Over the last five years, FemTech has evolved into a $50 billion industry, offering immense potential to revolutionise women’s health through technology. As someone who has personally faced challenges accessing quality care—from contraception to fertility—and witnessed friends struggle with conditions like endometriosis and PCOS, I’m deeply passionate about advancing this space. Technology provides a unique opportunity to improve accessibility, education, and care quality at scale.  

However, while success stories like Flo, Natural Cycles, Clue, and Daye have shown what’s possible, many FemTech startups fall short of achieving meaningful traction. Why? Often, it’s because they fail to address the core needs of their users. Startups may face operational or financial constraints, but a lack of focus on these fundamentals is equally detrimental.  

This blog outlines a framework to understand these needs, identify common pitfalls, and build products that genuinely resonate with women. 

Understanding Core User Needs in FemTech 

1. Easy Access to Trusted Experts

User Need: “As a woman with a health issue, I want quick, easy access to trusted professionals who are experts in my condition.”

Navigating healthcare systems can feel daunting, especially for women seeking sensitive, specialist care. Trust plays a pivotal role—63% of women rely on word-of-mouth recommendations, and 56% are likely to pass them on.

Key Product Questions:

- How can we reduce the information gap about “where to go for help”?  

- How can we integrate into women’s informal social networks of trust?  

Execution Strategies:

- Search-Led Acquisition: Optimize SEO and performance marketing to capture specific intent-based searches. Curate a reliable database of specialists (e.g. Doctify) or explain why your selection of clinicians can be trusted

- Word-of-Mouth (WOM) Strategy: Build social-proof-driven campaigns and create sharable content. While brand and social marketing can expensive initially, WOM strategies can reduce long-term customer acquisition costs (CAC). 

2. Being Heard and Understood as an Individual



User Need: “As a woman, I want to feel heard and understood in my unique situation.”  

The Women’s Health Strategy for England reported that 84% of women felt their healthcare providers didn’t listen to them. Indeed, the shift towards Evidence-Based Medicine practices and digital therapeutics makes taking individual circumstances and context into account even more important. For FemTech products, this presents an opportunity to bridge an emotional gap, creating an experience that feels less transactional and more empathetic.  

Key Product Principles: 

- Incorporate empathetic screening questions like:  

  - “What solutions have you already tried?”  

  - “What’s your biggest frustration?”  

  - “How anxious are you about this issue?”  

- Design a tone of voice that balances clinical authority with emotional connection, mimicking trusted conversations with friends.  

Practical Execution:  

- Invest in UX/UI that delivers personalized micro-experiences, e.g., Flo’s subtle pause after entering cycle data with an “updated predictions” message. Small interactions like these create an illusion of personalisation and attentiveness.  

- Integrate non-clinical factors, like anxiety or lifestyle impacts, into onboarding and triage flows.  

3. Immediate Relief Paired with Long-Term Solutions 



User Need: “I want a solution that addresses my immediate concerns while also giving me a long-term plan.”

Women often seek reassurance or quick relief for emotionally taxing health issues like menopause or fertility struggles. However, balancing emotional comfort with scientific efficacy is critical.  

Key Product Questions:

- How can we provide short-term relief without overpromising outcomes?  

- How can we build trust while guiding users toward long-term, evidence-based solutions?  

Execution Strategies:

- Pair immediate solutions (e.g., symptom-targeted supplements like Health & Her) with long-term options like HRT or CBT.  

- Transparently communicate the efficacy of treatments while empowering the user to make informed choices. 

4. Personalized and Culturally Relevant Solutions 

User Need: “I want a solution that feels tailored to me and works for people like me.”  

Every woman’s experience is shaped by her unique medical, social, and cultural context. Generic, one-size-fits-all approaches often fail to resonate.  

Common Pitfalls:

- Overlooking cultural sensitivities (e.g., dietary preferences, cultural stigma around women’s issues, mental health)

- Ignoring non-clinical factors like emotional or economic constraints

Execution Strategies: 

- Highlight social proof through community success stories, clinical studies, and peer reviews  

- Use filterable forums or personalided dashboards to make solutions feel relevant 

- Leverage progressive interaction models that guide users through a personalised diagnostic-to-treatment journey.  

5. Seamless Integration with Daily Life

User Need: “I want the solution to integrate seamlessly into my existing lifestyle.”

Adoption and retention often hinge on how easily a product fits into the user’s routine. Over-reliance on behavior change or high manual inputs is a common failure point in digital health products.  

Key Product Questions:  

- How can we design for user laziness?  

- What passive tracking or automation can we implement to reduce friction?  

Execution Strategies:  

- Build passive solutions (e.g., Oura’s automatic sleep tracking) or low-effort data inputs (e.g., Flo’s predictive notifications)

- Create value exchanges for manual inputs, e.g., “Enter today’s symptoms to receive updated insights.” 

Pitfalls to Avoid in FemTech Product Design

1. Overlooking Emotional Needs: FemTech isn’t just clinical and/or functional; it must address emotional and psychological aspects of care

2. Ignoring Social Networks: Women often rely on peer recommendations; failing to have clear strategies to tap into this dynamic can limit growth

3. Underinvesting in UX/UI: Thoughtful design creates trust and drives retention

4. Assuming B2C Models Extend to B2B: Employers or insurers have different motivations, requiring tailored value propositions

Final thoughts

FemTech holds immense promise, but winning in this space requires more than innovative technology. It demands a deep understanding of women’s nuanced needs, combined with a thoughtful product strategy that builds trust and loyalty at every stage of the customer journey. By addressing the emotional, functional, and cultural aspects of women’s health, startups can not only drive commercial success but also make a profound impact on women’s lives.