MassRoots for iOS and Android
The Challenge: A Community Adrift
Imagine a digital space meant to be a vibrant community, but instead, it felt like a ghost town. This was the reality for MassRoots.
The app, a pioneering social network for cannabis enthusiasts, was struggling. Our users, passionate as they were, were frustrated by a confusing user experience, while the business was hemorrhaging due to low engagement and a lack of monetization. App store ratings plummeted, and competitors were quickly gaining ground.
I led the MassRoots transformation spearheading a redesign of the brand, the mobile apps, and the website.
I managed 4 designers throughout my tenure and also acted as the lead product designer and researcher.
I worked very close with product and engineering to plan and release high quality experiences.
We faced a critical question:
How might we transform a failing platform into a social-driven hub that truly served its community?
MassRoots for Android
The Journey: From Chaos to Clarity
My first step as Director of UX was to go directly to the source: our users. I led an extensive research initiative, including in-depth user interviews and on-site visits to dispensaries.
We realized the app's biggest issue wasn't a lack of features, but a fundamental misunderstanding of our users' needs.
We discovered that while they appreciated the social aspect, their primary motivation was discovery. They wanted to find new products, read honest reviews from fellow consumers, and locate local businesses.
A common sentiment was, "I just want to know what's good and where to get it." This was our aha! moment.
The platform's original focus on a generic in-app camera was a distraction; the real value lay in connecting people through product and dispensary discovery.
My role and impact
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Leadership
✅ Defined UX strategy across iOS, Android, web, and B2B dispensary tools
✅ Introduced dual-track agile to align discovery with delivery
✅ Hired and mentored designers, creating growth paths and design operations
✅ Collaborated with executives and sales to shape roadmap and go-to-market strategy
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Design and research
✅ Led 15 generative user research studies, 30 usability tests, and 50 a/b experiments
✅ Designed native ios and android apps with a coherent design language
✅ Designed geo-fencing to ensure legal compliance
✅ Designed dispensary finding tool to help consumers find the best products
✅ Designed product and strain reviewing mechanisms, creating a feedback loop between consumers and businesses
✅ Led company rebrand to improve market fit, investor impressions, and user -
Business impact
✅ App Store ratings increased: iOS 3.3 → 3.9, Android 2.9 → 3.6
✅ Increased engagement: Higher retention & daily active users
✅ Established a revenue stream fueling the network effects of the platform
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Consumer impact
✅ Easier access to product information & reviews
✅ More seamless discovery of local dispensaries and offerings
✅ Smoother navigation leading to a better overall experience
✅ Enhanced product experience
The Solution: A New Direction
Armed with these insights, we rallied around a new vision: to become the go-to cannabis discovery engine. This meant a complete overhaul of the app's core functionality.
Simplified Onboarding: We streamlined the sign-up process, guiding new users to content that was immediately relevant to their location and interests.
Intuitive Navigation: We redesigned the main navigation to prioritize the most important features: local discovery, social feeds, and product reviews.
Social-Driven Product Reviews: Our key differentiator was integrating a powerful review system. Users could now share detailed product reviews, complete with their ratings and experiences. This created a new layer of trust and authenticity.
The Dispensary Finder: We built a robust local dispensary finder, complete with business profiles, menus, and user reviews. This not only served our users but also opened up a new, desperately needed revenue stream for the business.
DesignRegistration and onboarding
One important business problem we had to solve as a publicly traded company, was how might we serve people in legal cannabis markets without stepping out of compliance with recreational and medical marijuana legislation being passed at the state level?
Our solution was to implement a registration geo-fence identifying users’ locations and adding a wall if they are not located in a compliant state.
This experience enabled users in legal states to use the MassRoots app and services, while not promoting illegal content in areas where it is not permitted.
Registration flow
Onboarding flow
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Challenges
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Poor user experience & app store ratings
Users found the app difficult to navigate and unreliable, leading to low ratings (iOS: 3.3, Android: 2.9)
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Lack of monetization strategy
The platform lacked a clear revenue model beyond ad placements, offering little value to dispensaries and local businesses
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Low user engagement
Users struggled to discover cannabis products, dispensaries, and relevant content relevant to them
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Strong competition
Leafly & Weedmaps dominated dispensary search, while MassRoots lacked differentiation in the market beyond consumer social
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No consistently reliable source of cannabis information
There was no reliable resource to understand cannabis product quality and provide cannabis product suggestions
Existing products, such as Leafly, failed to deliver hyper-local product level suggestions, recommendations, and information that was not generalized and relevant based on harvest and production location, date, etc.
