System Design
Group Project
Research on menstruation
Examining and comprehending the comprehensive effects of menstruation on both girls and the environment, with the goal of addressing associated challenges at system level.
My role
User Research
Market Study
Concept Generation
Time Period
16 weeks
team members
6
Overview
Women have historically been prevented from fully participating in many aspects of sociocultural life due to taboos and myths around menstruation. In India, the topic has long been considered taboo. Menstruation-related taboos, which are pervasive in many communities, have an impact on women's and girls' emotions, way of life, and, most importantly, health.
Additionally, despite the fact that we are becoming more aware of environmental issues and non-biodegradable waste, we never give menstrual waste any thought. Menstrual products can take hundreds of years to disintegrate and may affect animals and ecosystems if improperly disposed of, making safe menstrual waste disposal a critical environmental concern
We were curious to understand the different aspects associated with periods that impacts the system at a larger level.
Problem Statement
Long-standing taboos and beliefs about menstruation prevent women from fully participating in many aspects of social life. In India, the topic has long been frowned upon. Even if we are learning more about environmental concerns and non-biodegradable waste, we never pay attention to menstrual waste.
Challenges
Conservative topic: People were hesitant to talk about it openly even girls.
Difficulty in reaching secondary and tertiary stakeholders: It was difficult to reach out to NGOs, Doctors, family members because of their busy schedule.
Fighting the biases: Being a group with major girls as members we had to fight our own biases while doing the research.
Brainstorming
Before commencing the research, we identified the various lenses through which we would examine the topic: social, cultural, economic, and environmental. To develop a comprehensive system-level solution, we aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the issue from each of these perspectives.
From a study by TQH Consulting in 2019, it can be seen that India has substantial regional variation in menstruation management practises, both in terms of knowledge about and access to cost-effective products and accompanying infrastructure. These are some major issues and findings that have been made:
Awareness: There are a number of constrictive cultural and social conventions that exclude women and girls from society because of a lack of knowledge or misconceptions regarding menstruation.
Access: Girls and women become more vulnerable to RTIs, which hinders their involvement in social and economic activities. Lack of inexpensive access to clean menstruation products encourages the adoption of crude and hazardous alternatives.
Usage: Absence of proper cleanliness prevents privacy from changing materials in households and public areas, which hinders adoption. Also, a lot of consumers lack knowledge about safe using habits.
Disposal: Inadequate disposal facilities result in humiliation, a loss of self-respect, and unclean surroundings.
Usage and problems with products
We conducted research on various products available in the market, comparing their price, material, companies, pros, and cons. The data below was collected from a survey in India, targeting women in the age group of 15-24 years, and here are some conclusion from understanding the reasons behind it.
Lack of availability of products in rural area.
There isn’t much marketing of cups or tampons as they are against our cultural beliefs
Youngs are not much aware about other products than pads, and women have perceptions about usage of cups.
Reusable Cloth and Sanitary Pads are the most used products in India.
76%
Use sanitary pads
22%
Use cloth
15%
Use locally prepared napkins
0.3%
Use menstrual cups
Sanitary pads
Not Eco Friendly
Irritation and Itching
Health Hazardous in long term due to chemicals and plastic
Excessive Smell
Cups
Culturally Inappropriate
Hard to get used to
Not easily available
Tampons
Not Eco Friendly
Not easily available
Possibility of Toxic Shock Syndrome
Expensive
Culturally inappropriate
Panty liners
Cannot hold the flow
Not suitable during periods
Itching and Irritation
Stakeholder Mapping helped us understand our direct and indirect users which helped us prepare for our interviews and further research
User interview
In order to better understand, user interviews were performed in Dehradun, Uttrakhand, with working women and girls from a variety of schools who were between the age of 15 and 45.
In order to gauge their degree of knowledge regarding periods and the issues women encounter every cycle, males between the ages of 20 and 25 were also surveyed.
These interviews enabled us to comprehend the psychology, taboos, and beliefs surrounding periods as well as the differences between rural and urban women's mental models and other period-related issues.
Product Choices and why
After calculating the choice of disposal methods for the women we interviewed, we analyzed their responses to understand the reasons behind their choices.
