TY - JOUR
T1 - The messiness of the menstruator
T2 - assessing personas and functionalities of menstrual tracking apps
AU - Pichon, Adrienne
AU - Jackman, Kasey B.
AU - Winkler, Inga T.
AU - Bobel, Chris
AU - Elhadad, Noimie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.
PY - 2022/2/1
Y1 - 2022/2/1
N2 - Objective: The aim of this study was to examine trends in the intended users and functionalities advertised by menstrual tracking apps to identify gaps in personas and intended needs fulfilled by these technologies. Materials and Methods: Two types of materials were collected: a corpus of scientific articles related to the identities and needs of menstruators and a corpus of images and descriptions of menstrual tracking apps collected from the Google and Apple app stores. We conducted a scoping review of the literature to develop themes and then applied these as a framework to analyze the app corpus, looking for alignments and misalignments between the 2 corpora. Results: A review of the literature showed a wide range of disciplines publishing work relevant to menstruators. We identified 2 broad themes: "who are menstruators?"and "what are the needs of menstruators?"Descriptions of menstrual trackers exhibited misalignments with these themes, with narrow characterizations of menstruators and design for limited needs. Discussion: We synthesize gaps in the design of menstrual tracking apps and discuss implications for designing around: (1) an irregular menstrual cycle as the norm; (2) the embodied, leaky experience of menstruation; and (3) the varied biologies, identities, and goals of menstruators. An overarching gap suggests a need for a human-centered artificial intelligence approach for model and data provenance, transparency and explanations of uncertainties, and the prioritization of privacy in menstrual trackers. Conclusion: Comparing and contrasting literature about menstruators and descriptions of menstrual tracking apps provide a valuable guide to assess menstrual technology and their responsiveness to users and their needs.
AB - Objective: The aim of this study was to examine trends in the intended users and functionalities advertised by menstrual tracking apps to identify gaps in personas and intended needs fulfilled by these technologies. Materials and Methods: Two types of materials were collected: a corpus of scientific articles related to the identities and needs of menstruators and a corpus of images and descriptions of menstrual tracking apps collected from the Google and Apple app stores. We conducted a scoping review of the literature to develop themes and then applied these as a framework to analyze the app corpus, looking for alignments and misalignments between the 2 corpora. Results: A review of the literature showed a wide range of disciplines publishing work relevant to menstruators. We identified 2 broad themes: "who are menstruators?"and "what are the needs of menstruators?"Descriptions of menstrual trackers exhibited misalignments with these themes, with narrow characterizations of menstruators and design for limited needs. Discussion: We synthesize gaps in the design of menstrual tracking apps and discuss implications for designing around: (1) an irregular menstrual cycle as the norm; (2) the embodied, leaky experience of menstruation; and (3) the varied biologies, identities, and goals of menstruators. An overarching gap suggests a need for a human-centered artificial intelligence approach for model and data provenance, transparency and explanations of uncertainties, and the prioritization of privacy in menstrual trackers. Conclusion: Comparing and contrasting literature about menstruators and descriptions of menstrual tracking apps provide a valuable guide to assess menstrual technology and their responsiveness to users and their needs.
KW - menstrual tracking
KW - menstruation
KW - mobile health
KW - personal health informatics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123646538&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/jamia/ocab212
DO - 10.1093/jamia/ocab212
M3 - Review Article
C2 - 34613388
AN - SCOPUS:85123646538
SN - 1067-5027
VL - 29
SP - 385
EP - 399
JO - Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
JF - Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
IS - 2
ER -