Ultrahuman
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2024
Building Ultrahuman’s first menstrual cycle intelligence layer from scratch
Turning raw biomarker data into actionable insights for women’s health, an untapped high-impact surface
Product Design
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0 → 1 feature
Led end-to-end design for a 0→1 feature. Defined UX, interaction patterns, and the visual system from first principles.
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Challenge
Ultrahuman had no owned experience for menstrual cycle tracking.
What existed was a passive, two-line card showing cycle day and temperature from external data. No logging. No predictions. No system.
The challenge was to build this from scratch, within an existing product, without overwhelming it. At the same time, it needed to become the foundation for future women’s health features.
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Approach
We focused on point-in-time insights instead of full-cycle views.
The system was built on cyclical biomarker deviations, designed for real logging behaviour, and structured to support two distinct intents. Cycle tracking and conception, both within the same framework.
Chapter 1: Reducing friction in cycle logging
Smart logging that adapts to real behaviour
Users log inconsistently. Often late or mid-cycle. Multiple days get missed.
We introduced a one-tap logging system that auto-fills the full cycle length, while still allowing edits. This ensured completeness without increasing effort.
Separating cycle and flow logging
Cycle tracking and flow tracking are usually bundled together. This creates cluttered input flows.
We split them into distinct steps, making the interaction faster and easier to reason about.
Embedding cycle states into logging
Logging was designed to be informative, not passive.
Predicted and confirmed states like ovulation, period, and transitions were surfaced directly within the interface. This improved both accuracy and user confidence.
Chapter 2: Emotional design through a new cycle metaphor
Designing beyond stereotypes
The product runs on a dark, performance-first interface.
Instead of defaulting to expected visual tropes, we extended the existing visual language and introduced a new metaphor that felt native to the product. The goal was to create something distinctive, not decorative.
Building the flower system
Moving away from full-cycle visualizations was deliberate.
Instead of mapping all 28–30 days, we focused on the present moment. Menstrual cycles follow ~28-day patterns that cluster into weekly rhythms, which we abstracted into 7 segments.
The flower metaphor was intentional, not decorative.
It encodes real data.
7 petals represent progression
Circular structure preserves the cycle mental model
Shape and light communicate phase
At the start (menstrual phase), petals face the camera and appear as circles. As they rotate, they reveal their full form, reaching a complete bloom at ovulation. They then return back to the circular state.
The motion reflects the body’s rhythm.
A continuous cycle, not discrete steps.
The petals don’t illustrate the system.
They are the system.
Chapter 3: Biomarker insights as the foundation
Making cyclical deviations understandable
Women’s biomarkers like temperature, HRV, and heart rate deviate in a cyclical pattern. These shifts are what enable the system to determine phases.
We visualized deviations from baseline instead of raw values. This made patterns easier to interpret and directly tied to the cycle.
Chapter 4: Structuring information for clarity
Progressive disclosure across the experience
The interface is structured to communicate state immediately, with depth layered below.
The first fold focuses on current phase, temperature, and the core visual. Deeper sections introduce biomarker insights and contextual explanations.
This keeps the experience clear upfront, with detail available when needed.
Keeping insights contextual to intent
The system adapts based on user intent.
For conception, it prioritizes fertility signals and probability. For cycle tracking, it focuses on phase and progression. Deeper insights are surfaced only when relevant.
This keeps the experience focused without adding complexity.
Designing across multiple entry points
The feature exists across different surfaces in the product. A glanceable layer, a home card, and a detailed view.
Each layer uses the same system, but adapts the depth of information. This creates consistency without redundancy.
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conclusion
This feature established the foundation for women’s health at Ultrahuman.
It expanded the product’s relevance significantly. The women user base grew from ~30% to ~70%. It also contributed to stronger engagement and an increase in hardware sales.
More importantly, the system was built to scale. The same primitives and visual language extended into more advanced iterations without requiring structural changes.
The key decision was to prioritize clarity over completeness.
By focusing on what matters in the moment, instead of representing the entire cycle, the experience became faster, more intuitive, and easier to integrate into a broader health product.