Rifq: Designing for Women

There is a special joy in designing products for women as a female designer 🩷 Every woman has a soft core most of us keep hidden behind a tough mask to combat the challenges of everyday life.

So even the strongest most intimidating woman should be treated with the gentleness we were all born to receive, in my opinion. We should be treated with Rifq.

So this is how I am implementing the principle of Rifq in my current design project:

Ensuring Privacy: A woman’s health data is her business

Privacy is important. Your body’s data is yours only, calculations happen client side. It is our job to keep the app light without using your data server side.

Being mindful of the the small shifts below the surface

To mimic the shift of hormones a lady goes through in the toughest day of her cycle; a male has to age 120+ years. Overnight. The effect on energy and mood is no joke.

So it’s natural in any health product to take into consideration the physiological effects of her body’s daily chemical balance: whether a teen, a working woman in childbearing age, a pregnant woman or a lady going through menopause. To support them with the right content and interaction. Soothe, not pressure.

Respecting her culture

A product facing muslim women cannot mimic an international product, no matter how good.

1. language: all the biggest muslim nations should be considered; Arabic, Indonesian & Urdu should all ideally be there from day 1.

2. effect on worship: show the current state when it comes to worship, not just hormonal levels.

3. No inappropriate content: the data offered for supporting women’s health and education cannot contain any inappropriate topics that are considered normal in international apps.

Inclusive: no lady left behind

how awful would it be for a lady to try the use the app and be disappointed just because she has an autoimmune disease we did not consider?
Or because she doesn’t own an iphone?
It gives me nightmares to think I could design anything than can make a woman feel excluded. I’m doing my best, I hope it is enough.