SUMMARY

Cyclesync is an application that supports women in planning tasks according to their menstrual cycle. It combines both: period tracking and task management. We designed an app in which users can input information about their cycles and receive proper suggestions for task management based on collected data. Cyclesync is more than just a calendar; it's a companion that guides women through their cycles, providing insights, support, and a sense of control over their lives.

CHALLENGE

Scientific research on women's menstrual cycle has made it possible to accurately determine hormonal changes and the potential consequences that follow them in women's daily lives. A number of physical and emotional changes during the cycle do not go unnoticed, affecting their well-being and productivity in daily activities. The main challenge of this project was to find a solution that would make it easier for menstruating women to cope with these changes and improve their quality of life.

ROLE

Together in the team of 5 women: UX research, competitors analysis,

Solemnly responsible for: project management, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, UI Design and User Testing.

METHODS

Interviews, competitive, analysis,

brainstorming, systems mapping, wireframing, 

prototyping, usability testing.

APPROACH

We focused most of our research on interviews and existing studies on menstrual cycle courses. Through the development we established, that since hormonal changes (and their impact) are an inseparable part of a woman's life, the best solution is to plan women's activity according to their rhythm whenever it's possible. Cyclesync is a tool to help achieve this goal.

MARKET RESEARCH

We looked into 4 of the most popular applications for menstrual cycle tracking (Clue,Clover, Flo, Period Tracker) and one less popular and younger application (Femble), which, however, stands out among other applications for the features it offers and its design.

INSIGHTS FROM INTERVIEWS WITH 5 WOMAN

First: even though the feelings and experiences of women with their menstrual cycles are different, most of them struggle with completing their tasks at some point of the cycle, especially before and at the beginning of the period. Most of them need to change their plans because of menstrual discomfort.

Second: most women are aware of some hormonal changes in their bodies, but they can’t explain in detail what changes these hormones are responsible for.

Third: most of the interviewed people didn’t track their symptoms every day.

Fourth: Interviewed people liked the idea of an app supporting life compatible with the menstrual cycle, but they are less open to paying for it :)

Based on research, we have established a common theme between menstruating women. Even though they have different ailments and different levels of knowledge about menstrual changes, most of them struggle with planning their activities and would like to feel more secure and effective. What would help them in managing their tasks better is more predictability of their cycle and potential consequences on each stage.

Taking all of these factors into consideration, I created 2 profiles of potential users and panned the features doing MoSCoW method.

PERSONAS

EXAMPLE JOURNEY MAPPING FOR ONE OF THE PERSONAS

MOSCOW METHOD

SKETCHES

After I decided which features will include our solution I started to bringing my ideas into sketches. Application of course will include a basic questionnaire, which the user has to do when opening an account.

Users will also be able to track period, the phase of the menstrual cycle and their symptoms. User can enter these symptoms(both, mental and physical) during daily check in.

Based on this data, the application will recommend the best time to accomplish a particular task. The last feature would be access to data about previous cycles.

Click on the gallery below to enlarge the photos :)

USER TESTING

I did some preliminary testing, feedback was very positive and users seem to be engaged in it. However there were some problems with useability appearing. First, users didn’t understand the colours in the calendar, which represents a specific phase of the menstrual cycle. Second, there was some confusion about ‘Cycles' and ‘Calendar’- some users seem to not see the difference between these two sections. From this feedback, I got a clearer understanding of users flow and how the app should be designed to ensure better usability and understanding.

THE 'FINAL' DESIGN

Click on the gallery below to enlarge the photos :)

MAIN FEATURES

The home page includes calculated information about the period, date, day of the cycle, and current phase of the cycle.

Task planner with a calendar showing when each of the phases occurs. Depending from the kind of task date can be set...

The user has also access to the cycle's history wich includes the colected data about previous cycles.

Check-in of well-being and symptoms. Based on this data, the app can give more personalized suggestions.

Details about the current cycle phase and how to maximize this time according to hormonal changes.

Calendar with predicted beginning and end of all phases of the menstrual cycle. Not only period!

...or flexible! Depending on the character of the task, the app will suggest when it's the best time to plan it.

REFLECTION

Future development- i.e. What's next?

In a later update, I would like to add nutrition and exercise recommendations to the app, since sport and diet are an essential part of Cycle Syncing. To help users break the tabu of menstruation, it could be useful to create a space to share their experiences and problems with other users. To successfully include both features I would proceed with a deeper research of Cycle Syncing and make some more user interviews.

What did I learn from this project?

I learned to focus more on users and their needs to create the most useful and intuitive product. I think, that it's quite easy to lose track and follow our needs instead of taking from research and interviews. Realizing and countering this is the most important thing I learned from this project.

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What would I have done differently?

I think, that I would create some quick tutorial for users, to make them understand are main features of the application and how the app can help them plan daily activities. The tutorial could be of course skipped, if user decides to explore the application independently. I would also include a possibility to connect with partners, even if both partners are menstruating, to make the application LGBTQ+ friendly.