oddysee

Designing business application platform for the cannabis industry raising $3M investment

The problem

Cannabis business application process is complicated

Each application consists of numerous plans, or documents: Business Plan, Transportation Plan, Security Plan, etc. Most of the applications follow the same path and require the same information. Synchronizing repetitive information across multiple plans is currently a painful, manual process.

THE SOLUTION

Oddysee – Turbotax for the cannabis industry

Using a set of validated application templates, Oddysee will guide a user through the process with a series of questions and automatically populate the answers into all plans of the application, reducing time and errors.

Team

I collaborated with UX Strategy Lead and Visual Design Lead

Tools

Sketch, InVision, Adobe XD, Miro

Timeline

Mar 2020-Apr 2020

Stakeholder
workshops
User interviews
Product strategy
Wireframing
Prototyping
UI design

User research

Through a series of stakeholder workshops, we identified two groups of user: future business owners and client's internal consultants. Although their familiarity with the application process was different, they both needed a way to synchronize the information between multiple documents in the application. Based on user interview findings, we focused our attention on the Editor, an essential part of the software, where users would spend most of their time.

5+

stakeholder workshops

12+

subject matter interviews

20+

cognitive walkthroughs

Editor – the center of the app

Oddysee is an ambitious project and we needed to keep our scope tight. So after conducting user interviews, we decided to focus our attention on the Editor – an essential part of the software, where users would spend the most time.

Design iterations

After identifying Editor as the cornerstone of the experience, we started ideating and wireframing solutions. Continuously checking with users, SMEs, and client stakeholders, we kept refining our designs.

3+

iterations based on feedback

50+

wireframes of key screens

5+

user tests with external SMEs

Wireframing & testing V1

Only showing questions

The initial idea – to guide users without showing them the content of application – didn’t test well. Users wanted to know where the answers would be used.

WIREFRAMING & TESTING V2

Making content visible and editable

To provide context, we included the content of the plan in the Editor's default view. All questions would show up in the flexible right panel. This solution helped with the context, but it didn’t account for every type of question.

Solution

After testing the prototype with potential users and applying visual design system, we created a series of annotated mockups, interactive prototypes, and videos of prototypes. The final solution featured an Outline, General Questionnaire, In-line questions, Export modules, and concepts for the Project Dashboard and Marketplace.

40+

high fidelity screens delivered via InVision Inspect

10+

prototypes to communicate the interactions

8+

walkthroughs delivered through videos

Outcomes

Oddysee started as an attempt to automate the internal processes of the client. Even though the initial ask was just to "add a little bit of UX" to the existing prototype, we were able to evangelize the design thinking approach, saving the client time and money associated with a national launch.

$3M

investment received based on the prototype

API

California state allowed Oddysee to apply online

↓ risk

reduced risks associated with national launch

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