User Interview Insights
Knowledge & Awareness
A lot of girls had no knowledge about the topic before their first periods. They are not aware about the various problems associated with products or in general about periods. Boys had very basic knowledge about the topic and were hesitant to learn more about it.
perceptions & Beliefs
Many women are still unaware of menstrual cups, and those who are aware often perceive their use as gross. Cultural beliefs in India play a significant role in this perception, as menstrual cups are not widely accepted and there is little to no education provided by mothers on this topic.
Availability
There is lack of availability of products in rural areas, due to which females there have to still depend on cloths, which are very harmful for them.
Pads are provided on chemist shops but it is not easy to get cups or tampons even in urban areas.
experience
Every female felt that they received very little education about menstruation, which left them feeling confused and overwhelmed. They expressed a strong need for more awareness and education, especially starting at a very young age.
Hygiene
Rural schools often lack proper hygiene in their washrooms, including the absence of dustbins. This creates significant problems for females during their periods. Due to the lack of basic facilities, many girls have to skip school every month.
Disposal problems
52%
Use Dustbin
Menstrual waste gets mixed with normal waste and is subject to same treatment as solid waste.
Placed in landfills to disintegrate over hundreds of years
Dustbins are usually available in most of the areas, especially in urban areas.
23%
Throw away
Can contaminate water sources, clog sewage systems and drains, and animals may eat them.
Since Sanitary pads release chemicals it can be harmful for people who come to unclog the sewage systems and drains. Also adding to health risk for animals.
Easiest way for people to dispose used products.
10%
Burn
Burning plastic pads adds up to oder and pollution that is harmful to people’s health.
People in rural areas, in particular, tend to burn used menstrual products because they believe that these items, if found, can be used for evil rituals.
15%
Flush in toilets
Fecal Sludge combined with used pads complicates the process of removing that sludge from septic tanks or prevents the production of usable manure (in the case of leach dits)
Many females don’t want other people to see them disposing of products so they flush it down
42.6 MILLION women throw away 21.3 BILLION pads every year and it takes 500-800yrs for a pad to decompose. Women are unaware of the adverse effects that pads have on the environment. The annual disposal of 21.3 billion pads poses a significant environmental concern.
Switching to menstrual cups is the solution as it is cost effective, hygienic, Eco-friendly, produces no oder or toxic chemicals, can be used while swimming, no ratchets or itching, etc. But why are girls not using it?
Adaptability to change
Women have been accustomed to using pads, so switching products is difficult. Also, women have formed perceptions about the cup that are difficult to change.
against the culture
Most Indian women follow the taboo that having anything inside their body is not good until marriage. They even doubt that the cup might slip down and the possibility of overflow.
unaware
Girls are not guided at the right age. Girls are not given a lot of information and awareness because the subject is not widely discussed.
assumed uncomfortable & unhygienic
The fact that the user must remove their own blood, clean, and reuse it seems absurd to a large population
No marketing
Due to the fact that cups go against our cultural ideas and might cause outrage, the media only advertises pads. A large group is not aware of its existence as the advertisement is minimal and so is it’s presence in shops.
Start with school going girls
What to do?
Girls should be taught the basics of menstruation at an early age, along with a thorough understanding of all the many types of products available, there pros, its effects on them, and the environment.
Instead of merely giving them sanitary pads, we should offer them all the alternatives.
Why schools?
The target audience is students, who are young and readily influenced in their perceptions of what is good and evil. Schools are the ideal places to learn. Teachers or representatives from NGOs can sign up for special lessons that instruct children about various product kinds, how to use them, dispose of them, and other information that will help them develop positive opinions about cups.
Most of the ladies believe that if they had known that there were cups available during their schools, they would have used those instead of pads.
How is it effective?
Girls will be more receptive to this notion after they have a basic understanding of the different product categories and what works best for them. There will be a noticeable shift even if only 4 out of 10 females switch to utilizing cups, which will also contribute to lessening the environmental damage caused by pads.
Many individuals begin utilizing products after observing them being used by someone else in comfort. Hence, a cycle of utilizing, observing, and adapting will begin.
Drop me an email to know more or to just talk over a cup of coffee
khuwalneha@gmail.com