Taking a women’s cycle-syncing app from concept to dual-platform launch
About the project
The app at the center of this project was built to change how women relate to their hormonal cycle — not just log it, but live in sync with it. Created by a solo UK founder, it enters a market where most tools collect data but rarely help women act on it.
Beyond tracking, the app brings together AI-driven daily insights, symptom logging, guided meditations, and a partner-sharing feature, covering physical and mental health in one space. Its calm, non-clinical design prioritizes emotional comfort over data density, making it feel more like a wellbeing space than a health tracker.
Challenge
The client came to us with a strong concept, zero existing product and tight deadlines. The goal was to build a complete, marketplace-ready app, covering research, design and development, and faithfully execute a founder-defined vision for a calming, premium product that could stand out in a saturated femtech market.
Our process
From a two-week concept trial to a dual-marketplace launch, we shaped every layer of the product — UX, development, and quality — to match the emotional promise of the brand.
UX/UI design
Working from the client’s existing brand, the design phase ran from competitor research and concept exploration through UX architecture, user flows, and a full screen library.
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Product development
Five core modules, a custom admin panel, and full AI integration — all built in React Native and Expo, with scope kept aligned through structured sprints and weekly demos.
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QA & release
Quality and compliance ran in parallel with development — systematic testing across platforms and early marketplace submissions kept the product on track for dual-platform launch.
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Results
The product launched across App Store and Google Play as a complete wellness platform, expanding well beyond the original MVP scope. Design was delivered 40% ahead of schedule. At launch, users could access cycle tracking, AI-driven daily insights, physical and mental health modules, a partner-sharing tool, and a content system the client manages independently. The app earned a national wellness award shortlist and coverage across major health and lifestyle publications.
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Our approach
The founder came to us with a clear philosophy: women’s health deserved more than a tracker. Our role was to translate that vision into a product, preserving its emotional intent across every layer of design and development.
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“Working with the Halo Lab design team has been an absolute pleasure and one of the highlights of my project so far. From our first conversation, they understood my vision and brought it to life with incredible attention to detail, creativity, and professionalism.”
01 · Research & concept exploration
We analyzed 4 competing apps — mapping UX gaps and positioning opportunities in the hormonal health space. Two distinct visual concepts emerged from the moodboard and trial sprint: one warm and photo-led, the other clean and icon-based.
Deliverables
- 4 competitors analyzed
- Moodboard & references
- 2 design concepts
02 · UX architecture & key user flows
We designed flows for three user roles (main user, partner, and anonymous visitor), covering onboarding, cycle logging, AI insight access, partner management, and subscription states. Every interaction was shaped around minimal daily effort and quick access.
Deliverables
- 3 user role flows
- Key screen wireframes
- Subscription state logic
03 · UI design system & screen production
Building on the client’s brand guidelines, we developed a full design system — consistent tokens, components, and patterns across every screen. A phase-progress arc on the dashboard echoes the logo form, tying brand identity directly to the core UI.
Deliverables
- Full app screen UI
- Design system & library
01 · Mobile app architecture & core functionality
We built the app in React Native and Expo, working in sprint cycles across five modules: cycle calendar, daily logging, dashboard, physical health, and mental health. Weekly demos kept the scope aligned as the product grew beyond its original MVP.
Deliverables
- React Native app build
- 5 core feature modules
02 · Cycle logic & AI integration
The cycle calendar was the app’s most complex challenge — every edge case was mapped and validated with the client before implementation. We then integrated an LLM for personalized daily insights, adding Apple Health and Google Health Connect sync.
Deliverables
- Cycle calculation engine
- AI insights integration
- Health platform sync
03 · Admin panel
Our team built a custom admin panel using AI-assisted scaffolding for the UI and a Supabase Realtime backend to handle multi-admin editing without conflicts. The client gained direct control over AI content, audio, tags, and user permissions.
Deliverables
- Secure admin web panel
- Multi-admin realtime sync
- Content management system
01 · Multi-platform testing
We tested across iOS and Android on real devices and in emulators, covering functional, UX/UI, exploratory, offline and integration layers. Edge cases included AI health data, partner sharing across time zones, and Health platform integration.
Deliverables
- Functional & exploratory testing
- Health integration QA
- Health integration QA
02 · Compliance & marketplace launch
Submitting builds early during development let us absorb marketplace feedback before the final release. Android compliance for AI health apps required close attention — health data handling and AI functionality reviewed at each submission.
Deliverables
- Compliance review
- iOS & Android release
- Post-launch monitoring
Team
A cross-functional team worked in close sync, continuously adapting to new insights from classroom trials and robot behavior.
- 1 Project Manager
- 2 Brand Designers
- 2 UI/UX Designers
- 2 Web Designers
- 1 Front-end Developer
- 1 Back-end Developer
- 1 QA Engineer
Technologies
Our stack supported offline interaction, hardware communication, scalable content management, and smooth cross-platform UI.
Team
- 1 Project Manager
- 2 UI/UX Designer
- 1 Lead Designer
- 2 Front-end Developer
- 1 Back-end Developer
- 2 QA Engineer
Technologies
