InSync is a personal app development project based on my experience in coaching female athletes. It combines my extensive research on the menstrual cycle and the influence of fluctuating hormone levels on health, sports, and lifestyle with my passion for creating human-centred and accessible products. I'm currently collaborating with a developer on the final steps of realising this project.
As part of the design process I've been using creative AI to generate images inspired by the characteristics of the primary cycle hormones. These emotive and memorable visuals help make abstract information about biological processes, such as the impact of hormones on our bodies, more accessible and easier to understand.
Research:
At the start of the project I conducted a survey with 80 participants. This helped me to define the problem space and to understand my participants needs.
The Problem:
Existing cycle tracking apps don't provide inclusive information with a focus on health, cycle, and performance tracking. Products on the market are either aimed at enhancing high- level performance or birth control, and their access is limited by prescription plans. This leads to excluding users with a casual interest in exercise and a need for cycle-specific lifestyle or training information. Cycle-tracking apps are often not compliant with European GDPR rules, leaving users vulnerable to third- party tracking and privacy breaches.
My Goal:
My goal is to create an app that provides free, accessible infor- mation on the monthly hormone cycle and the ability to highlight personal physical and emotional trends. Additionally, my focus is on protecting the privacy of user data. I hope this product will empower anyone with a menstrual cycle to engage in a more sustainable, healthy, and compassionate relationship with their bodies and minds.
Personas:
Based on my research I developed two personas. Please meet Hannah and Faith below.
Pain Points:
•Free accessible information about training and health in-sync with the menstrual cycle.
•A combined function to track training, cycle and mental health.
•More specific information on the impact of the monthly cycle on exercise inclusive of all levels of performance.
•Data privacy and protection.
Qualitative Research Quotes:
“Training is new to me so I think it would be great for women like me who have struggled in the past with exercise and feeling confident about their bodies, to know and understand what my body needs at different times of my cycle. It’s something I’ve never even considered”
“How to get the most out of training and not get frustrated when you feel you can’t do something, get in your head or are anxious. Work to the strengths of the cycle and keep track of how I feel.”
“Being able to install a training plan and period symptoms side by side, not jumping from one to the other and have it synced.”
Ideation:
Prototyping & Testing:
Unmoderated usability study findings:
•User needs a quick access to the calendar
•The hormone diagram should indicate the active cycle-phase
•User needs a quick action button to log cycle without scowling
•User would like to see all main app functions on home screen in one glance
Hi-fi Prototype
AI generated imagery prompts:
Oestrogen:
“Render of matt white, balls melting into a daring, brave, social, orange body, white background”
“Render of matt white, balls melting into a daring, brave, social, orange body, white background”
Progesterone:
“Render a liquid, blue, calming, cleansing shape, on white background”
“Render a liquid, blue, calming, cleansing shape, on white background”