Research
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Methods
Conducted ongoing user research, interviews, focus groups, participatory design sessions, and user testing (moderated, unmoderated) using Lookback, Validately, and Ethnio
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15 generative studies
Conducted 15 user interviews and activities to explore and understand consumer problems
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30 validation studies
Conducted 30 user tests in total to validate the final solution
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50 A/B tests
Launched 50 A/B tests to test and iterate on design details throughout the design cycle
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3 site visits
Interviewed dispensary business owners to understand their customer acquisition strategy and consumer pain points it finding products
Focus group groupings
Participatory design whiteboarding session
Sketching
Early-stage flow discussed during user research
Errors identified from user testing
Task completion scores from user testing
Research insights
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No need to build an in-app camera
Users do not use the in-app camera when uploading photos for posts. We initially thought we needed a more robust set of filters and options to enable more engagement, as Instagram does. However, we learned that native device camera’s or 3rd party cameras with advanced functionality where used primarily.
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Businesses needed a way to engage users
Local businesses needed a way to engage with users in a way that wasn’t purely social in nature. They wanted a way to advertise and create a feedback loop between consumers and the products they sell.
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Standards for evaluating cannabis products were needed
Standardize a way to describe cannabis products (feeling, taste, smell, etc) to enable more meaningful product reviews
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Product reviews were an unmet need
Provide the ability to tag and rate strains and products to help develop a network of trustworthy reviews and sources of hyperlocal information
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Discovery of local products and businesses was difficult
User’s were not able to find the products they want due to limited availability, variation in quality, or other factors not providing a consistent experience.
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Avoid traditional stereotypes
Move away from stoner stereotype branding
Competitive analysis
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Leafly
Cannabis information and strain rating app
No ability to rate products
Strain ratings highly variable based on producer
Limited social component
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Weedmaps
Cannabis dispensary locater
Dispensary ratings
No products ratings
No social component
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Vivino
Wine ratings and reviews
Individual wine ratings
Wine maker ratings
Social component
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Rex
Recommends places to visit
Ratings for restaurants, parks, stores, etc.
No ratings for products
Product with limited social component
Solution and Strategy
1. Redesign of core functionality
I led a full-stack redesign of the iOS and Android apps, focusing on improving usability, product discovery, and engagement by addressing key user frustrations.
Simplified onboarding: Reduced drop-off rate by making the sign-up process seamless and intuitive
Revamped navigation: Designed a cleaner, more intuitive interface to help users quickly find relevant content
Product reviews: Designed a mechanism and flow for posting cannabis products, photos, tagging dispensaries, and applying attributes creating a feedback loop between consumers and businesses
Dispensary finder: Designed an experience leveraging the Google Map API to locate and identify medical and recreational dispensaries located nearby, differentiating medical from recreational businesses
Enhanced product and strain search: Integrated a search function to help users discover strains and products more efficiently
Consumer Impact
✅ Easier access to product information & reviews
✅ More seamless discovery of local dispensaries and offerings
✅ Smoother navigation leading to a better overall experience
Business Impact
✅ App Store ratings increased: iOS 3.3 → 3.9, Android 2.9 → 3.6
✅ Increased engagement: Higher retention & daily active users
✅ Established a revenue stream fueling the network effects of the platform
DesignFeeds and business profile
Since we were adding cannabis reviews to the platform, we wanted them to have visibility in the network. To address this we added a new feed that only focused on cannabis reviews.
We separated the feeds into:
Following - opt in content; Mixture of posts and reviews from only people you follow
Reviews - finding product information; A focus on product related information, rather than social posts
Local - nearby users and business posts; Creates connections with users and businesses that are within their area.
We created Business profiles with useful information to fuel more interaction between businesses and users
With the dispensary finder, these local b2b and b2c solutions were increasing value to consumers and businesses by creating a feedback loop for local businesses to get important consumer information to make product decisions to identify the popular items and avoid the less popular ones.
