Disclaimer
Many women, especially those with irregular periods like PCOS, often face urgent menstrual needs without access to sanitary napkins. The irregularity of cycles and a lack of awareness about period hygiene pose additional challenges. In Pakistan, safe access to menstrual care is limited. There's a need for a platform fostering community among women, providing support, and easy access to menstrual care products to alleviate these issues.
How might we design a platform to help people who menstruate in times of menstrual emergencies?
Design Outcomes
of users mentioned that they wanted the app to be a real thing
positive responses from students at LUMS
average score on
the System Usability Score
Design Screens
On the sign-up screens, new users enter just a few basic details—name, date of birth, and contact info—while a simple progress bar at the top indicates how far along they are. The interface keeps each step focused and concise, so there’s no confusion or extra friction.
Once verified, the app seamlessly transitions them to the main landing page, ready to leverage the app’s core features without delay.
The sign-up process takes inspiration from the social media application, BeReal, which was popular at the time. This provided familiarity in the interface for our target users.
Users are guided through the sign up process step by step, similar to the social media app 'BeReal'
The interface keeps each step focused and concise, so there’s no confusion or extra friction.
The progress bar on the top shows users how much of the process is complete
On the landing page, users start by quickly entering their current location which triggers the Ping.
As soon as the location is filled in, the interface provides immediate feedback: the ping icon shifts from purple to red and enlarges, clearly indicating that the request is ready to be sent.
This streamlined design minimizes friction during emergencies, ensuring that help can be summoned as fast as possible.
After sending a Ping, users are presented with a list of available lenders, complete with distance and ETA. Once a lender is selected, the map dynamically displays their real-time location as they move closer, and a built-in chat interface enables seamless communication.
When the lender arrives, the screen transitions to “Behan Aagayi,” signaling their presence; the tick icon then activates, and upon being pressed, it triggers the “BehanChara established” screen, confirming a quick, stress-free handover.
Users select the lender they prefer from the list
Users can chat with lenders at any time for updates or other concerns
After the user has completed the process, they can press the tick box and are shown a 'BehanChara Established' Screen
The app shows them a real-time map, illustrating how far the lender is from them
When the lender is in a certain radius to the user, the app shows 'Behan Aagayi!' (Your sister is here!) to inform the user
Users are taken through a step-by-step process to customize their 'Dabba' (Box)
A reminder form prompts users to select how many days before their expected period date they would like to receive a notification to remind them about their order.
For the first time that they are ordering it, the users must give all their details (address, product details, etc.)
Users are allowed to customize everything about the menstrual product they receive - size, brand, type, etc.
At the end, an order overview is shown which allows users to easily go back and edit any details
On the Dabba feature, users personalize their pad package by selecting their preferred pad type, size, and additional comfort items, such as chocolates or tea bags. As selections are made, a dynamic progress bar fills up and an animation of a box closing with a ribbon tying signifies that the order is being finalized.
This intuitive design streamlines the ordering process, ensuring that users can easily set up their customized package well in advance, reducing stress and ensuring preparedness for their menstrual needs.
On the map screen, users are automatically pinned at the center, while surrounding stores that stock menstrual products appear as color-coded markers.
A single tap on any marker reveals key details—store name, distance, and contact info—along with a “Chalo!” ("Let's Go" in Urdu) button to open directions in Google Maps.
This straightforward layout removes guesswork, ensuring users can quickly locate and navigate to the nearest source of supplies.
The red marker shows the user's current location on the map.
Nearby stores that stock menstrual products appear as separate markers
Tapping any store marker offers details (name and distance) and a direct link to Google Maps
This consolidated view removes the hassle of juggling multiple apps, giving users a calm, one-stop solution for urgent menstrual needs.
Research
Secondary Research
By looking at different work done in the area and understanding different products and platforms such as period trackers and social efforts, we gauged the existing work done and what it was missing.
Gaps in Research
Limited data on menstrual emergencies and immediate challenges faced by women.
Lack of insights into product accessibility on Pakistani university campuses.
Minimal research on women’s perceptions of sharing menstrual products in culturally sensitive contexts.
Existing Products
Global apps like Flo and Glow focus on tracking but don’t address emergencies or sharing.
Online delivery platforms like Daraz.pk offer delivery but lack immediacy for emergencies.
Pad Vending machines on campuses are rare and are rarely stocked for emergency needs.
Primary Research
This category details the step-by-step approach taken during the project, including research, planning, design, development, testing, and optimization phases.
Research Methods
Surveys and Questionnaires: Collected responses from 151 female students at LUMS to understand menstrual product preferences, access challenges, and emergency experiences.
Interviews: Conducted semi-structured, private interviews with 20 students to explore their challenges, preferences, and attitudes toward borrowing menstrual products.
Contextual Inquiry: Observed product availability on campus, analyzed vending machine usability, and monitored real-time emergency needs via WhatsApp groups.
