CATALOGUE OF
PARTIAL THINGS

With this catalogue, we share a series of ideas that have developed over the course of several design workshops on the topic of Maintaining the Menstruating Body. During these meetings, a group of health workers, activists and community members worked together to collaboratively investigate limitations to current products, services and systems in ways that may reveal paths to new designs or policies aimed at providing more ready and reliable access to menstrual hygiene resources.

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IDEAS

Red Goes Green

With one group member having already secured a donation of 200 menstrual cups, four undergraduate students from Georgia Tech, Emory, and Savannah College of Art & Design discussed how they might use the opportunity to educate members of their university communities about reusable products. The team proposed a series of educational materials todraw people in by emphasizing the cup as a more sustainable option than its disposable counterparts—tabling at student club fairs, distributing a pamphlet, and facilitating workshops. The goal of the group was to create a critical mass of people invested in the distribution of menstrual hygiene both to support the health of community members and environmental sustainability. When it came time to petition the university for more resources, they would have the backing of their peers and colleagues. Learn more about the Red Goes Green imitative and how you might replicate the project in your own community here:

Sustainable Cycles

Recognizing existing eorts toward menstrual resource education, a group made up of activists, a data scientist, and a nonprofit professional developed a funding strategy for Sustainable Cycles—a grassroots cycling organization who had recently completed a tour across the country teaching workshops on reusable in menstrual products in cities and towns along the way. First, the group described the importance of sharing information about menstrual health online via social media, as a means of connecting with people across the country and as evidence of their legitimacy to potential funders. They then saw potential for crowdfunding initiatives and partnerships with companies and large media outlets (e.g. Teen Vogue) who might be supportive of their mission to educate communities across the country about reusable menstrual options.

Period Picnic

Viewing menstrual stigma as key to improving resource availability, a group made up of a policy analyst, software engineer, and doula developed a social media campaign spotlighting people’s experiences with periods through photography and storytelling. They explicitly drew from existing photography-based projects like Humans of New York, which share experiences of people through the city. The Period Picnic group focused its discussion to stories about experiences with menstruation (whether the interviewee menstruates or not). Here, they imagined pairing compelling photos with long form narratives of how people’s relationships to menstruation have changed over the years.

Work Environment Changes

Focused on changing perceptions of menstrual hygiene within the workplace, a nonprofit development ocer and psychology graduate student worked together to envision a series of changes to new employee orientation processes. First, they modified the traditional welcome basket to include not only typical oce supplies like pens, notebooks, and staples, but also menstrual products such as pads, tampons, and menstrual cups. Second, they introduced new policy to the company guidelines that would allow employees to take paid medical leave time for menstruation-related pain and reimburse menstruation related costs incurred while on the job. Finally, they proposed a redesign of the oce space to allow for each restroom to be single stall, all gender, and oer limitless menstrual products at no cost.

Little Menstrual Box

Inspired by the Little Free Libraries they’d seen in neighborhoods around the city, two grassroots organizers pursued a network of Little Menstrual Boxes. Rather than assorted books, the boxes would hold menstrual supplies like pads, tampons, and menstrual cups, along with books and information on local health resources. These boxes would be installed in front of community centers, transit stops, and libraries and would be supported by local residents, members of neighborhood organizations, and local business owners interested in sponsoring upkeep of this new infrastructure. As the pair described it, the aim was to both provide access to menstrual resources throughout the city, and to contribute to destigmatizing menstruation by making it more commonplace.

Periodical

Focusing on the availability of menstrual resources, a group began by making a multi-language brochure mapping where in the community residents can find low or no cost menstrual management products. Also included on the map would be a key describing where one can find reusable products like cups or cloth pads, as well as hormonal contraceptives. The pamphlet would detail which spots on the map stock these items regularly. The group envisioned distributing the pamphlets—by volunteers called periodic couriers—in community centers, YMCA, YWCA, shelters, libraries, LGBTQ youth centers, and at community boards in coee shops and grocery stores across the region.

