Weedmaps

Senior Product Designer • Nov 2016 - Jul 2021

Weedmaps is the leading technology and software infrastructure provider to the cannabis industry, connecting millions of consumers with dispensaries and delivery services. I designed core marketplace experiences focused on discovery, conversion, and search—helping users find and purchase cannabis products while enabling retailers to showcase their offerings.

Retailer overview redesign

Weedmaps' retail listing pages were designed to drive immediate action—users landed directly on menu pages to browse products. But our data told a different story about how people actually shopped for cannabis.

Through user testing with 10 participants and card sorting exercises with 80+ users, I discovered that consumers wanted to evaluate retailers before committing to browse their full menu. They were comparison shopping, hunting for deals, and trying to understand delivery options and service quality—but our interface pushed them immediately into a product catalog.

I also met with customer support and sales teams who dealt with user confusion daily. A recurring pain point: users couldn't distinguish between storefronts and delivery services, even though this information was technically available. The interface simply didn't highlight it effectively.

I redesigned the retailer overview page to surface high-priority information upfront. The new header clearly distinguished storefronts from delivery services and highlighted ordering capabilities. Deals and promotions—mentioned by every research participant as critical—got their own prominent section. A menu breakdown showed category distribution at a glance, helping users decide if a retailer had what they wanted before diving deeper.

User testing with 10 participants showed universal positive feedback, with several noting the design exceeded their expectations. The redesign improved information accessibility, reduced clicks to key actions, and better aligned the experience with how consumers actually shop for cannabis—ultimately supporting higher conversion rates across millions of monthly visitors.

Success metrics

  • +5% conversion on web

  • +10% conversion on iOS/Android

  • 10/10 participants gave positive feedback

  • Multiple participants said design exceeded expectations

  • Improved experience for millions of monthly visitors

Menu filtering experience

Weedmaps' search results filtering system had grown organically over time, resulting in an inconsistent and confusing experience. On initial load, only category filters appeared, while all other filters were hidden in an "advanced filter" drawer. Making matters worse, the visible categories were dynamic—changing based on the user's query—which created an unpredictable experience.

This design could trap users in overly narrow results with no obvious way to broaden their search or start over. The most popular filters—categories, weight, and price—were often the hardest to find. User testing consistently showed confusion about where to find filtering options and how to reset their selections.

I led a redesign effort to create a unified filtering experience that could scale across all surfaces at Weedmaps. Through user research, I identified the most important filters (categories at 53%, weight at 7%, price at 7%) and designed two concepts that made filters consistently visible and accessible. I validated both concepts through user testing with 5 participants using balanced comparison methodology.

User testing revealed clear preference for one concept over both the current experience and the alternative design. Participants found the preferred concept made filters easier to access and appreciated the ability to reset selections through dismissible chips without getting trapped in narrow results. The design surfaced key filters upfront, made all filtering options discoverable without requiring clicks into drawers, and provided clear affordances for resetting.

Based on the user testing results, the team moved the preferred concept into A/B testing to validate the qualitative findings with quantitative data. The redesign established filtering patterns that Product could reuse across the platform, improving the discovery experience for millions of monthly visitors.

Success metrics

  • Clear user preference established through testing (5 participants, balanced comparison)

  • Improved filter discoverability and accessibility on search results

  • Advanced to A/B testing based on strong qualitative results

  • Established reusable filtering patterns for platform-wide adoption

  • Improved experience for millions of monthly visitors