Oasis
UX Design
R O L E
UX Designer
D U R A T I O N
24 hour hackathon project
S K I L L S
User Research
Wireframing
Interactive Prototyping
Mobile Design
T O O L S
Google suite
Figma
T E A M
3 UX Designers
THE PROBLEM:
"With approximately 6000 women reaching menopause daily in the U.S.,
there is a need to understand the design space of technological interventions for menopause by surveying prior studies, to eventually contribute towards designing technologies for menopausal women.”
Exploring the Design Space of Technological Interventions for Menopause: A Systematic Review (Thiruvenkatanathan, S. Bardzell, J. Bardzell 2023)
OUR SOLUTION:
In our research in deciding what to create for our PearlHacks Hackathon project, we found that many people going through menopause felt overwhelmed by symptoms and isolated in the experience. This insight shaped Oasis, a companion app that provides resources, tracks real-time health metrics through smartwatches, and connects with smart home devices for instant support and accessibility.
1. LISTENING BEFORE BUILDING
Before building Oasis, we set out to uncover the unfiltered stories and struggles hidden in forums and everyday conversations.
USER RESEARCH
Because of our limited time, we turned to Reddit forums to uncover what women and AFAB (assigned female at birth) people in their 50s were saying about menopause. This scrappy research gave us raw, honest insights into frustrations with existing apps and helped us pinpoint where Oasis could make a real difference.
1. Users often felt isolated & like there was a lack of support
2. Users were often overwhelmed from their symptoms and managing their symptoms.
3. Users had difficulty accessing reliable information immediately
By analyzing health and wellness apps like Flo and MenoLife, we uncovered a gap in reliable, user-friendly support for people navigating menopause, which highlighted the need for a solution that truly meets their needs.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
2. STARTING SKETCHES
3. OUR VISUAL VOCABULARY
Every product needs a language, and for Oasis, we explored two possible options to find the right one. Each offered a different way to express trust and usability, and through exploration & comparison, we landed on the system that felt most closely aligned with our users.
Language 1: Warm, Reassuring & Fun
A warm & fun palette of coral, lavender, and plum, balanced with off-white and dark gray, paired with Source Sans Pro for clear body text, Nunito for approachable headers, and Quicksand for a friendly, readable logo.
Language 2: Sophisticated, Refreshing & Calm
A sofisticated & calming palette of light neutrals and pastel blues/pinks, anchored by deep teal and navy, paired with Inter & Lexend for a clean, modern, and highly readable typographic feel.
Language 2 emerged as our final choice, offering the tranquil and mature tone that resonated with our users.
4. THE FINISHED EXPERIENCE
Oasis’s mobile app supports users on their journey by tracking symptoms, recommending products, connecting with providers via ZocDoc, and offering community forums. Users can review chat logs through voice assistants and monitor real-time vital signs via smartwatch integration.
If connected, the user’s smartwatch provides real time data to the app. In the case of abnormal readings, the user will receive an alert on their phone that they can click on. This will take them to a page that will offer them tips on how to navigate their symptom.
5. MY REFLECTION
Always consider users, even with major constraints
Even in the fast-paced environment of a hackathon, conducting quick user research kept our users prioritized at all times. This approach transformed Oasis from just a concept into something that felt like it was being built for someone, not just built for the sake of an app. It reinforced the importance of staying grounded in real user needs, even when timelines are tight, and showed how small insights can shape a product’s impact meaningfully.
This project pushed me out of my comfort zone, and even though we didn’t win, the experience was invaluable for me. When presenting our design, we received many positive comments on the implementation on the app and the need for an app like this. I would love to flesh out the project even more by doing more in-depth user research and usability tests to iterate the product and ensure it serves our users to it’s fullest capacity.