Exploring the design and development of affirmative, inclusive and celebratory women's health technologies that reflect the complexities of menstrual cycles.
This is a current UX research and UX design project. Information is currently being updated.
• UX Researcher
• team of 3
Before we started our observations, we conducted some desk research on the technology space in women’s health and a relatively new women’s health method called cycle-syncing.
Cycle-syncing seems to be a relatively new and increasingly popular.
It holistically adjusting aspects of your life, such as how you eat and exercise, based on the phases of your menstrual cycle to help correct imbalances and decrease hormonal symptoms.With the rise in FemTech, and current technologies lack of addressing complex womanhood, there’s an opportunity
We want to...
Exploring the design and development of affirmative, inclusive and celebratory women's health technologies that reflect the complexities of menstrual cycles.
The global FemTech Market Size is estimated to grow to $75.1 billion by 2025.
(FemTech Heath.)
of investor money goes to women-led women’s heath startups.
(Vox.)
of menstrual cycle tracking apps for patient use are inaccurate.
(Columbia University Medical Center.)
of American women have been using menstrual tracking apps
(Kaiser Family Foundation.)
investment
investment
participants conducted
the survey online
132
I am confident in my education
It is important for me to keep
track of my menstrual cycle
Age: 21 | Female
College Student
Age: 21 | Female
College Student
Age: 21 | Female
College Student
Not confident on the phases she experiences between periods
Participants stated they had a basic understanding of their cycle and want to learn more
Feel inconvenienced during their periods
Concerned about how to start cycle syncing and how to fit it into their busy schedules
Lack of trust in tracking apps due to privacy issues after Roe v. Wade was overturned
After our survey and interview, we mapped our observations, allowing us to visualize the relationships between the different ideas among all interviewees, identify key themes and patterns.
We developed 3 overarching themes:
• Disadvantage
• Understanding and Growth
• Knowledge
This guided our key takeaways and design implications.
Frustrations
The majority of women view their menstrual cycle as a disadvantage. Future designs must empathize with this perception and look for potential ways to alleviate these frustrations without drastic lifestyle change.
Aid learning to relieve stress.
Many women expressed frustration when they felt uneducated on their cycles and, conversely, relief when they built knowledge. Design should consider the of balance of educating to offer relief while not being burdensome through a high investment of time.
Work with woman’s previously
built habits and intuitions .
Design should work with the assumption that many women rely first on intuition and past experiences when making decisions about advancing their body’s health. This is applied when they learn about and take care of themselves during their cycles.
• breast tenderness
• muscles & joint pain
• changes in your appetite, overeating
• sleep problems
• increased anger or conflict
• mood swings
• lack of energy
• suicidal feelings
• feeling out of control
• difficulty concentrating
• Atlanta, Georgia
• City apartment
• City neighborhood
• Corporate office job
• Social settings (bars, resurants)
• Casually dating
• Away from parents
• Living with a roommate
• Office friendships
• Atlanta, Georgia
• 22 years
• Female
• African American
• Regular eating schedule
• Hanging out with friends
• Bachelor’s degree
• Corporate job (40 hours a week)
• Participation in social activities
• Maintaining healthy exercise habits
• Drinking alcohol (worsen symptoms)
• Dietary restrictions
• Salt & sugar intake (worsen symptoms)
Meet Taylor. Taylor is 22, and she’s just graduated college. She started her period freshman year of high school at 15. Like most women, she experienced PMS symptoms during and leading up to her period. She felt her PMS was really taking a toll on her life and mental health. She went to the doctor, kept a detailed record of her symptoms, got a physical examination and blood tests to rule out other medical problems, and was diagnosed with PMDD.
Persona
Sarah is a college student who lives in a dorm on campus. It is the beginning of the week and she has just started her period. Her first two days are always the worst. She knew it was coming since she experienced abdominal cramping during the previous week and got into an emotional fight with her boyfriend due to her mood swings. She has developed some hormonal acne and feels bloated which gives her anxiety about potential weight gain. She wants relief from the negative symptoms caused by her period. After lunch, Sarah takes some Tylenol since she has been experiencing pain all day but the medicine feels like it takes too long to actually have an impact. When she returns to school, she forgets to bring more and her frustration towards herself increases. She feels low and all she can think about is going home to sleep. She asks her boyfriend to go get her chocolate ice cream from the store. She misses her workout because she does not have the energy and instead wants to take a nap. She loses motivation to complete her school tasks. Missing her workout and falling behind on assignments perpetuates more negative self-talk. All of the symptoms build up and when she gets home she cries and eats the entire tub of ice cream.