Period Button

Drawing on product ideas circulating from prominent technology companies like Amazon, a group of graduate students—studying digital media and public policy respectively—imagined a button (similar to Amazon’s Dash Button) placed in public areas like parks, libraries, street corners, and on lamp posts and street lights. When pressed, it would signal where specifically menstrual resources are needed. In another iteration of the same idea, there would be a printer attached to the button that would give visitors a list of sites where they could pick up menstrual resources for free (e.g. local health centers or community centers).

Module Dispenser

A group made up of a designer and a communication graduate student oered a two-fold intervention. The first of their ideas focused on the existing infrastructure of menstrual hygiene dispensers. Thinking the machines could do more to contribute to the distribution of reproductive health resources, they imagined a modular version which would start with tampons and pads as the most basic necessity, with additional options to add mechanisms for dispensing emergency contraceptive pills and condoms. The group also devised a more subversive initiative to spotlight the stigma around menstruation and highlight the need for distributed resources. Here, they would circulate an online kit with instructions on how to dye toilet water red. Those visiting restrooms would find the crimson toilets with small cards describing the need for menstrual resources and calling for visitors to reach out to their city and state representatives about policy initiatives focused on access.

Uterus Rattle

Seeing menstrual taboo as picked up at an early age, a group of educators and activists created toys to prepare children to incrementally learn at each stage of their development. During the meeting, the group focused particularly on designing for infants and toddlers, but saw potential for continued play-based learnings interventions across age groups. The first product idea they proposed was a uterus rattle, with small beads inside meant to resemble eggs. As a child interacts with the toy, the egg descends as it would during ovulation.

Uterus Maze

This same group of activists and educators developed an interactive board game with magnetic pieces and embedded audio to teach toddlers about menstruation. As a child plays with the toy they learn more about the steps of the menstrual cycle—from the menstrual phase, the follicular phase, ovulation, to the luteal phase. Finally, they described an interactive plush doll with strings to pull that activate dierent bodily functions across the body, including breast feeding, urination and menstruation. They imagined distributing these toys in newborn kits given to parents at the hospital by state and social service agencies.

In School Education

Concerned with how sexual health is taught in schools, a group made up of a nursing student, a librarian, and pre-school educator revised current curriculum across age groups. They imagined restructuring existing education programs by calling on school nurses (rather than, for example, physical education teachers) to lead lessons on overall bodily health and wellbeing, as opposed to a focus solely on mid-high school STI prevention or abstinence focused initiatives.

Product Regulation

An international group made up of an educator, an entrepreneur, and activist—from India, China, the United States respectively—discussed the potential for both research and regulation of menstrual product ingredients. From three dierent countries, they were concerned that any national eort would be too limited in scope. Instead, they proposed an international regulatory agency to first conduct research on the long-term eects of disposable and reusable menstrual products on the market, investigating both bodily and environmental impact. After the research phase, the organization would monitor business practices and indicate safe options (defined in initial research) to consumers through a stamped seal of approval on product packaging.

Political Landscape

A group made up of a health worker, activist, and urban planning graduate student plotted the political landscape for menstrual resource availability. They first described a short term intervention that would divert the proceeds of state luxury tax to a fund that would require resources in schools, shelters, and correctional facilities. The second of their policy proposals imagined an ordinance that would incentivize business owners to host menstrual hygiene donation boxes by offering tax credits (a practice popular in the state through programs such as film and television tax write offs). In a final idea, they imagined entities like the state health department or the department of education offering grants or budgeting for providing menstrual products to residents. If it proved to be controversial (as subsidized lunch programs have become), they imagined seeking foundation funding for the program.

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The Team

We are part of the TATLAB, Tactile and Tactical Lab, under the Human Centered Design and Engineering @ the University of Washington.

Sarah Fox

Design Research Lead

Bonnie Tran

Undergraduate Design Researcher

Leena Choi

Undergraduate Design Researcher