Goals, life events, and transitions: examining fertility apps for holistic health tracking

OBJECTIVE: Fertility is becoming increasingly supported by consumer health technologies, especially mobile apps that support self-tracking activities. However, it is not clear whether the apps support the variety of goals and life events of those who menstruate, especially during transitions between them. METHODS: Thirty-one of the most popular fertility apps were evaluated, analyzing data from three sources: the content of app store pages, app features, and user reviews. FINDINGS: Results suggest that fertility apps are designed to support specific life goals of people who menstruate, offering several data collection features and limited feedback options. However, users often desire holistic tracking that encompasses a variety of goals, life events, and the transitions among them. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest fertility patients can benefit more from holistic self-tracking and provide insights for future design of consumer health technologies that better support holistic fertility tracking. CONCLUSION: Fertility apps have the potential to support varied experiences of people who menstruate. But to achieve that, apps need to expand their support by offering ways for more users to perform holistic, personalized, and personally meaningful tracking, so they can derive long-term benefit from the data they collect.