Menstrual experiences are shaped by many different stakeholders, entities, and the broader socio-cultural context, or in other words, the ecological systems surrounding a menstruator. We explore what it means to take an ecological approach in studying and designing menstrual technologies. We translated and adapted Ecological Systems Theory (EST) for menstrual wellbeing and packaged the outcome in the form of a socio-ecological Canvas, accompanied by written examples and a set of prompts to facilitate engagement. We invited ten experts to engage with the Canvas in reflective workshops, which informed its further refinement. These sessions highlighted the Canvas' generative value, fostering critical reflection on how design choices are shaped by and ripple across layers of influence. With this translational research, we invite HCI researchers and practitioners to critically reflect on the ecologies they study and design for, envisioning both aspired versions of existing realities and realities that do not exist yet.
Globally, about 40% of women and people assigned female at birth live under laws that restrict or prohibit access to safe abortion care. Even where abortion is legal, socio-cultural stigma and health inequities hinder timely, equitable access. Technologies have been developed to support abortion seekers and providers in overcoming barriers to information, safe abortion care, and support. However, research on abortion care technologies is fragmented, spanning medical and computing publications, and lacking a consolidated understanding. To address this gap, we conducted a scoping review of 92 studies, examining technological applications, contexts of use, research methods, ethical considerations, and pathways to impact. This analysis informs the HCI research agenda for abortion care, highlighting future directions, and fostering reflection on design, ethics, and meaningful impact. We call on HCI researchers to move beyond telemedicine and U.S.-centric perspectives, re-politicize abortion care technologies, and consider temporality in delivering timely abortion care amid broader sociopolitical constraints.
Genetics play a significant role in women’s health, with family members often experiencing shared symptoms or hereditary risks. HCI has explored how digital tools like medical records, tracking apps, and online communities can support documenting and sharing of health information and management of health conditions. However, little is known about what and how these health experiences are communicated within families, especially when influenced by genetic factors. We therefore conducted a survey with 249 adult women in the U.S. to understand how they share genetic factors relating to women's health with family members. Our findings show that participants value health history and lived experiences, but gaps in time and space, stigma, and family tensions hinder the sharing of details and sensitive topics across generations and larger families. We discuss opportunities for designing tools that promote genetic health sharing, address stigma, and enable intergenerational sharing and tracking.
Sex differences in cystic fibrosis (CF) affect symptom manifestation, severity, and life expectancy. Female hormonal fluctuations, both cyclical and lifelong, can exacerbate lung function issues, increase susceptibility to chronic infections, and lead to earlier mortality. With recent advances in modulator therapy, people with CF are living longer and encountering later phases of female sexual and reproductive health (SRH), from pregnancy to menopause. This longevity introduces new convergences between SRH and CF management. While technological innovations have begun to address aspects of female SRH and chronic condition management, they often overlook the unique complexities of these intersecting issues. Our qualitative study examines the experiences of people with CF across different female SRH, from menstruation to menopause, exploring their daily challenges and interactions with care. We discuss pluralistic approaches to FemTech, online communities, AI, and clinical technologies, providing implications for technologies to address the complexities of the intersection of CF and SRH.
Menstrual health education (MHE) in Pakistan is constrained by cultural taboos and inadequate formal curricula, leaving women with few trusted resources to lean on. In response to these challenges, we introduce a WhatsApp-based chatbot powered by a large language model (LLM) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), co-designed with Pakistani college women. Workshops (N=30) revealed key design requirements—support for Roman Urdu, use of subsidized platforms, and an expert-curated knowledge base. We then deployed the chatbot with 13 participants for two weeks (403 messages + interviews). Women used it to challenge cultural taboos, legitimize health concerns often dismissed as “normal”, and build reproductive health knowledge through iterative questioning. Yet, interactions also exposed tensions: reliance on cultural explanatory models, questions of trust and validation, and gendered persona of the chatbot itself. We contribute empirical insights, a stigma-aware design framework for culturally sensitive conversational AI, and a methodological lens foregrounding expert validation in intimate health domains.
With the rise of AI companions, a new form of intimacy—AI Erotic Role Play (ERP), has emerged. While existing research highlights companionship, the sexual dimension of human–AI intimacy remains underexplored, especially outside Western contexts where cultural norms heavily constrain female sexual expression. This paper investigates how and why Chinese women engage in AI ERP through thematic analysis of over 800 RedNote posts and interviews with 15 users. Findings reveal a paradox: ERP provides a sense of sexual liberation yet often reproduces conservative relational scripts shaped by traditional gender expectations. Our contribution is twofold: critically, we show how digital intimacy remains structured by entrenched cultural scripts, enabling users to recognize their constraints; practically, we offer design insights for future intimate AI systems beyond Western settings, emphasizing script flexibility, cultural responsiveness, and ethical safeguards.
We present a content analysis of the privacy policy documentation and product descriptions from 146 smart sex toys across fourteen brands. We examine marketing narratives, policy accessibility, and disclosure completeness. We contribute an empirical illustration of a disregard for data privacy considerations in product descriptions and vague references to data privacy in privacy policy documentation. Among available privacy policy documentation, critical data storage and transmission details were frequently omitted or ambiguous, leading to misalignment with privacy claims in marketing materials. Our findings highlight inadequate transparency in the industry, paralleling issues in broader IoT systems and FemTech products and services. We underscore the need for HCI researchers, designers, and practitioners to address the structural inefficiency of policy compliance, the need to elevate privacy as an essential feature in products that collect and store sensitive and intimate data, and the stakes of privacy in the context of digital intimacy.