Sakhi - making women's health feel personal, not clinical

The product

A trusted friend,
in an app.

Sakhi is a Hindi word for a trusted female companion. The app is that for her cycle: logging in one tap, a home that knows where she is in the month, answers from what she has logged, one person she trusts let in on her terms, and help from another woman nearby when her period starts somewhere she did not plan for.

My role

After version one,
alongside the founder.

Version one shipped in June 2025, and I came in right after it, as a contract product designer for four months, working directly with the founder - research and flows, onboarding, home, the period log, Ask Sakhi, care partner mode, Emergency Assistance, and a design system rebuilt from its tokens under all of it. The direction was checked against the team’s research - 49 user interviews and gynaecologist consultations from 2024 - and reviewed by the team that shipped version one.

The problem

Women installed Sakhi, and did not stay with it.

Two things sat under that. Logging asked for effort every day and gave almost nothing back, and when her period caught her out, she had no one to turn to.

Months of logging gave back one date.
Daily inputs she forgot when stressed, streaks that made her feel guilty when they broke, and months of logs that came back as one predicted date she could have guessed herself.
Caught out on campus, with no help.
Her period could start on campus with nothing in her bag. Questions went to Google, her partner had no way in, and the moment was hers alone to handle.

Research and flows

Who she is, and what she won't say.

Three people, four silences, a mood board, every path, and the brief they set.

70.2% of women report period pain that disrupts their day, and only 14.2% have ever seen a doctor about it (source). The gap is not information - it is permission. So the research started with people, not features.

The people
Three women, one pattern.
A persona board each: what goes wrong for her, what she needs, and how Sakhi has to fit around her - on sticky notes, the way they sat on the wall.
Aditi Sharma
“I know my body, I just don't have the energy to track it.”
Age: 22
Location: Delhi NCR
Occupation: College student
Relationship status: Single
Tech comfort: High
Bio
Aditi lives in a hostel. Her days are packed with classes, assignments, travel, and social pressure. During PMS, she becomes emotionally drained and irritable. On those days, she avoids opening apps that ask questions or expect discipline.
Pain points
Forgets to log periods when stressed
Feels guilty when streaks break
Hates apps that demand daily inputs
Does not want community features or discussion forums
Needs
Extremely low-effort tracking
No punishment or reminders that feel accusatory
Soft, calm language
Ability to skip days without consequences
How Sakhi fits
One-tap notification logging (Yes / No / Not sure)
No streak pressure or warnings
Graceful predictions even when she does nothing
App feels present, not demanding
Primary value Sakhi providesEmotional relief and continuity without effort
The silences
What she was taught not to say.
“I can't stand up, but I'll say I'm fine”
Ask about pain without it sounding like a complaint.
“I hide the app when someone walks past”
Discretion built into the interface, not buried in settings.
“I don't know what's normal for me”
Answered from her own history, not population averages.
“I'll go to a doctor if it gets worse”
Points her toward the appointment, evidence in hand.
The mood board
What it should feel like, before what it does.
References pinned around a paper sketch of the home. Click any of them to see it full size.
Soft, calm, and on her side.
Reference shots pinned around a paper sketch of the home: soft gradients, a glassy calendar, a mood check-in, a partner pairing flow. The note in the sketch’s corner already asks for a real Sakhi feature - a person who keeps care of you, and logs for you too.
The flow
Every path, before a single screen.
Onboarding, home, logging, the calendar and care mode, mapped end to end with what each screen shows and what she can do on it. Click it to read it full size.
The brief
Five rules, and the one intent under them.
- 01One tap, or nothing
- 02No streaks, no guilt
- 03Her data, her call
- 04Calm words
- 05Keeps working if she disappears
- The core intentPresent, not demanding

The designs

The app, part by part.

From first open to asking a stranger for a pad.

Each part runs the same way: the problem, the process, the solution, and why it is built this way.

Sakhi's home on day two of her period, in crimson

Onboarding

Questions that pay for themselves.

The first two minutes decide whether she trusts the app with anything.

The problem

Everything asked, nothing given

Body, cycle and a privacy wall - all before the app had done anything for her.

