How This Gender-Neutral Period App Is Changing The Design Game

Apps designed specifically for women tend to come with a running theme, as in, loaded with hot-pink font, animated sparkle, and even a litter of kittens to really drive that cute factor home. Problem is, we’re not exactly purring over these designs. Take a gander at iTunes’ top-grossing section, and you’re more likely to see gender-neutral designs, with yellow and blue as the most common color themes.

So, we couldn’t think of anyone better suited to discuss this gender stereotyping trend than Mike Lavigne. The designer of Clue, the menstrual-tracking app void of a single posie-hued pixel, has penned an op-ed for Fast Company on why he took the non-feminine route for Clue’s overall look.

"Ultimately, the vast majority of women-focused apps out there are flat-out embarrassing…My design decision from day one was to not reinforce that embarrassment," wrote Lavigne, adding, "If the goal is to quickly provide real, helpful information to our users in a positive way, we can't do that if we're hiding behind euphemisms or stereotypes about femininity and sex, in both content and design."

Can we get a slow clap started? Lavigne went on to say that since trans* men may also still need to track their cycles, it was all the more important to not single them out. Now, if only all the other app designers had this much of a clue. (Fast Company)