80% of women live with hormonal imbalances, and some aren’t even aware of this. From physical to mental health, hormones significantly impact women’s lives. HormoneLog is a platform that aims to help women gain control of their lives, making hormones work for them, not against them. Through carefully curated information and user-input data, HormoneLog is a portal for women toward well-being and an easier menstrual cycle.
Even though 80% of women suffer from hormonal imbalances that cause mental and physical conditions, most women are still not familiar with how hormones affect their bodies throughout the month.
I have conducted comparative and competitive research and user interviews to understand how women approach their reproductive health, the challenges they face monthly, and their motivations. The stories I collected became a strong foundation for the insights below.
Method: Zoom calls
These were some of the questions asked during the interviews:
I have conducted comparative and competitive research and user interviews to understand how women approach their reproductive health, the challenges they face monthly, and their motivations. The stories I collected became a strong foundation for the insights below.
The user persona is based on the women I talked to. During our conversations, I realised that there is no hormonal knowledge - except for what happens at menstruation -, that they are eager to learn more or adjust their lifestyle, and they are busy and depend on pain medication.
Women are unaware and don’t usually track hormonal shifts throughout the month, even though these changes heavily impact their lives.
Help women understand hormonal fluctuations in their bodies so they can navigate them more easily by adjusting their lifestyle.
Empower women to keep track of their daily symptoms so they can identify patterns and know what to expect.
HormoneLog is where women can track their periods and monitor their monthly hormonal fluctuations. Here, they can find information on what’s happening inside their bodies on any given day, tips to manage unpleasant hormonal shifts, and daily activity logs.
Having a clear sitemap structure helped me define the main user flow - from onboarding to inputting daily symptoms and viewing the symptom prediction feature.
Once I clearly understood the essential design elements, I incorporated them into detailed wireframes. I iterated through multiple design versions in Figma based on valuable feedback from peers.
Creating task flows for each process separately was a necessary step in establishing logical flows without dead ends.
HormoneLog has 29 screens that correspond to the primary user goals.
Users can add daily symptoms based on the time of the month, get insights into what's happening inside their bodies and what they can do to feel better.
Add a wide range of symptoms from physical to mental with varying degrees of intensity; the users also have the possibility to add in symptoms manually.
View predicted symptoms and their occurrence rate on any given day with the possibility to add more symptoms. The symptom prediction is displayed after the first menstruation recorded on the platform.
The user needs to input symptoms ideally every day - if not, then most days - so that the app learns the symptoms that are to be expected.
The accuracy of the symptom prediction needs continuous improvement. In the future, the app should aggregate data from multiple users to show symptoms and suggest potential causes.
Used to input period dates and is the foundation for all hormonal tracking throughout the month. Users can see all past and upcoming period dates by scrolling up and down. They can also make edits by tapping the main CTA button.
This section serves as a journal where users can log and view their daily activities, from sports to diet, travel, illness and more.
To understand how valuable potential users will find the platform, I asked testers to perform the following tasks:
I chose these particular screens as they are central to ensuring the app offers accurate and timely information. To provide daily tips on navigating different times of the month, the user must have an account and input daily symptoms. Based on these, the app will predict upcoming symptoms and provide information on how to alleviate them. After receiving feedback for all my designs, I made iterations based on user testing findings.
1. Onboarding
Some users mentioned the fact that the onboarding is too long and that the questions asked are a bit too personal. However, they then acknowledged that it’s necessary for the app's accuracy. Nothing was changed in the onboarding.
2. Symptom input directly from the home screen
I would like to be able to see the symptoms I add more prominently
Users were frustrated because they weren't able to see all the symptoms added at a glance. I changed the display of the symptoms and opted to show only the selected ones on the homepage. This removes frustration and helps the user focus on their input.
3. Symptom prediction
I would like to see a sample of the symptom prediction feature to get an idea of how that would work for me.
The symptom prediction wasn’t initially developed enough. I integrated it into the top part of the homescreen, as that would be among the first things a user would look for, and created a separate screen that illustrates the symptom prediction upon tapping.
I chose a simple wordmark logo. HormoneLog is easy to navigate and get information from, which is why the logo functions as an extension of that simplicity.
For color palletes, I chose nudes that render softness and femininity, two values that align with my vision for this project. Only the CTA buttons are brightly coloured to ensure they stand out on any screen.
For typography, I chose a combination of two serif and sans-serif fonts. This way section headings stand out more, while the body text remains simple and tidy. The softness of the color pallets is deeply entwined with that of the heading font.
The complete UI kit for this project:
Below, you can try out the final version of this project's interactive prototype.
While working on this project, I constantly questioned the value I deliver to users and re-evaluated my design decisions and their purpose. Whenever one creates a project from scratch, there’s always the risk of adding multiple features with no apparent purpose; this is where the constant testing to justify the existence of a feature comes into play.
Designing a health app is a complex process. In this case, with a limited timeframe, I had to think about the type of user I’m addressing: is it someone with regular periods or someone who doesn’t menstruate regularly? Is it someone suffering from an illness like PMDD or severe PMS? Questions like these play a significant role in the final designs.
Technical feasibility for symptom prediction became a focal point. The question of the app making correct predictions – with the knowledge that a woman’s body changes throughout her life and symptoms change too – was a matter of concern. To ensure accurate predictions, the app would aggregate data input by the user and anonymous data from other users in similar age groups and health status.