Be flexible to accommodate different cycle lengths
Provide tools for women suffering from hormonal imbalances to recover
Educate the user on optimal fitness within phases
Bring users in tune with their infradian rhythm
Prioritize uplifting users to live in tune with their body
Change the misrepresentation of the menstrual cycle as a disadvantage
Help user develop compassion for their body
Usable by women with irregular cycles
Ability to track progress and view growth/impact (physical and mental)
Motivate users to implement new routines
Easy to remember and repeat
Customizable to users individual interests and goals
Account for women’s past experiences and built knowledge
Be aware and counter the development of unhealthy habits
Educate the user about the different menstrual phases
Give users the language to advocate for their own needs
Provide natural remedies/solutions to symptoms
Switch preconceived expectation from 24-hours to the infradian cycle
Flexible to disruptions in users life
Encourage users to want to learn
Confront miseducation on women’s health
Educate the user on optimal diet within phases
Adaptable to users existing habits and schedules
Be flexible to accommodate different cycle lengths
Provide tools for women suffering from hormonal imbalances to recover
Educate the user on optimal fitness within phases
Bring users in tune with their infradian rhythm
Prioritize uplifting users to live in tune with their body
Change the misrepresentation of the menstrual cycle as a disadvantage
Help user develop compassion for their body
Usable by women with irregular cycles
Ability to track progress and view growth/impact (physical and mental)
Motivate users to implement new routines
Easy to remember and repeat
Customizable to users individual interests and goals
Account for women’s past experiences and built knowledge
Be aware and counter the development of unhealthy habits
Educate the user about the different menstrual phases
Give users the language to advocate for their own needs
Provide natural remedies/solutions to symptoms
Switch preconceived expectation from 24-hours to the infradian cycle
Flexible to disruptions in users life
Encourage users to want to learn
Confront miseducation on women’s health
Educate the user on optimal diet within phases
Adaptable to users existing habits and schedules
Be flexible to accommodate different cycle lengths
Provide tools for women suffering from hormonal imbalances to recover
Educate the user on optimal fitness within phases
Bring users in tune with their infradian rhythm
Prioritize uplifting users to live in tune with their body
Change the misrepresentation of the menstrual cycle as a disadvantage
Help user develop compassion for their body
Usable by women with irregular cycles
Ability to track progress and view growth/impact (physical and mental)
Motivate users to implement new routines
Easy to remember and repeat
Customizable to users individual interests and goals
Account for women’s past experiences and built knowledge
Be aware and counter the development of unhealthy habits
Educate the user about the different menstrual phases
Give users the language to advocate for their own needs
Provide natural remedies/solutions to symptoms
Switch preconceived expectation from 24-hours to the infradian cycle
Flexible to disruptions in users life
Encourage users to want to learn
Confront miseducation on women’s health
Educate the user on optimal diet within phases
Adaptable to users existing habits and schedules
Calendar/Tracker
Tracks where user is in their cycle
Shares what phase they are in and future phases
Able to be seen in overview
Predictive data accumulated over use
Recommended Grocery List/Items
Connection to physical product or outside app
Make decision making easy
Correspond to phase
Recipes
Recipe suggestions based on phase needs and user
Ingredient /Nutrition Advice
What user needs to eat to optimize health in this time
Foods that may contain this
Friends Profiles
Connections to friends profiles to share progress
Sync matching phases / aspects of phases to do together
Education on Menstrual Cycle
Communicate in easy to understand manner facts about the female body and infradian rhythm
Memorable education
Celebratory and compassionate learning
Progress Comparison with Friends
Show how cycles sync
Share potential mutual activities
Symptom Tracker
Tracks data for progress
Builds a profile of user problems
Easy to input
Potential Explanation of Symptoms
Helps users feel normal in their body
Give user understanding of their body
Goals Input by Users
Improve hormonal symptoms
Learn about health
Track fertility
Regulate periods
Fitness Advice
What fitness level user’s body can handle at this time
Impact of doing the right/wrong activity
Examples of workouts
Progress Metrics
Shows impact cycle syncing has had
Provides motivation to continue
Phase of Cycle
Follicular, Ovulatory, Luteal, Menstrual
Wednesday, 1 March 2023
2 hours, 7:00 PM — 9:00PM
5 Participants
Women Aged 20 — 24
journaling.
Reflected that they saw starting your cycle as a celebration for young women but negatively for themselves.
Negative self view was driven by their cycles making them feel out of control.
Thought even basic education was lacking (young women needed more education on how to actually use tampons and pads).
When confronting societal views, all participants wanted there to be change for the better. They view society as using menstrual cycles to “control and put down women” with things such as the tampon tax and stigmatization of periods.
