Enhancing Hinge Health's Exercise Recommendations with AI-Driven Menstrual Health Integration

Hinge Health aimed to expand into the women's health space to reach new user segments and improve overall satisfaction, with a parallel goal of integrating AI into their platform as a cost-effective enhancement. With broad possibilities, ranging from new menstruators to pregnant and menopausal users, the challenge was to identify a focused, high-impact entry point. This required aligning user needs with business goals, and iteratively developing and testing a solution to evaluate its feasibility, usefulness, and long-term value.

We designed an AI-powered, cycle-aware exercise recommendation system within the Hinge Health app. By factoring in each user's menstrual cycle, symptoms, and energy levels, the AI delivers personalized, evidence-based exercise plans that adapt in real time. This ensures users not only manage pain more effectively but also stay active and feel supported throughout their cycle without disrupting existing routines.

To better understand our users and the impact of menstrual pain on their daily lives, we conducted a targeted survey.

Survey

40+ responses from individuals aged 18–30 experiencing menstrual pain and symptoms of Primary Dysmenorrhea.

Interviews

5 participants sharing in-depth personal experiences.

Goals:

• Identify the specific challenges users face during their menstrual cycle
• Understand existing coping strategies for managing pain
• Explore the role of exercise in participants' lives and how it is affected by menstruation

Key Insights:

Insights from the survey and user interviews not only revealed key pain points and needs but also helped us clearly define our target persona. By mapping recurring patterns in experiences, goals, and challenges, we built a representative user profile to guide our design decisions. This persona ensured that every requirement and concept we explored addressed the needs of a clearly identified user, rather than a broad, generic audience.

Building on the insights from our survey and interviews, we translated user needs into clear design requirements that would guide our solution. These requirements ensured our concepts stayed grounded in real user challenges while aligning with project goals.

We then explored the opportunity space through collaborative brainstorming and competitor analysis. This allowed us to identify potential features, understand market gaps, and gather inspiration from existing solutions, laying the groundwork for informed and targeted concept development.

Following our brainstorming, we created low-fidelity sketches of our proposed features and tested them with 19 participants (13 users and 6 experts) representing our target user group.

Objectives:

• Gather opinions on the value and usability of an AI chatbot for health support
• Evaluate the layout and concept of the activity tracking section
• Evaluate the layout and concept of the menstrual information section

Findings:

Based on our initial concept testing, we made several design refinements:

1. Moved the Focus section to the home page and added contextual explanations
2. Created a dedicated Menstrual section
3. Added more highlights and trends for better progress visibility

We then conducted expert walkthroughs with four specialists in product design and women's health.

Key Feedback:

• Repetition in playlist information made the experience feel redundant.
• Annual activity trends would provide a broader perspective on progress.
• The language tone could be clearer and more accessible to better engage users.

Based on this feedback, we incorporated these changes into our final prototypes.

We conducted high-fidelity, task-based usability testing with four participants from our target user group.

Goal: The goal was to assess the clarity, usability, and perceived value of the integrated menstrual health features within the Hinge Health app.

Results:

• Participants appreciated learning why certain exercises were recommended and found this information helpful for managing their period.
• The added personalisation in exercise planning addressed a major barrier to maintaining an exercise routine.
• Users described the problem space as meaningful and expressed enthusiasm for the solution's potential impact.
• SUS responses indicated strong agreement that the system was easy to use and something they would like to use frequently.

This project highlighted the value of agility and resilience when navigating evolving requirements and user feedback. Clear communication within the team proved essential for aligning on priorities, and timeboxing helped us maintain momentum while meeting deadlines.

Looking ahead, opportunities remain to enhance the solution, such as integrating mood tracking, expanding exercise options tailored to menstrual phases, and conducting further user testing to uncover new insights and refine menstrual health features.