Bleed Between the Lines: Barriers and Approaches to Personalisation in Menstrual Tracking for Marginalised Users
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Prior HCI work found that menstrual tracking is exclusionary to marginalised users such as those who are LGBTQ+ or live with menstrual health conditions, but presents limited insight into how such applications can better support these groups. To address this gap, we investigated barriers to menstrual tracking experienced by marginalised users and how they may be addressed through personalisation. Our research was based on feminist HCI principles and co-design with 9 participants who identified as LGBTQ+, 6 also reporting menstrual health concerns. Participants reviewed menstrual tracking apps through a cultural probe activity, and reflected on barriers and potential personalisation through semi-structured interviews and card sorting. Participants presented 9 barriers to menstrual tracking such as ineffective responses to onboarding questions that merely give an illusion of personalisation, or the treatment of LGBTQ+ content as a monetised ‘bonus feature’. We contribute recommendations for personalising menstrual tracking based on the feminist HCI attributes of pluralism and self-disclosure.
Authors: Freya Sambain, Tara Capel, Bernd Ploderer
Institutions: Queensland University of Technology, University of Edinburgh
Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4416236972