As a male, I acknowledge that I have not personally experienced the issue of menstrual emergencies. To ensure this did not affect the project’s integrity, all decisions were entirely data-driven and validated by a female team member, who also held veto power over key design choices.
In Pakistan, safe access to menstrual care is limited and given the context of the country, there is a need for something more.
Often hidden behind the ‘brown bag complex’, where menstrual products are discreetly handed over in wrapped paper, reinforcing shame and silence
WhatsApp groups and close friends are leveraged to borrow pads in emergencies. While supportive, these are limited and are not accessible to new students
Texts from Hostel WhatsApp Groups
Stores close at night and have limited options, while vending machines are unreliable and rarely restocked.
Pad Vending Machine in a Female Restroom
In Pakistan, safe access to menstrual care is limited and given the context of the country, there is a need for something more.
Introducing the Care Package
Loading for the Map feature
The Navigation Bar for the app
The like animation for the discussion forum
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
“The variety of brands mentioned in the app, that too the ones that are preferred these days, shows how people behind this product have surveyed well”
“The Dabba looks so cute!!”
"Loved the attention to detail and knowing that periods are irregular and can occur anytime. Very well informed!"
"Very convenient and easy to use, very helpful features, especially the one which shows locations of nearby shops"
"I like the integration features. It has everything combined in one place and the best thing is that the interface is very simple."
Team Lead for the entire project
58 final screens + complete redesign
4 different documents including a final research report!
Not much. There is limited data on menstrual emergencies and immediate challenges faced by women.
There is very minimal research on product accessibility on Pakistani university campuses and on women's perceptions of sharing menstrual products in culturally sensitive contexts
Existing applications provide period tracking features and communities to discuss issues but all have large audiences. Cultural issues are often lost in them.
There are currently no digital solutions that offer any support for women in times of urgent menstrual need.
A huge percentage of the maintenance staff in Pakistan consists of men that come from uneducated backgrounds. It may be difficult for them to understand the importance of menstrual hygiene which is why the machines were never stocked
While educating the masses is important, women at college campuses need better solutions for the present without waiting for what the future may bring.
151 Responses from surveys and questionnaires
20 semi-structured interviews
Contextual Inquiry for product availability and machine usability on campus
Auto-ethnography from female members of the team
of responders stated that they have been in a situation where they urgently need a menstrual product
What should one do if a pad is not accessible in times of menstrual urgency?
What can someone without a reliable friend do in times of emergency?
What can be done to ensure that users do not have to compromise on preferences?
The name BehanChara, translating to sisterhood in Urdu, was created.
The logo was a heart emoticon (<3) to appeal to college students.
The brand needed to embody the spirit of sisterhood and stand for community and support.
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
Users should be able to navigate the app easily in times of emergency. Figuring out how to use the app should not add to their stress during emergencies.
Users must verify their identity upon sign-up by scanning their National Identification Cards to prevent misuse by malicious users
More than one means of getting help needs to be available to ensure help in most, if not all, circumstances
A mix of Urdu and English must be used in a modern way, to appeal to the bilingual students at LUMS
The app should follow the model of ride-sharing apps like Uber where a user sends a request to people around them who can choose to respond, creating familiarity in UI and providing multiple options for different responders
A chat feature needs to be present during the pad exchange to connect the two users to each other
A care package feature should be available where users can choose the exact type of pad they need and order it, along with some other goodies to make them feel better
Users can access a map of nearby places where they can purchase menstrual products from
Just to make sure we explore all plausible solutions, we thought of design alternatives that could work
Sketches allowed us to brainstorm what we wanted BehanChara to look like. We threw some ideas at a board and saw what stuck
Scenarios and storyboards helped us empathize with our users and understand what they would be going through in emergency situations.
The Map feature
The Ping feature
The Care Package feature
Creating low fidelity prototypes allowed us to create fast and make mistakes early. By testing these with potential users, we discovered usability issues that helped us finalize our designs.
The Ping feature
The Care Package Feature
The Discussion Forum
The Map feature
We tested paper prototypes with 5 users, asking them to complete open-ended tasks while thinking aloud. This helped us capture usability pain points and understand how users interacted with key features.
Average Time Taken Per Feature in Seconds
(lower is better)
Average Errors Per Feature
(lower is better)
The purple color palette was chosen to create a calm and comforting atmosphere for users, reducing stress during emergencies.
Shades of lavender and blue evoke feelings of serenity, trust, and community, aligning with BehanChara’s mission of providing a safe and supportive space for women in need.
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.
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.
27 Usability tests, each with 4 tasks, were conducted, followed by a Post-Test Questionnaire with each participant.
When compared to initial paper prototypes, testing showed:
a 42% reduction for Ping related to Ping,
a 54% decrease for Map
a 36% decrease for Care Package
in the average time required to complete tasks.
Average Time Taken Per Feature in Seconds (lower is better)
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
Dabba (Care Package) was the most popular feature
Through the efforts of all group members and a push from our course Professor, BehanChara was incubated as a startup by the National Incubation Center, Lahore.
The experience taught me more about what it actually takes to launch a product and how much effort goes into it. Going through phases of market research, business plan development and researching product-market fit helped me pivot into product design and management.
Unfortunately, jobs and grad school got in the way so BehanChara had to be shelved. But, the experience by itself was one of the most rewarding I've ever had!
My co-founder and I at our incubation event!!
