I built the product around two personas that captured the real spectrum of user need: people actively searching for information, and people with questions they weren't yet comfortable asking directly. That distinction shaped the core information architecture. Rather than a search-and-ask model, I designed for private exploration and low-pressure discovery, letting users browse topics and find answers without having to identify themselves or ask anyone directly.

Saathi means companion, and that idea runs through the product. An AI-assisted chat answers questions privately by text or voice, so there's no audience for a question someone feels embarrassed asking. Alongside it sits a community where users choose their own username rather than posting under their real name. That answers the research insight directly: people wanted to know they weren't alone, without having to expose themselves to find out.

The identity had to make a clinical subject feel approachable. I designed a bilingual logotype pairing Latin and Devanagari with deliberately softened curves, and moved the palette away from the red and pink that dominate this category, leading with blue for its associations with trust and holding red back as an accent.

Usability testing with a trial group showed people understood the platform's purpose, but some content structures asked users to interpret too much before finding what they needed. I simplified the navigation and content hierarchy so key topics were immediately accessible, and rewrote a significant amount of the copy, language that reads as clear from a design perspective can still feel clinical or uncomfortable to someone navigating a sensitive topic.

• AI-assisted chat guide answering questions privately by text or voice

• Community with self-chosen usernames, so users can take part without posting under their real name

• Cycle tracking with mood and symptom reflection

• Curated education feed with read times and view counts, from cycle basics to myth-busting

• Events and workshops listing, plus a map to locate nearby support and products

• Persona-driven IA distinguishing active searchers from hesitant askers

• Bilingual Latin and Devanagari logotype with softened letterforms, and a blue-led palette moving away from the category default

Period Saathi reinforced that reducing friction on a sensitive topic isn't just a navigation problem, it's an emotional one. The most effective changes weren't structural, they were about language and how much exposure a user needed before feeling comfortable finding an answer. It's the project that most shaped how I think about designing for ambiguity: when the real user need isn't clearly stated upfront, research has to work harder to surface it.