Before

The old onboarding

Sign-in before anything
Apple or Google sign-in sits on the very first screen, before she has seen what Sakhi does for her.
Body first, no reason given
Weight, then height, with nothing saying why a period app needs them. The height screen even reuses the weight subtitle.
Numbers she has to guess
Period length and cycle length ask for averages she may never have counted, so she guesses before the app has learned anything.
Privacy last
Where her data goes is explained on the final screen, as a wall of text, after she has handed it all over.

Her side of it

How the first two minutes feel

A walk through the shipped flow from her side. The thoughts are paraphrased, not interview quotes.

The process

From a long form to a short conversation

Deferring everything left her with nothing
Asking nothing up front left the first session empty. The answer was not fewer questions - it was questions that pay for themselves at the moment they are asked. So the count went up, from seven screens to twelve, while each screen got lighter: one question, the reason for it, and Apple Health in place of typing.

The solution

The new design

01, Meet Sakhi - explains before it asks: opens with empathy, three promises at a glance, and one clear Continue with no sign-in wall. Before, in version one: a sign-in wall on screen one.

Click the poster to zoom in.

01 / 05

Final

The new onboarding, played through

Her side of it, after

The same two minutes, redesigned

The same walk through the redesigned flow. The thoughts are paraphrased design intent, not a measured result.

Why it is built this way

Three decisions behind it

01
One idea per screen
The note beside the intro: she should understand the core tracking feature before she is asked to give anything.
02
Privacy is a choice, not a policy
A cloud account or this device only - decided before anything is stored, not read at the end.
03
The fastest way is offered first
Apple Health fills in her body details, so the typing only happens if she wants it.

Home

A home that changes with her.

The screen she opens most, so it had to say the most with the least.

The problem

A predicted date, every month

Cycle one and cycle six gave her the same thing back: a date.

Before

Version one, and an early redesign

An earlier summary screen: next period, cycle, calendar and logs on one long page

The same output whether it was her first cycle or her sixth
Everything on one long page, at one weight
Nothing told her where she was in her cycle at a glance

After

Her phase, her count, her calendar

Home on her period: Day 2, the whole top in crimson

Home after her period: 20 days in next period, luteal phase

Home in the fertile window: 20 days, the top in teal

The whole top takes the colour of her phase
One number: day of her period, or days until the next
The calendar is a sheet she pulls up, not a page she goes to

The process

From a predicted date to her own history

Mapping what a log gives back
Across the first six cycles every log gave back the same thing, a predicted date - which made the fix a data-interpretation question, not a UI one.
Four routes for the loop
More fields and streaks were both turned down - one added effort, the other added guilt. What stayed: every log returns something about her own history.
1. Old loopSuperseded
  Log a date, get the next predicted date. Same output every cycle.
2. Richer loggingRejected
  More symptom fields for better data. More effort, same payoff.
3. Streak mechanicsRejected
  Gamified consistency. Turned a health tool into a chore with guilt attached.
4. Interpretation-firstChosen
  Every log returns something about her own history, compounding monthly.
Two layouts set aside
Both were drawn in full before the one that stayed - each board says what was tried, and why it did not work.
Then every state it has to hold
First open, on her period, just after it and the fertile window - wireframed before any colour went on.

The solution

One home, every state

The same screen through her month - from the notes beside each one in the design file.

First open
She needs toUnderstand what the app does, and get started.
Home showsHello, and a prompt to enter her last period.
On her period
She needs toConfirm the period has started, and see it on the calendar.
Home showsDay of her period, the top in crimson.
Period ended
She needs toSee the period is over, and what phase comes next.
Home showsDays until the next one, and the phase she is in.
Ovulation
She needs toKnow she is in her fertile window.
Home showsThe top in teal - purple was tried and dropped.

Why it is built this way

What sits under the count

Decision 01
One tip for today, in her phase
WhatUnder the count sits a single line for this day of her cycle - “Apply a heating pad to ease cramps”.
WhyA log has to give something back the same day, not only a date next month.
Decision 02
The calendar is a sheet, not a page
WhatPeriod days filled, predicted days soft, the fertile window in teal, today ringed - pulled up from Home.
WhyShe checks the month without leaving the screen she opens most, and Ask and Log stay at the bottom.

Period log

Logging today, in a few taps.

The loop the whole app depends on - and the one women dropped first.

The problem

A chore with guilt attached

She forgets when she is stressed, hates daily inputs, and a missed log makes the predictions worse. Logging had to cost almost nothing.

