The aim was to design a website that directly addresses this by presenting common myths and misinformation, followed by accurate and digestible facts. The site includes interactive features like quizzes and embedded TikToks to highlight how misinformation spreads and who is vulnerable to it.
While the internet has improved access to medical information, it has also enabled myths and misinformation to circulate widely. This has become a significant issue around female reproductive health. Unlike other areas of medicine, women’s health has long been underserved, with common conditions like endometriosis still widely misunderstood. Medical professionals are not immune to this either, as outdated training and lack of research often leave significant knowledge gaps.
Users looking for answers about topics like contraception, periods, or chronic conditions are often met with either overly clinical resources or emotionally charged content on platforms like TikTok. While official sources may be accurate, they’re not always readable or approachable. At the same time, social media allows misinformation to spread quickly - often without context or correction. This makes it difficult for users to know what to trust. The result is a confusing landscape where even well-intentioned searches can lead to misconceptions.
To design a website that simplifies complex health topics by breaking down common myths, presenting accurate facts, and using interactive features to improve engagement. The UX goals included creating a consistent and intuitive layout, using calm and inclusive visual design, and ensuring accessibility through clear typography, ARIA labels, and WebAIM-compliant colour contrast. The aim was to build a space that feels approachable, emotionally sensitive, and easy to navigate. This allows users to find accurate information without overwhelm, confusion, or judgment.
Before designing the site, I needed to understand how misinformation around women’s health spreads, where people go for answers, and what makes information feel trustworthy. I began with desk research, examining existing surveys and studies that outlined key issues — mainly that many users aren’t just uninformed, but also misinformed. Credible studies and surveys highlighted gaps in education, a lack of access to reliable sources, and frustration with medical professionals.
Presentation influences how trustworthy health information appears. While doctors are typically the most trusted source, many users still come across health content through social media or Google. Therefore, I wanted the design process to focus on how to present accurate information in a format that feels familiar and credible. In the finished product, this resulted in embedded social media posts with supporting context, allowing users to assess what’s reliable. In-page links to official sources were used to support trust without interrupting the flow of reading.
This project was developed for individuals with female reproductive organs, particularly those affected by misinformation surrounding menstruation, contraception, fertility, and chronic conditions like PCOS or endometriosis. The website targets users in the UK across a wide age range, from adolescents experiencing puberty to individuals entering menopause.
Target users were identified through desk research, analysis of reports (particularly the Women’s Health – Let’s Talk About It UK Gov survey), and secondary sources related to health misinformation. Personas were developed as hypothetical user types to represent common behaviours, challenges, and digital habits, and were used to shape the tone, content, and layout of the website.
The Self-Advocate
Often living with a chronic condition like endometriosis or PCOS, the Self-Advocate has experienced being dismissed by medical professionals and turns to online resources for validation.
Needs: Detailed, factual content; validation of personal experiences; reassurance they're not alone,up-to-date research
Design Focus: Deeper content layers, myth busting, empathetic tone, in-page links to NHS and academic sources
The Quick Checker
This user may not have the time or attention span for long articles. They may not engage with long-form text and are likely to leave a site that feels overwhelming.
Needs: Efficient navigation, clearly labelled sections, digestible content without excessive scrolling, simplified layouts
Design Focus: Clean layout, concise fact cards, large text, easy-to-navigate menu system
The First-Time Googler
Typically a younger user with limited prior knowledge about reproductive health. They may have received little formal education on menstrual health or contraception and rely heavily on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or Google for answers.
Needs: Simple, approachable language; clear visuals; trustworthy but non-clinical tone
Design Focus: Slideshows, visual cues (icons, arrows), TikTok embeds with explanatory captions
The Reassurance Seeker
Wants confirmation that their experiences (e.g. pain, mood changes, or irregular cycles) are valid. Often second-guesses themselves after years of being told symptoms are “normal.”
Needs: Gentle, affirming content; clear explanations; emotional support through tone and structure
Design Focus: Clear separation between myth and fact, consistent use of non-judgmental language, relatable examples
As this was a university project and I did not have access to real users, I used a hypothetical question-and-answer method, inspired by the laddering technique, to simulate user interviews. This allowed me to explore a range of motivations and uncover potential values that the finished product might hold for different types of users. While not based on real user data, this approach helped me think beyond surface-level needs and informed design decisions I may not have otherwise considered. It also supported the creation of the user personas and need statements.
From the hypothetical interviews, I developed key user need statements that reflect functional and emotional goals. Translating these into design responses helped ensure that the final product wasn’t just functional, but also meaningful to a range of user types. This process pushed me to think more critically about how specific features could directly support user needs, and highlighted the value of grounding design choices in user perspective — even in the absence of real participants.
User personas were developed through desk research, survey analysis, and informed assumptions. Creating these personas helped me consider how different users might engage with the website and ensured that the design choices would support a wide range of needs and experiences related to women’s health.
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To inform the site’s information architecture, I used card sorting exercises with volunteers. This method helped test how users naturally grouped topics and revealed associations I hadn’t initially considered. While the final project ended up covering a reduced number of topics (due to time constraints), this exercise was still valuable in shaping how information was linked and prioritised.
