A women’s health app tailored specifically for those suffering from endometriosis, that helps track reproductive cycles, symptoms, nutrition, excersice and sleep quality to create a wholesome analysis for a better understanding of one’s body and needs.
A women’s health app tailored specifically for those suffering from endometriosis, that helps track reproductive cycles, symptoms, nutrition, excersice and sleep quality to create a wholesome analysis for a better understanding of one’s body and needs.
Background
Endometriosis is a painful disorder that affects 1 out of every 10 women of reproductive age. Living with endometriosis can be difficult: It is often difficult for doctors to diagnose and treat, and symptoms like pain, digestive problems, and infertility can significantly impact the quality of life. There is no cure for endometriosis, and the available treatments are considered invasive and may improve symptoms only temporarily, and women will often need to try different treatment strategies to find what works best for them. Although this can seem overwhelming, there are effective ways to cope with endometriosis that stem from daily activities, such as adjusting the diet, staying active and well rested, and seeking support from other women who are coping with the disease.
The goal
Provide a platform where women with endometriosis can effectively manage their daily lives through non-invasive treatments that can improve their overall physical and mental health. By taking a holistic approach to coping with the disease, the app will help users discover and experiment with different strategies and treatments to find what will be most effective for their wellbeing in the long run.
10% of women have endometriosis –
that’s 176 million worldwide.
The cause of endometriosis is unknown and there is no definite cure.
Symptoms can include severe pain that isn’t relieved by painkillers, fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, bloating or nausea, especially during menstrual periods.
Changing one’s lifestyle and incorporating natural remedies can help manage pain and improve symptoms.
Research
To research different approaches to manage endometriosis symptoms, I tested several period, nutrition, fitness, and sleep trackers, as well as how to make the daily tracking of these aspects into something valuable, something that will provide results and insights toward improving one’s health and wellbeing.
For interviews, I approached women who have been diagnosed with endometriosis as well as those who experience excessive pain during their periods and find it disrupts their daily lives.
Several conclusions emerged regarding the different features and characteristics that will be included in the app and how each one should be approached:
The user’s very first interaction should enable the app to gather as much information necessary to create the most thorough first analysis, but it’s also essential not to overwhelm her.
Incorporating easy-to-read infographics and other methods to reduce cognitive overload can help make the knowledge base as clear and informative as possible.
Daily logging made by the user will be collected and converted into a personal health analysis. It will also be able to offer suggested nutrition, exercise, and therapy plans.
Many of my interviewees mentioned that their condition is poorly understood outside of medical circles, and sometimes even by healthcare workers themselves. By incorporating a support group into the app, it will be able to offer a forum for comfort, encouragement, information exchange.
Creating a highly detailed analysis will require a lot of daily information from the user, which could prove quite daunting. It should instead be broken down into several screens/steps, each focusing on a specific subject and keeping interactions simple and even fun.
The app should allow the user to customize its notification center. She should be able to select the notifications that she finds useful and those that are not relevant to her day-to-day activities.
Tracking made simple
In order to provide insightful analysis and actually make a difference, the app relies mainly on collecting data from the user herself.
Hence, creating a straightforward flow for collecting this data became a priority. I designed it to visually stand out from the rest of the app’s screens, using dark mode and showing it as a pop-up to draw the user’s attention to it.
Through my research, I was able to identify food groups that have either been shown to be beneficial or to be avoided for women with endometriosis. As part of the user tracking flow, I incorporated only those specific groups for the user to track, further simplifying the process. I removed features such as logging intake amounts or very specific types of food based on user testing, as it proved too tiresome to do even once, let alone on a daily basis.
Endometriosis can be noticeable at any time of the month, but the period days are usually the most intense. An integrated period tracker assists the user in planning her days accordingly by keeping her on top of her period. The period tracker screen provides a designated space for personal reminders that are customizable and can be configured to meet the user’s needs.
With the app’s community groups give users a platform to connect with others who share and understand their situation, and empower each other to make informed choices about their health. The groups feature operates as a message board, where users can post and vote on polls, interact with others’ posts and follow groups that interest them.
The analysis sections are all equally important and therefore similar in appearance and structure, with each section comprising certain elements that are unique to it.