Auto-ethnography: Reflected on personal experiences within the LUMS environment to identify behavioral patterns and gaps in emergency menstrual product access.
Key Insights
This category details the step-by-step approach taken during the project, including research, planning, design, development, testing, and optimization phases.
Idea Generation
After our research was completed and our insights were compiled, the team sat together for brainstorming sessions to understand what our product would do. Through an initial session focused on the product's identity and what we wanted to do, we finalized the following details:
Our brand needed to embody the spirit of sisterhood, community and support.
BehanChara, translating to sisterhood in Urdu, was created, with a heart (<3) as its logo.
Purple was used as the main color as it is most associated with calmness and serenity.
The mind-map made to brainstorm the visual identity of BehanChara
After more brainstorming, some key elements of our product came to light. These were more related to some important aspects or features that needed to be present to make our application effective,
General Ideas
Features
Sketches
After we had understood what we wanted our product to do, we started visualizing our ideas by making quick sketches to guide our future designs.
Alternate Designs
To explore other ideas that may be better than the one we had come up with, the team designed alternate ways to solve the problem. These ideas ultimately were not chosen for the reasons mentioned.
Storyboards
To ensure we could fully empathize with our users and understand what they would be going through in emergency situations, we created scenarios and subsequent storyboards where we thought our product can help.
This storyboard illustrates the Ping Feature of BehanChara, enabling users to request menstrual products.
Amna gets her period but doesn’t have a pad and feels uncomfortable buying one from a male cashier. She uses the BehanChara app to "ping" nearby users for a spare pad. Mariam, who is close by, accepts the request and provides Amna with the needed product, ensuring a quick and discreet solution.
This storyboard showcases BehanChara’s Care Package feature, which delivers menstrual products and comfort items.
Ayesha, struggling with mood swings and cravings during her period, fails to find her favorite snack on campus. She then orders a customized care package, ensuring she’s prepared and comforted for future cycles.
This storyboard illustrates the Khoj Feature of BehanChara, which helps users locate nearby stores selling menstrual products.
Fatima, in an unfamiliar area, needs a pad but feels uncomfortable asking strangers or waiting for delivery. She opens the BehanChara app, uses the map feature to find the closest store, and navigates there using Google Maps, ensuring quick and discreet access to menstrual products.
Low-Fidelity Prototypes
After collecting all the research, brainstorming ideas and creating rough sketches, we created paper prototypes that helped us finalize ideas and test them with potential users early in the design process.
Prototype of the Ping functionality
Prototype of the Care Package functionality
Prototype of the Map functionality
A physical prototype of the Care Package
After making these prototypes, we tested them with 5 users, setting 5 open-ended tasks and asking them to think aloud as they interacted with the prototype. By understanding how much time a user would take on a task, how many errors they were making and their general feelings about the prototype, we understood potential pain points with the design.
After gathering insights from research, refining ideas, and conceptualizing the brand’s personality, we crafted a visual identity that embodies BehanChara’s mission—creating a sense of trust, community, and accessibility for all users.
Helvetica (Headings): Chosen for its timeless, neutral, and industrially recognized design, ensuring clarity and adaptability across the app.
SF Pro (Body Text): Selected for its readability and familiarity, as it is widely used in Apple’s UI, making navigation intuitive and comfortable for users.
Potential Designs
Different visual designs were created for the logo to test and understand which suits the brand the best.
Heart Integration: While incorporating the heart symbol made the logo more expressive, it made the word "Behan" less recognizable for those unfamiliar with it.
Pad as 'B': Using a pad shape for the letter B was discarded as it made the text hard to read and limited the app’s identity to menstrual health, despite its broader functionality.
Final Visuals
Logo: The heart symbol is recognizable and unobtrusive, with the negative space in the inverted heart forming a house, symbolizing community and sisterhood.
Tagline: "Mushkil mai Sahara" - (Support in difficult times in Urdu) best reflected both sisterhood and practical support.
After the final designs were created and fully prototypes, we tested them with potential users to uncover any pain points and understand what users were struggling with. 3 pilot tests were done initially, followed by 24 tests with a refined testing protocol. Testers were asked to complete tasks based on realistic scenarios with the features of the application followed with a Post-Test Questionnaire
Results
Testing with high-fidelity prototypes demonstrated a 42% reduction in the average time required to complete tasks related to Ping, a 54% decrease for Map interactions, and a 36% decrease for Care Package tasks (as compared to the tests done with paper prototypes). Most users appreciated the app design and functionality, stating that they would love if it was available to use.
Average Time Taken Per Feature in Seconds (lower is better)
Insights
Most loved the Care Package feature, finding it intuitive and convenient
40% of users suggested an onboarding tutorial because of the novel nature of the product
Users struggled with unfamiliar icons and feature labels, especially in Ping.
Users were confused about whether the borrower or the lender of the pad would travel to the other person
26% of users suggested clearer store markers and details on available pad brands & sizes for the Map feature
A system usability score of 86.2 score was obtained through the post-test questionnaires
