Digital Interventions for Navigating Menopause

🧭 Context & Challenge

Menopause is a major life transition experienced by over a billion women globally, yet it remains underrepresented in both medical research and digital health design. Rooted in gender bias, stigma, and medical gaslighting, menopause care lacks empathetic, inclusive, and empowering tools—especially in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research.

This research project emerged from a critical question:
How can digital health technologies empower women during menopause, rather than pathologize their experience?

🔍 Research Questions

Guided by feminist HCI and somatic computing, this work explored:

  • How do women interact with digital menopause tools?

  • What are their unmet needs and frustrations?

  • How can self-tracking technologies move beyond data to foster self-awareness, validation, and healthcare advocacy?

🔬 Methodology

A multi-method research design:

  1. Systematic Literature Review

    • Focused on women’s health interventions in Latin America

    • Revealed a scarcity of tools for aging and menopause

  2. Benchmarking Study

    • Analyzed 19 menopause apps using the MARS framework

    • Cross-compared expert reviews and user ratings

  3. Diary Study + Semi-Structured Interviews

    • 40 participants, 16 in-depth interviews

    • Tracked usage of Clue’s Perimenopause Mode

    • Combined usability testing, emotional mapping, and symptom data logging

✨ Key Insights

📱 App Design Gap

  • Experts preferred clinically-backed, feature-rich apps

  • Users valued community support and emotional validation

  • No correlation between expert reviews and user satisfaction

💡 Human Needs Over Quantification

  • Symptom tracking gave women a sense of control and a tool for self-advocacy

  • Data was often used to counter medical dismissal in healthcare settings

🧠 Emotional Health Patterns

  • Strong correlation between mental well-being, sleep, and emotional state

  • Frequent loggers showed deeper symptom insight, while sporadic users emphasized feelings

🔧 Usability & Customization

  • High usability scores (SUS average 88.25)

  • But users requested richer visualizations and more tailored symptom options

💬 Participant Voices

“I can’t stop the hot flashes, but at least I can understand what’s happening.” – P35
“I needed to present a more holistic picture of my symptoms to be taken seriously.” – P38

🎯 Outcomes & Contributions

  • Advanced research at the intersection of feminist HCI, digital health, and somatic computing

  • Proposed a design shift from quantified tracking to empathetic, embodied support

  • Emphasized community, personalization, and healthcare integration

📈 Future Directions

  • Integrate symptom tracking with Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

  • Leverage AI for passive tracking and predictive health alerts

  • Extend tools across the lifespan of women's health, from menstruation to post-menopause

🧠 Theoretical Framework

  • Activity Theory: Apps as mediating tools for care practices

  • Somasthetics: Emphasizing bodily experience over cold data

  • Feminist HCI: Centering lived experience, agency, and inclusivity