“I’d like an app that gently reminds me there are good times ahead, that I’m not stuck in this cycle forever” – Jade, woman with PMDD.
When we interviewed women about their experiences of PMDD for a new insights report, this request cut through everything else. Not more features. Not better data visualisation. Perspective. The simple, human need to be reminded that this will pass.
What our research found
Women with PMDD do not just need tools to document their symptoms. They need technology that understands the emotional reality of their condition – and that shows up for them during their most difficult moments.
Our research for Beyond the Cycle: PMDD Insights for Femtech identified what we came to call a communication paradox.
Communication becomes most difficult during symptomatic phases – exactly when support is most needed.
78% of women with PMDD in our research reported struggling to articulate their needs during the luteal phase. That gap between need and the ability to express it is where technology has the most to offer.
Women are not looking for a more sophisticated tracker. They are looking for something closer to a companion – technology that offers perspective, validation, and a thread back to themselves when the luteal phase makes everything feel permanent.
Three roles technology can play
Three findings from our research point directly to where product development should focus.
1. Communication
Women with PMDD develop their own workarounds when verbal communication becomes difficult during symptomatic phases. One participant had created a colour-coded system to signal her emotional state to her partner without needing to find the words. She built this herself because nothing existed to help her. Technology can formalise these kinds of bridges – visual communication tools, pre-written phrases, shareable cycle insights – that help women maintain connection when they feel most isolated and least able to explain why.
2. Cognitive load
PMDD affects executive function, making consistent app engagement difficult during symptomatic phases.
Our research also confirmed the correlation between PMDD and neurodivergence, with both groups experiencing similar usability barriers that intensify during the luteal phase. Interfaces that adapt to the user’s current state – simplified screens, reduced required inputs, voice memo alternatives to text entry – are not edge case accommodations.
They are core design requirements for this audience. Testing with users across different cycle phases, not just when they are feeling well, is the only way to understand where the barriers actually are.
3. Hope and perspective
Women with PMDD consistently describe feeling stuck during symptomatic phases, losing sight of the fact that their condition is cyclical and that the luteal phase will end.
A simple journaling prompt during follicular phases – What would you like to tell yourself during your next difficult phase? – with those self-authored messages surfaced during the luteal phase, would cost little to build and mean a great deal to receive. It avoids generic encouragement entirely. The perspective comes from the woman herself, written when she had it, delivered when she needs it.
The underlying question
The women in our research were not asking for more sophisticated technology. They were asking to feel less alone during the hardest part of their cycle, and more capable of navigating it. Those are design briefs. The question for developers is whether they are listening closely enough to hear them.
Download Beyond the Cycle: PMDD Insights for Femtech.
