EquiPad: Reimagining the End-to-End Period Product Experience

Evaluating a patent-pending dispenser to ensure free, reliable access to period products in public restrooms.

Overview

The Problem

Access in public spaces is often inconsistent, unreliable, or undignified.

The Outcome

Identified mechanical friction that led to a V2 design prioritizing speed and waste reduction.

  • My Role: Lead UX Researcher (UW HCDE Team).
  • The Goal: Validating the prototype’s "Dispense" and "Restock" flows ahead of a Summer 2025 soft launch.

Understand

Designing for menstrual equity requires looking at the entire ecosystem. By centering our research on a Total Service Blueprint, we ensured the prototype addressed both the menstruator’s experience and the custodian’s workflow.

The Strategic "Why"

We chose In-Situ Usability Testing (UW campus and a café) over a lab setting. We needed to observe environmental constraints—cramped stalls and high-traffic workflows—that a controlled environment couldn't replicate.

Research

Findings: "The Friction in the Feed"

  1. Mechanical Error: The feeder was too narrow for standard pads, causing 80% of users to experience "dispense lag."
  2. The "Aesthetic" Barrier: The viewer panel was perceived as a distraction rather than a utility.
  3. Maintenance Lag: Custodians found restocking slower than industry standards.

Process Artifacts

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Outcome & Impact

"It feels like it's fighting me to get the product out." — Participant 02 (Menstruator)

This insight directly led to the mechanical redesign of the internal feeder and the removal of the viewer panel, which reduced manufacturing costs.

Takeaways

Leadership & Scaling: I developed a Research Audit Trail, creating a centralized system for engineers to revisit raw user insights and mechanical pain points during development roadblocks.

The Service Ecosystem: This project reinforced that the custodial workflow is just as critical as the end-user experience. If the "backstage" maintenance is inefficient, the "front-stage" service eventually fails the user.

Future Roadmap:

Recommended integrated QR codes to provide custodial staff with "instant maintenance" guides to further reduce restocking time and mitigate any onboarding hurdles for new or temporary staff.