Why Cannabis L&D?
The cannabis industry is growing rapidly, but its training infrastructure hasn't kept pace. Most dispensaries rely on shadowing and product sheets — there's almost no structured instructional design happening in this space. That's a gap I want to fill.
The work samples below demonstrate my ability to design for a highly regulated, product-intensive retail environment where associates need to translate complex product knowledge into accessible customer guidance — while staying compliant with state-specific regulations.
01
Product Knowledge • Interactive Module
Budtender Foundations
Cannabinoid basics (THC, CBD, CBN, CBG), product format guidance with onset times, a branching customer consultation scenario, and a scored knowledge check. Designed for frontline budtenders being onboarded into a consultative sales role.
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02
Regulatory Compliance • Annual Recertification
Cannabis Compliance Foundations
A compliance training module covering Virginia's CCA regulatory framework — age verification protocols, per-transaction purchase limits by product category, METRC documentation requirements, and a scenario-based knowledge check with 80% passing threshold. Built for annual recertification.
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03
Customer Education • Patient-Facing Guide
Your First Visit: Cannabis 101
A customer-facing education guide for first-time dispensary visitors. Covers the endocannabinoid system, THC vs. CBD, product formats, dosing principles with an interactive slider, and reinforcement questions. Designed to reduce anxiety, build confidence, and improve consultation quality before the customer even speaks to a budtender.
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04
Performance Support • Job Aid
Budtender Quick-Reference Card
A printable, laminated floor reference covering product formats & onset times, THC dosing by experience level, the 5-step consultation framework, Virginia CCA compliance limits, and common terpenes. Designed for point-of-need retrieval during a live customer interaction — not a training tool, but a performance support artifact that reduces cognitive load when it matters.
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05
Curriculum Architecture • Learning Journey Map
90-Day Budtender Learning Journey
A full curriculum map showing how the individual modules, job aid, and reinforcement activities sequence into a structured 90-day onboarding arc. Includes three milestone gates, a competency coverage matrix, and delivery modality rationale. Demonstrates systems-level instructional design — how individual pieces connect into a program with measurable outcomes.
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06
ID Process • Design Brief & Storyboard Excerpt
Design Brief: Budtender Foundations
The behind-the-scenes design document for the Budtender Foundations module — including needs analysis, audience analysis, learning objectives mapped to Bloom's taxonomy, a storyboard excerpt of the branching consultation scenario, a Kirkpatrick evaluation plan, and documented rationale for key design decisions. Shows the instructional thinking before the first screen was built.
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Design Approach
Cannabis retail training has unique constraints: associates need deep product knowledge across multiple categories (flower, edibles, concentrates, topicals), must comply with state-specific regulations, and often serve customers with medical needs alongside recreational buyers. This portfolio demonstrates design across multiple audiences and modalities — employee onboarding, regulatory compliance, customer education, performance support, and curriculum architecture — each requiring a different instructional approach, tone, and interaction strategy. The design brief surfaces the ID process behind the work; the curriculum map shows how the individual pieces connect into a measurable program. The through-line across all of it is treating every learner as a capable adult who needs frameworks for decisions, not scripts for memorization.
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