Project 6 - Laya

Redesign: Women’s Health Hackathon, a healthcare collaboration project with medics, business entrepreneurs, and designers.

Laya was born out of a deeply personal experience. My mum suffered multiple Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs)—short-lived strokes that occurred several times. Before this, I had no understanding of stroke, its symptoms, or how to care for someone going through it. I had to learn under unfortunate circumstances, and I wished my family and I had been more prepared, which reinforced our motivation to design a preventative health solution for women at risk.

While 13 million women go through menopause each year in the UK, many are unaware that menopause doubles their risk of stroke. Despite the critical need for awareness, existing health interventions are often reactive rather than proactive, leaving women without accessible or practical ways to monitor their health. Our challenge was to design a service that would allow women to regularly track their stroke risk in a way that is non-alarming, easy to adopt, and integrated into their daily routines.

To design Laya, I was involved in every stage of the research and design process, including:

1. User Research & Insights – Conducted interviews and observational studies with menopausal women, stroke survivors, and healthcare professionals.

2. Persona Development – Created Diya, a user persona representing the needs, fears, and daily struggles of our target audience.

3. Interaction Design– Designed the Laya app interface, ensuring it provided an intuitive and engaging user experience while guiding women through their health tracking.

4. Prototyping & Testing – Developed and iterated the Laya ecosystem, testing it with real users to refine its usability and effectiveness.

 Laya is not just a health tracker—it guides women through their menopausal journey, helping them maintain a positive relationship with their changing bodies while keeping an eye on key health markers.

Key Features

1. Menopause Health Kit – A home-based testing kit for glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure monitoring, targeting stroke risk factors.

2. App Ecosystem – A personalised health companion that syncs with the kit and guides users through a 28-day wellness cycle, inspired by the natural body rhythm.

3. Daily Micro-Tasks – Encourages users to focus on one aspect of their health each day—such as heart, gut, or blood pressure—by completing simple, enjoyable activities.

4. Early Warning System – If stroke-related symptoms are detected, Laya alerts users to visit a GP and provides them with a detailed report of key health indicators for their appointment.

Laya not only raises awareness about stroke risks but also empowers menopausal women to proactively manage their health in an accessible, holistic way. While our initial focus is on stroke prevention, we envision expanding Laya into a broader home-care service, integrating features for heart health, mental well-being, and beyond. By bridging the gender health data gap, Laya is a step towards better preventative care and long-term health support for women.