Before

Version one

A week strip, then rows to open one by one
Every field given the same weight
Nothing told her what mattered on this day

After

One sheet for today

Log today: the checklist, with weight opened on a ruler

Flow first, as four drops she taps
Then a short checklist of only the symptoms she chose
One Save, at the bottom, for the whole day

The process

Built for one thumb

She logs with the phone in one hand - on a bus, in a lecture. Every control was placed for where the thumb already is.

The log sheet: flow intensity as four drops, a checklist with ticks on the right, and Save at the bottom

Where a right thumb reaches without stretching

Save
Full width at the bottom, the easiest reach on the screen.
The ticks
On the right edge of the checklist, where a right thumb already rests.
Flow
Mid-screen, so each of the four targets is made big instead.
Close
The only control at the top - the one thing she should not hit by accident.

Why it is built this way

What comes first

First
Flow
Four big drops in one row.
Then
Her symptoms
Only the ones she chose, a tick each.
If she wants
Numbers
Weight opens on a ruler only when tapped.

31 options in 9 groups - she sees only the ones she picks.FlowPainMoodBodyDigestiveSleepSkinDischargeMedication

Ask Sakhi

An AI she can ask anything.

She thinks in questions, not symptom categories - so Sakhi answers questions.

The problem

Her question went to Google

The app had nowhere for a real question, so it left the one app that already had her cycle history.

The solution

We asked Sakhi. Here is what it said.

Four real exchanges from the designs, playing one after another.

Ask Sakhi explaining headaches before a period

It explains1 of 4

Plain language, never a diagnosis

We askedWhy do I get headaches before my period?

Sakhi answeredYour estrogen drops right before your period starts. That drop triggers tension headaches for a lot of women.

Made possible byPlain-language health answers

Why it is built this way

Why the questions live inside the chat

The one decision that shaped the chat

Ask a few questions inside the chat, instead of guessing.

The momentShe types one vague line - she is not feeling great. One line of text is not enough to answer well, and far too little to say anything about her health.
The decisionRather than guessing at a diagnosis, Sakhi asks a few precise questions right there in the chat - weight, BBT, pelvic pain, discharge - each a tap.
Where it helpsShe never leaves the conversation for a logging screen, the vague complaint becomes something specific, and what she ticks is logged for next time.

Sakhi introduces itself first - before she has to ask anything.
Starter prompts replace a blank, intimidating box.
Every answer becomes memory Sakhi keeps.
Never a diagnosis. It never names a serious illness or decides for her, and suggests a gynaecologist only when a symptom repeats across three or more of her cycles.
Nothing she has not allowed. In care partner mode it never reveals anything she has kept to herself.

My Sakhi · care partner mode

A new kind of feature: someone on her side.

Live in the app. It connects her with one person she trusts - and keeps her in charge of it.

The problem

They want to help, and do not know when

The person closest to her wants to help but does not know how or when, and she does not want to explain herself every time.

The process

Two journeys, one connection

What she goes through, then what they go through.

Her journey

She lets someone in, on her terms

Share Only What Feels Right: symptoms and cycles, toggle by toggle

Three promises first
Always watching over you. One tap, they're there. You decide, always.
She picks one person
A partner, a sister, a friend - someone who shows up.
She chooses what they see
Symptoms on or off, and which months of her cycle.
She sends a private link
Only the two of them share it.
They get a page of their own
Their requests, and emergency help, in one place.

Their journey

They are invited in, and shown how to care

They open her invite
“She invited you in. That is not a small thing.”
They confirm it is them
A code, so the invite cannot be passed on.
They say how they'd describe her
So Sakhi can talk to them the right way.
They are connected
They see only what she chose to share.
They are shown how to care
Know how she's feeling. Care in the right way. Respect her privacy.

The solution

How it helps

Two people, one thread
She is not explaining herself every time - they already know what she chose to share.
She stays in control
Symptoms on or off, and her cycles for three, six or eight months - toggle by toggle.
One tap, they're there
“The moment you need them, they'll know.” Emergency help sits on their shared page.
She can end it
Change what they see at any time, or remove them without explaining herself.

Emergency assistance

A pad, from the woman nearest you.

Fourteen screens, two phones, and nothing shared that does not have to be.

