AI Assistant for Women’s Health: Menstrual Well-being & Workplace Productivity
Abesingha Herath Mudiyanselage, Lakshika Madushani Abesingha, Suraweera, Suraweera Arachchige Piumi Darshika · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · 2025
Women’s menstrual symptoms are known to substantially impair workplace performance, yet employers often lack supportive policies or tools for this problem. Previous surveys report that nearly half of women miss work due to menstrual symptoms, and most feel unable to discuss cycle-related needs with managers. Motivated by this gap, this thesis explores whether an AI-driven intervention in the workplace can support menstrual well-being and enhance productivity. Using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, we iteratively designed a Slack-based conversational AI assistant that provides personalized cycle tracking, timely reminders, and wellness tips for female employees. The Slack AI assistant was implemented as an application on the enterprise platform(Slack), leveraging built-in support for workflow bots. We conducted an evaluation with ten participants, using surveys to gather quantitative and qualitative feedback. The results show high user satisfaction and perceived personalization. The participants appreciated the personalized guidance of the assistant and felt it helped them plan their work around their menstrual cycle. Many reported that the tool positively impacted their productivity during symptomatic days, echoing findings that supportive apps can mitigate cycle-related performance losses. Notably, users expressed strong trust in how the assistant handled their personal data. These results underscore the importance of addressing menstrual health in workplace contexts and demonstrate the innovation of using AI for this purpose. As previous researchers suggest, tools such as menstrual support app can equip individuals and facilitate open discussion of cycle issues at work. Our work illustrates a novel, AI-enabled approach to women’s health and employee wellness in organizational settings.