I did a tracker because i started doing the 5 min journal and have gotten to go into a habit. Only 3 or options. Click easy. Stage where your at and explain why. You pick your symbols of what you want to represent your menstrual goals, you input which ones and how many. Shows you a monthly lens. More personalized, personalizes words for you today based on your stage, what you can do to confront feelings and make sense of it. What would make today great,
Aesthetics; period apps in the past don’t make me want to use them. Only track your menstrual cycle, not everything else which is so much more. Most women are not trying to actively work with their body.
Health and wellness recommendation, maybe forum of some sort, like tik tok, algorithm based on stage what can help me connect on my own body.
“I’ve genuinely thought about this a lot since learning about it”
value?
Participants put a wide range of values, from family to home cooked meals to kindness. Conversation started to flow, with some participants sharing that they were impressed by the values others came up with, especially those that were more abstract such as balance. Participants also bonded over shared interests and laughed.
To facilitate the creation of a space in which participants feel comfortable sharing. This is an icebreaker activity to help participants build an understanding of each other and bond.
A love/break up letter to your menstrual cycle.
“Internalized resentment”, mostly hate letters but with optimism.
One participant shared that they felt “hope of what’s to come” when speaking of the weeks where she is off her period.
Felt they needed birth control to escape the unpredictable relationship.
Awareness that work is needed to bring their relationship to a healthier point, desire and motivation to learn how to do this because they know they will be together for a long time.
Learn about the participants perceptions by eliciting feelings of appreciation, frustration, or anger by having them write a hypothetical love or breakup letter directed at their menstrual cycle. The content and tone of the letter, as well as body language when they read it aloud, help us empathize with them and learn which designs may create, maintain, or harm their relationship to their body.
“But you’re not going anywhere and neither am I, so we better find some common ground to stand on and make some compromises to do better for one another.”
Facilitate an opportunity for participants to activate their dreams in memories through pictures. Words can fail to properly describe how someone feels, this activity looks to help participants share their perspectives, reflections, and hopes through visual associations.
Participants are given the collage material and a poster board is divided into 2 sides: on one side they should represent their current emotions about their cycle, on the other predictions or hopes for these emotions in the future.
Cut out images and words however and collage them.
Share the collages with each other and explain their reasoning and thoughts during the activity.
Ideal future represents harmony with their menstrual cycle and other aspects: career, their place in society, mental wellbeing, and overall quality of life
All feel their present is overwhelming, sad, and frustrating
Holistic approach is the goal for many of their futures
Facilitate an opportunity for participants to activate their dreams in memories through pictures. Words can fail to properly describe how someone feels, this activity looks to help participants share their perspectives, reflections, and hopes through visual associations.
Spiritual moon related aspect.
Desires connection with her body.
Self-reflection aspect was strong in this participant’s design.
More motivating and celebratory language that helps you feel good about yourself and empowered. “It should definitely positive oriented. I already think enough negative thoughts”.
Visual represent of phases in a circle, not a calendar, “hourglass” for each phase.
Explanation of processes happening at that moment: personifying physiological processes (offering control) .
Holistic combination of information: breakdown of diet, exercise, and emotions based phases.
Women-only digital community space where men cannot perceive you. Women can link through cycles and build connection through conversation.
Discussed a desire for sponsored events for women in the same phase, something she trusts is safe like “ATL hot girl walks”.
Journaling approach, It would be nice to have a journal though your phone, not normal journaling.
Personalization of aesthetics would encourage her to use it daily (choosing colors, backgrounds).
Partnerships with other well known brands would encourage community.
Aspect of community based off phases.
Customizable, hate hot pink flower oriented interface. Should be something calming, like a beach.
Journaling aspect tethered to your menstrual cycle. Has AI that takes keywords and says “because you’re feeling this, here’s why it might be happening and what others go through.”
Tapping on ingredients leads you to recipes for all meals. She find comfort in food and wants it to be “idiot-proof”.
For people who are health conscious: if they are having common cravings like sugar, what’s the alternative?
Social feature (like co-star), wants to be able to add friends and see where they’re at in their cycle. “We always sync up after time together. I want to be able to dive deeper into how I interact with others, but it has to be another level besides just knowing”.
Partnership with brands such as class pass.
Participants repeatedly felt like they were “not in control" is common factor, solution should focus on giving the feeling of “control”, and should be prioritized in the solution (through education, physical aid, and community).
Participants want to celebrate; not using language like “gross” to talk about self, and use language to advocate for yourself to yourself. Redirect attention to other phases (not menstrual) to emphasize the positive aspects.
Participants believed that if they understood how to work in harmony with their menstrual cycle, then other aspects of their life would fall into place such as mental wellbeing, having a successful career, love for life, and their love for life.
“If all women could master their period we would be superhuman. We have a calendar in our bodies we can work with, we’ve been working against it our whole lives.”