at anxiety’s relationship with these three topics:
We were fortunate to interview 4 different people, who each gave us very insightful feedback that we would later combine with our survey results for our affinity and empathy map.
SURVEY RESULTS
Our Main Survey Take-Aways:
+25% of users have had negative experiences consuming cannabis
How are these experiences onset? How does someone take themselves out of a negative experience?
The majority of users consume cannabis for personal enjoyment or creative thinking
This is why most users consume in the evening, presumably after work, or to wind down after a day
How does cannabis fit into their daily routine? How do they track or document their experiences, if at all?
Self-reflection is a real goal users want to achieve
Users are open to reflecting on their experiences while consuming cannabis, but are also interested in bettering overall health, as well as educating themselves on various cannabis topics
Do they prefer a more structured approach when focusing on anxiety management, or do they prefer a free-form style?
What we learned we need to focus on, from the survey results:
Addressing the different mental states a person may be in
Foster a place of reflection, that caters to each persons unique daily experiences
Create an environment that reflects the reason (most) people consume cannabis (personal enjoyment, stress relief)
DIAGRAMS, MAPS, PERSONAS, OH MY!
Even though we had done an empathy and affinity map, we felt that since this is such a niche topic, it could be useful to have a user persona as well.
Alex helped us better understand what person not only thinks or feels in the moment, but helped us add a perspective of everyday life.
The overall consensus of our research was that cannabis, in general, can enhance a persons life (if used mindfully).
Some of the general thoughts that began to refine our ideas and expectations were:
HMW create an environment that reflects the reason (most) people consume cannabis (personal enjoyment, stress relief)?
HMW provide prompts that are relevant and individually specific to the user?
HMW track peoples general mood over the course of days, weeks, months, etc?
HMW combat negative experiences and empower people having those experiences?
Out of all of this our Problem Statement evolved:
Habitual cannabis consumers need a healthy resource that induces reflection, through journaling and health tracking, so that they can feel less anxious about their cannabis use and in their daily lives.
FEATURE IDEATION
Journal: With various categories, targeting different aspects of a persons day
Guided Prompts: Questions or thought provoking statements that are catered to a users individual interests and lifestyle
Write/Record: For accessability, and we assume that more people will interact with the product if we give them multiple methods of logging their entries.
Health/Mood Tracking: To allow users to track their usage and have a clear overview of how cannabis affects/influences them, so they can make necessary changes to increase their well-being.
Through a visual competitive analysis, we had a brief visual overview of what what products on the market had to offer and where we would find our place. We decided to pursue self-reflection with a hint of educational content, to guide the user on how to make the most of their experience on the app.
Because of time, we chose to skip mid-fidelity framing and jump into high-fidelity.
ITS OK TO BE BLUNT
At the end of the fifth week, we began to consider the visual style of the product. As we did this, we reflected on an app that stood out to us; Stoic.
We found ourselves gravitating back towards this app. We realized that what was captivating us, was the simple design.
We took this with us as inspiration moving forward.
By the end of week five:
we had chosen calming colors, with an emphasis on nature, self-reflection and nostalgia to invoke trust and honesty with our product.
The two fonts we chose are a sans serif font, that is used almost everywhere in the app, and a serif font, that brings authority and engagement to each of the journaling prompts. Our elements are rounded, and screen designs run past the borders off the page, creating a space for focus.
The name, is the perfect image of what we want to evoke in users. No generic babble that is irrelevant to actual personal growth. It’s ok to be blunt. Just straight-to-the-point, “here is who/what/when/where/why and how i feel about it”.
FINAL SCREENS AND PROTOTYPE
A Deeper Look:
Responsive Screens:
Because our data shows that users would most likely use this product in the evening, we chose to design responsive screens for tablet. This gives users the ability to use this product from the comfort of their sofa or bed, without being restricted to a phone screen.
IMPACT
Through the features on this product, cannabis users can create space for reflection with ease, and record their habits. This will help them track their lifestyle, and give them the position to make any necessary changes as they go about their daily lives. As they are able to track their progress over time, they will grow mentally, as well as emotionally as they become more confident in themselves and their decisions. Reflection is a very important part of mental health and providing products like this to people who are interested in more holistic forms of medication, whether for anxiety, pain, etc, we can improve their well bring and provide a sense of security.
NEXT STEPS
incorporate features that include other senses, breathing, hearing, touching, tasting, guided meditations
Enhance micro interactions to create a more immersive and appealing experience
reflection on how to improve productivity and cannabis use – breathing exercises, focus games
WHAT I LEARNED
I learned how to properly formulate survey questions to eliminate bias, and induce a sense of security, to influence honest responses.
I learned how to perfect components. This is the first project I had worked on where all components turned out exactly as I had imagined them, without much trial or error. I did not have to compromise my ideas or design based on failed attempts.
I learned how important feature ideation is. There were so many other features that we were hoping to include, but it is just an MVP. We had to cut our losses and really prioritize what the user needed first, and plan for the secondary features to come later.
