Empowering Womxn's Health Through Hormone Tracking

The Client

While I cannot share the name of the client at the current time, I will share a bit about the work they are aiming to do. The client is a fem-tech startup looking to revolutionize the way we understand hormones in women, non-binary people, and trans people. Using the hormones in users saliva paired with a medical device and a phone application, users are able to get real-time insights into their hormonal health.

Team

I worked as the principle UX/UI designer alongside the project manager and the CEO. The startup is still in the process of hiring developers. I was there to lay the ground work for their mobile application before I advised them to work with an agency for the rest of the app development due to the complexity of their app build.

Problem Space

Hormones impact your physical and mental health at every stage of life. Yet, they remain a black box. With this application, users get the data that’s been missing to make evidence-based choices about their health and the care they need. Eli‘s vision to make health information accessible to all women at home. Their products aim to be evidence-based, created in collaboration with medical experts and easy to use.

Secondary Research

Primary Research

Video interviews were conducted with several participants of varying age, gender, hormonal health experience, and location. This is a sample of key information from three participants.

Interview Guide

Key Insights

1. Acceptance of Defeat: There’s an acceptance among many women that there’s nothing they can do about their symptoms (period cramps, menopause hot flashes, endocrine conditions, etc) and that they will have to learn to live with it.
2. Lack of Education / Learning too Late: Many individuals lacked education regarding their hormonal health (ex. being put on birth control for hormone regulation at a young age) or wished they had known certain information earlier in life
3. Distrust of Medical Professionals: Many women have been dismissed by medical professionals when seeking solutions for hormone-related health problems leading to a lack of trust and even a fear when seeking medical attention for hormonal health reasons.

Hypothesis Statement

We believe that by providing a digital solution that empowers women and offers them greater control over personal health  will allow them to make evidence-based choices about their health and the care they need. We will know this is true when we see less instances of women being misinformed about their hormonal health and/or less women experiencing complications as a result of not getting proper medical interventions related to hormonal health imbalances.

"How Might We" Question

How might we increase awareness of how hormones affect health for individuals at varying stages of life and with varying hormonal health journeys so that they can take control of their health and feel empowered knowing what to expect as they age.

Personas

Task Flow Diagrams & User Stories

UI Inspiration

Exploratory Sketches

Lo-Fi Wireframes

Color and Typography

Selected Mid-Fi Screens

Future Outlook & Next Steps

This project I got to learn all the intricate details that encompass building out a mobile application. I got insight into the Story Mapping Framework, working with tight deadlines, and designing for various use cases. I also got to learn personally how to deal with imposter syndrome, setting work boundaries, and communicating with coworkers regarding expectations.

After setting the groundwork, the next steps for this project is Eli working with an agency to continue building out their mobile application. In around a year’s time, they will hopefully have their app available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.