Women’s intimate health is a historically stigmatized topic in many cultures. Arab and Muslim values such as privacy and modesty can influence the extent to which members of these communities seek information or help regarding their intimate health. However, Eurocentric approaches to design and research for these groups only yield resistance due to their challenging of core values. We explore prior work in women's health in HCI and cultural models to design for an underrepresented group in HCI research. Through interviews conducted with 16 participants who identified as Arab Muslims, we investigated attitudes, cultural and religious values, and backgrounds relating to awareness of women’s intimate health issues. Our thematic analysis identified shared experiences in learning about women’s intimate health and ways in which Arab culture and Islam synchronize or diverge. We contribute cultural and religious elements to consider in research methodology and design for Arab and Muslim communities.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642207
The widespread adoption of menstrual tracking applications has garnered much attention with recent research focusing on inclusive design. However, existing literature has yet to explore the impact of religious practices on menstrual tracking behavior. We investigate the menstrual tracking practices of Muslim women of faith in the United States, a population whose personal reproductive health behaviors are deeply influenced by their faith, values, and religious laws We conducted a three-phase study consisting of preliminary surveys (N=133), semi-structured interviews (N=20), and a post-Roe v. Wade survey (N=77). We highlight motivations for tracking and uncover this overlooked population's challenges as they engage with menstrual tracking technologies. We reveal an intimate connection between menstrual tracking and religious practices. We uncover challenges from engaging with existing menstrual-tracking applications and contribute design recommendations for accommodating faith in the design of health-tracking technologies. We amplify a call to action for the HCI community to reduce the "othering" of under-represented populations and to better support the inclusive design of technologies that center religious identities and values for individuals of faith.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642006
Personal Informatics (PI) tools are crucial in helping individuals monitor their physical health, mental health, and overall well-being. Many Muslim women use multiple PI tools to support their religious and spiritual well-being alongside their health. We investigate the religious and health-tracking practices of Muslim women living in the United States during the month of Ramadan. We conducted a month-long diary study and semi-structured interviews with nine (9) Muslim women observing Ramadan. Through this research, we uncover their motivations for tracking, discover the complex interplay between their social roles and religious practices, and identify conflicts arising from competing objectives (tracking their spiritual and physical health). Our findings contribute insights into the inclusive design of Personal Informatics tools tailored to the needs of Muslim women of faith and provide a call to the research community to expand tracking technologies to include aspects that support religious health and wellness. We discuss design considerations for supporting Muslim women during Ramadan and beyond.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642374
Menstrual trackers currently lack the affordances required to help individuals achieve their goals beyond menstrual event predictions and symptom logging. Taking an initial step towards this aspiration, we propose, validate, and refine five functional design requirements for future interface designs that facilitate menstrual data exploration. We interviewed 30 individuals who menstruate and collected their feedback on the practical application of these requirements. To elicit ideas and impressions, we designed two proof-of-concept interfaces to use as design probes with similar core functionalities but different presentations of phase timing predictions and signal arrangement. Our analysis revealed participants' feedback regarding the presentation of predictions for menstrual-related events, the visualization of future signal patterns, personalization abilities for viewing signals relevant to their menstrual experience, the availability of resources to understand the underlying biological connections between signals, and the ability to compare multiple cycles side-by-side with context.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642282
HCI research has been instrumental in enabling self-directed health tracking. Despite a plethora of devices and data, however, users' views of their own health are often fragmented. This is a problem for women's health, where physical and mental observations and symptoms are strongly intertwined. An integrated view throughout different life stages could help to better understand these connections, facilitate symptom alleviation through life-style changes, and support timely diagnosis: currently, women's health issues often go under-researched and under-diagnosed. To capture the needs and worries of self-directed tracking, interpreting and sharing women's health data, we held workshops with 28 women. Drawing upon feminist methods, we conducted a Reflexive Thematic Analysis to identify six central themes that ground opportunities and challenges for life-long, self-directed tracking of intimate data. These themes inform the design of tools for data collection, analysis and sharing that empower women to better understand their bodies and demand adequate health services.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642851