The Menstrual Cycle: A Visual Infographic Journey

Project Overview

Menstruation is an important part of a woman's life, but there is a lack of adequate menstrual and reproductive health education in the US for young girls entering puberty. 


Creating current, relatable menstrual education content for young girls through a multi page infographic system was my primary goal when approaching this issue.


Approach

Utilizing strong storytelling themes to support its rhetoric, the multi page infographic system provides age appropriate sex education content combining illustrations and typography to visually communicate a data driven story to the target audience. 


As the sole designer for this project, I researched, designed, and prototyped this product as well as conceptualizing opportunities for scalability.

Approach

Utilizing strong storytelling themes to support its rhetoric, the multi page infographic system provides age appropriate sex education content combining illustrations and typography to visually communicate a data driven story to the target audience. 


As the sole designer for this project, I researched, designed, and prototyped this product as well as conceptualizing opportunities for scalability.

01 Motivation

Background

Girls are entering puberty earlier in recent decades, some as young as 7 years old. However, in the US, most elementary schools do not provide menstrual education.


The Problem

Girls who do not receive adequate menstrual health education before their first period are more likely to have negative experiences surrounding periods and are often predisposed to various body image and mental health issues. 

HMW foster better menstrual experiences for young girls by creating adequate, up to date menstrual health education that is relatable and engaging. 

02 Understand

Research

Education

Girls who start menstruating earlier feel the most unprepared. Lack of knowledge predisposes young girls to body image issues, mental health issues, substance abuse and early initiation of sexual activity.

Menstrual education in schools is inadequate, disengaging and of limited scope. Additionally, not enough schools are menstrual education to young girls.

Teachers

Menstrual education in schools is inadequate, disengaging and of limited scope. Additionally, not enough schools are menstrual education to young girls.

Girls

Parents

Parents rely on schools to teach about menstruation, but can also act as barriers due to cultural beliefs and personal attitudes.

Parents rely on schools to teach about menstruation, but can also act as barriers due to cultural beliefs and personal attitudes.

Girls

Teachers feel overwhelmed and unqualified to lead these discussions. They often rely on outdated video content. 

I took a look at 7 articles to learn about existing menstrual education practices, users' feelings about their experience surrounding periods. The problems I found can be grouped in four areas.

Competitive Analysis

I also took a look at various forms of entertainment that children around 7-9 years old would consume including books, movies and TV shows.

Books

TV Shows

Movies

03 Identify and Synthesize

I found that there were a lot of fun illustrations and bright color themes across all three mediums as well as, literary devices like rhyming and alliteration to help engage young audiences.

Product Principals

Having examined my research on menstrual education for young girls and grasping the competitive environment I created some product principals to help guide my product ideation.

Visual

Use illustration and typography providing a mixed use of data visualization to keep audience engaged.

Content

Provide accurate and current menstrual health education.

Impact

Promote open and honest discussions about periods and menstrual health.

Impact

Product Use Cases

I brainstormed hypothetical scenarios exploring how this product could be integrated in schools and how it could best serve the target audience.

Classroom

Teachers can use it as an aid when approaching menstrual cycle discussions in class.

Bathroom

Ensures that students have access to essential information about menstruation in a private and convenient location.

Hallway

04 Ideation

Preliminary Designs

I initially began with designs that were visually appealing but not engaging enough for my target audience. 

I decided to incorporate themes seen in the board game Candy Land to help establish a more age appropriate design language and create a storytelling narrative.

Fun characters

Different places to “travel” to

Clear path to follow along the “journey”

05 Execution

Final Designs

Final hand drawn design:

Possible deviations from the regular menstrual cycle journey like pregnancy

Hormones are made into characters to make them more memorable and entertaining

Pathway to follow as you move through the cycle journey

Different places reflect the checkpoints and depict important events that occur at each stage

Checkpoints focus on important stages in the menstrual cycle

Final digital design with color:

06 Next Steps

This project has opportunities for scalability. Some of these include short illustrated books educating users about current menstrual products and their practical uses and breaking into the digital space by creating educational games and videos.

Menstrual education in schools is inadequate, disengaging and of limited scope. Additionally, not enough schools are menstrual education to young girls.

Menstrual education in schools is inadequate, disengaging and of limited scope. Additionally, not enough schools are menstrual education to young girls.

Movies

Having examined my research on menstrual education for young girls and grasping the competitive environment I created some product principals to help guide my product ideation.

Contributes to period normalization, reducing its stigmatization.

Hallway

Contributes to period normalization, reducing its stigmatization.

Clear path to follow along the “journey”