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The initial sitemap aimed to cover a broad range of reproductive health topics, shaped in part by insights from card sorting. But working solo and following Agile sprint methods meant regularly reassessing what was realistic. Mid-sprint, I scaled back the scope to prioritise depth over volume — a decision that kept the content focused and manageable, while still allowing space for future expansion.
I started with low-fidelity sketches of the myths/facts pages to work out how content like quizzes and TikTok breakdowns could sit alongside more traditional written information. I showed a few layout options to peers to get feedback on clarity and usability, which helped me decide on a direction early. From there, I moved onto navigation wireframes to figure out how users might move between sections, test different menu ideas, and ensure the site would feel cohesive.
Here, I worked out how the navigation might work. This ended up being simplified significantly, as once the website's contents were reduced, a hamburger menu felt redundant.
From low-fi prototype testing, I found that users did not realise they could scroll past the myths/facts carousel — the full-screen layout and progress bar at the bottom made it feel like the end of the page. I reworked the design so the carousel shows part of the next slide, with a wave underneath to signal more content. A similar issue came up on the homepage where the full-screen hero felt like a dead end, so I added waves and layered messaging underneath to guide users down.
Users also said the changing links in the navbar felt disorientating, so I switched to fixed top-level categories with drop-downs. This kept things simpler and avoided needing a hamburger menu while the site covers fewer topics.
Another bit of feedback was that some users hadn’t heard of certain conditions and needed more explanation — this led to adding a more detailed section further down the homepage.
Originally, clicking on a topic took you to a full-page overview with three sections. That’s now a cleaner carousel, on the homepage, with a short intro for each topic, and clearer signposting throughout.
Following the low-fi prototype testing, it became evident that several elements required restructuring to improve clarity and user flow. Users frequently missed visual cues to continue scrolling, particularly on full-screen components such as the carousel and hero sections. To address this, I introduced visual nudges like the partially visible cards, signaling that more content lies below.
Navigation was simplified by replacing the menu with a fixed top-level category bar featuring dropdowns, making browsing more intuitive.
A light, calm, and safe palette was key for a site focused on chronic illness, where bright or overly energetic colours might come across as insensitive. To test the visual tone, I ran a small survey with users, and the feedback clearly supported the direction I had taken.
Salmon pink was the most popular choice, selected by 70% of respondents. 67% said it made them feel calm, 83% felt it created a safe space to discuss health, and 85% agreed the text was easy to read. One participant flagged green as “too stereotypical,” though this was submitted at 2am and stood out from the otherwise consistent responses.
The chosen colour scheme met WebAIM contrast standards, and during later stages of testing, no users reported issues with text readability. This confirmed the palette was effective both in tone and accessibility.
The final design brings together everything learned from testing, research, and iteration into a calm, trustworthy, and user-led experience. The site avoids overwhelming users by using clean layouts, clear signposting, and interactive elements like quizzes and carousels to make information feel approachable.
From the homepage to the content pages, every part was designed to guide users gently — whether they’re scanning, searching for answers, or looking for reassurance. Visual cues like waves and partially visible slides help direct movement, while touches like text-style question and answer cards, TikTok breakdowns, and the flower/star shapes make the site feel welcoming without losing credibility.
While the prototype was designed with a tight deadline in mind. It has also left room for expansion without too much needing altered. Future "puberty" pages could be added to create a 'full book' of advice. While extra top-level categories being added could simply result in a switch to using a hamburger menu or a mega menu.
By keeping the structure simple and repetitive, the tone inclusive, and accessibility at the core, To Womb It Concerns offers a flexible and informative experience — one that meets users where they are, and helps them leave feeling a little more informed and a lot more validated.
Each change in the design was a direct response to user testing. Where users missed cues to scroll, I added wave elements to signal continuation. When the carousel format caused confusion or overload, I reframed it with clearer UI and broke content into more skimmable, card-based layouts. For younger audiences, playful shapes helped distinguish age-appropriate content, while quiz was slowed down and paired with explanations to improve understanding. Small shifts in framing, pacing, and structure had a big impact on usability.
This was my first full project tackling such a sensitive and wide-reaching topic, and it pushed me to think beyond just visuals and focus more on how content is perceived. One of the biggest lessons was how subtle design changes can completely change how users interact with a site. I also realised how important it is to make space for emotional sensitivity in health-related design. A lot of my design choices were grounded in feedback from peer user testing and surveys, which made the site feel more thoughtful and considered. Using hypothetical user research methods like personas and laddering worked well, but if I were to do it again, I’d want to involve more real users earlier, especially to test content clarity and tone. Overall, this project taught me a lot about designing with empathy, iterating based on feedback, and finding a balance between functionality and sensitivity.
This project pushed me to focus not just on functionality, but on emotional tone and clarity.
Designing for sensitive health content made me more aware of how layout, language, and colour can affect trust
Using personas and laddering helped guide the design, but real user testing would have strengthened it even more.
If I were to repeat the project, I’d prioritise earlier testing of tone, clarity, and accessibility with a wider group.
I learned how to balance user needs, design principles, and content sensitivity — all within a realistic time frame.
Next time, I'd try to involve a wider range of users earlier, not just peers or friends, but people with direct lived experience of the topic. This would help test tone, clarity, and emotional impact more meaningfully.
If time allowed, I’d test the interactive features (like the quiz) more thoroughly, particularly with younger users who might engage differently with that format.
Made by Emily Lonie