Her period starts on campus and there is nothing in her bag. She asks; another woman nearby can say yes, or the app shows her the nearest place that can help. Designed in full in 2025; in September 2026 the app replaced it with Stay With Me, which asks one trusted person instead of strangers nearby.

Before

The idea I inherited

The 2024 prototype: a map of nearby helpers

A map of strangers came first
One screen for the whole request

After

A short, private request

Waiting for Ananya: her location not shared

What she needs first, then who to ask
A named spot, never her location
A way on from every end of the flow

Watch it run

Her phone1 of 8

She says what she needs

Pads sit alone under Urgent; tampons, a hot water bag and medicines below. One tap.

A spot, never a location: She names a landmark. Her location shows as Not shared on the screen that lists what the helper was told.
A drawing, never a photo: Her face in the flow is an avatar she picks. Nearby women see the drawing and a kindness label, nothing else.
The helper can always say no: A short timer to answer, and a decline that tells her nothing was shared before offering the next way on.
No dead ends: Declined, or nobody around: every end of the flow leads to another woman or to a place with its walking time.

The Emergency Assistance page in Figma: all fourteen screens with the flow arrows between them

The whole flow, as it is wired in the design file.All fourteen screens - the declined path, places nearby, the helper’s side and the loading states - with every arrow between them. Click it to read it full size.

The system

One style guide, one component set.

Rebuilt from the tokens up, so every screen above draws from one palette and one scale.

The style the app follows, and the components in the Figma library.

Four phases, light and dark

LightDay 2of your periodMenstrual

DarkDay 2of your periodMenstrual

Colour

Pink#F61887The one action colour
Background#F8F2F4 / #000000Warm blush, or pure black
Light pink#F8E5EC / #2C1A22Card fill, badge tint
Deep rose#BB2968 / #D85E9CPlaceholders and icons
Period red#F36080The period dot
Confirm#34C759Success only

Lato, three weights only

largeValue · 6418
screenTitle · 28Tell me your Weight
sectionHeader · 20How you feel
cardTitle · 17What to Eat
body · 15Light movement usually eases cramps.
caption · 13Recommended for ovulation phase

No shadows, anywhere
Never purple
Dark mode is pure black
Three weights of Lato
One heading per screen
Colour means her phase

The component set

Atoms: buttons, chips, badges, inputs, switches, avatars and the flow-intensity dot — **Atoms** Button, chip, badge, input, switch, avatar and the flow dot - each with its states.

Molecules: the calendar cell in seven states, list items and the cycle summary card — **Molecules** The calendar cell in seven states, the list item and the cycle summary card.

What it moved

What shipped, and what was built.

The product's numbers first, then the work, counted.

Only what can be stood behind: the product’s own figures, and what the design file holds.

500+active users since the redesign went live

Livethe new onboarding and care partner mode, on the App Store

3personas the redesign was held to
12onboarding screens, one question each
4home states, from first open to ovulation
31things she can log, in 9 groups
14Emergency Assistance screens, every branch

Counted from the design file.

Since

Still on the
App Store.

Live since June 2025. Version two, rebuilt by the team in 2026, is on the store now. Apple features Sakhi’s founder and the app on its College Students success stories page.

Sakhi's App Store listing on an iPhone, held in a hand

A trusted friend,in an app.

After version one,alongside the founder.

Women installed Sakhi, and did not stay with it.

Months of logging gave back one date.

Caught out on campus, with no help.

Who she is, and what she won't say.

Three women, one pattern.

Bio

Pain points

Needs

How Sakhi fits

What she was taught not to say.

What it should feel like, before what it does.

Every path, before a single screen.

Five rules, and the one intent under them.

The app, part by part.

Everything asked, nothing given

From a long form to a short conversation

The new design

Three decisions behind it

A predicted date, every month

From a predicted date to her own history

One home, every state

What sits under the count

One tip for today, in her phase

The calendar is a sheet, not a page

A chore with guilt attached

Built for one thumb

What comes first

Her question went to Google

We asked Sakhi. Here is what it said.

Plain language, never a diagnosis

Why the questions live inside the chat

Ask a few questions inside the chat, instead of guessing.

They want to help, and do not know when

Two journeys, one connection

How it helps

A pad, from the woman nearest you.

She says what she needs

One style guide, one component set.

What shipped, and what was built.

Still on theApp Store.

A trusted friend,
in an app.

After version one,
alongside the founder.

Still on the
App Store.