Global
A feed for the entire MassRoots community to come together
2. Creating a new revenue stream
To drive monetization while addressing a major consumer need, I designed and launched the MassRoots dispensary finder, enabling users to locate dispensaries, read reviews, and discover local cannabis products.
Premium dispensary listings: Allowed businesses to pay for featured placements
User-generated reviews: Provided credibility and valuable insights for consumers looking for trusted recommendations
Online ordering (phase 2): Enabled in-app purchases, improving convenience for consumers
Consumer Impact
✅ Easier access to verified dispensary reviews and real-time product availability
✅ Improved trust through community-generated insights
✅ Convenient online ordering integration
Business Impact
✅ Generated a new revenue stream through dispensary subscriptions
✅ Drove dispensary adoption, increasing B2B partnerships
DesignDispensary finder
The dispensary finder was a solution to provide consumers access to the best products at local businesses, while also providing important consumer information about preferences and trends.
One problem we had to solve with the dispensary finder was how to help people quickly identify if a dispensary offered medical, recreational, or both on a map.
We decided to color code the pins and then disclose that information on a card once a pin/location is selected.
Businesses that offered both had a hybrid pin with both colors for recreational and medical cannabis.
Implemented a geo-fence design to constrain usage to recreational and/or medical cannabis states within the US
3. Differentiating MassRoots from competitors
Unlike Leafly (strain reviews) or Weedmaps (dispensary search), MassRoots addressed a key gap by offering:
Social-driven engagement: Community-driven cannabis discussions and user-generated recommendations
Localized product reviews: Helping users find not just strains, but specific products available at their local dispensaries
Hyper-local search: Connecting consumers with nearby, real-time product listings
Consumer Impact
✅ More relevant product recommendations based on location and community feedback
✅ Ability to discover dispensary-specific product availability
✅ Engagement with a cannabis community for shared insights & experiences
Business Impact
✅ Created the first social-driven dispensary discovery experience
✅ Increased user retention by providing a unique value proposition
DesignExplore and strain pages
The Explore experience needed to help us promote the dispensary finder, which was a new revenue stream for the company.
Explore provides access to browsing trending posts, search, strain and product pages, as well as an onramp to the dispensary finder.
Search across users, strains/products, and hashtags to explore beautiful content
We positioned cards at the top of the Explore view below search for discoverability of strain and product pages.
We created strain and product pages to help provide context about a strain or product in the context of the business that is selling it
Strain page flow (iOS)
Explore (iOS) - browse, search, dispensary finder
Strain detail page (Android)
User profile (iOS)
DesignProduct reviews
There were a lot of opinions from research on establishing a more refined rating system for cannabis products. We explored many iterations and concepts to figure out what type of rating system to use for cannabis product reviews.
What would help people integrate cannabis reviews into their normal workflow for posting content. What should the flow look like? Is a 5 star scale enough or would an extended scale help?
Should the mechanism aligned with stoner stereotypes, or more inclusive to those not in this subculture?
After extensive research and competitive analysis of other types of product reviews, we stuck with the star system in order to have a close relationship with existing mental models for other popular product rating systems, such as Yelp, Vivino, etc.
We avoided the weed leaf icons for the rating system due to the research insight indicating we need to pull away from typical stoner stereotypes and not reinforce them.
Ex. Vivino doesn’t have bottles of wine as their rating icons, they use the star format like Yelp, Google, etc.
Post - empty
Post - keyboard up
Photo picker
Find a strain
Strain review
DesignProfile and settings
4. Scaling the Design & Research team for long-term growth
As Director of UX, I built and led a team of 3 product designers, ensuring that user needs remained at the core of our product strategy decisions.
User research framework: Established a structured process for continuous consumer feedback
Design system implementation: Standardized design elements for consistency across web and mobile using coherent patterns
Cross-functional processes: Worked closely with product and engineering teams to ensure seamless execution and evaluation
Established career ladder to ensure growth and progression for designers
Employee Impact
✅ Established a customer centric environment for design and development
✅ Rapid implementation of user feedback for ongoing improvements
✅ Clear expectations provided to designers to ensure role satisfaction, professional growth, and success
Business Impact
✅ Faster design iterations, reducing development time
✅ Higher design consistency & usability across platforms