Vol. 2 Clue｜What Do We Regain by “Measuring”? The Clue Option

You can view the official Clue website here.

1｜To those of us who have let "just because" suffice

When did we start to dismiss our periods and health as "just because"?

I feel a little heavy.
I'm not in the mood today.
I must just be tired.

Amidst our busy daily lives, we somehow learned to put off addressing small changes.

I was one of them.
 

2｜Clue: A quiet tool

Clue is a menstrual and health tracking app created in Berlin, Germany.

You can record daily changes in your period, blood flow, pain, mood, and physical condition with very simple operations.

You don't need anything special.
Just pay a little attention to your body.
It's a quiet tool for looking back at your own rhythm later.
 

3｜Before the words existed

The app was created by Ida Tin.
She is known for popularizing the term "Femtech" globally.

When Clue was born,
women's health was not yet considered a subject for investment or technology.

She, who had been traveling the world by bicycle,
felt that if she "understood her period and physical condition,
it would be easier to plan trips and work."

However, investors responded with comments like,
"What's the point of managing your period?"
"Is there really such a need?"

Female × Technology — Femtech.
This word became the "translation" that conveyed her ideas to the world.

Left: Ida / Right: Amina (at Femtech Fes! 2024) 

4｜From sensation to record

What Clue changed was not its function.
It was the distance to one's body.

"Something feels off"
"Something feels a little different than usual"
To such vague sensations,
it added the option of "recording."

It doesn't diagnose.
However, it definitely stands just before taking a step toward medical care.

 5｜The future doesn't suddenly arrive one day

There's a story that goes like this:

Clue collects data, mainly on menstruation and health, from users in over 190 countries.
Of course, with the user's consent.

Through research using this big data,
it has become possible to detect signs beforehand, such as,
"This person will likely consult a doctor soon,"
or "There's a possibility of a specific disease."

It's not about predicting the future.
It's simply about being able to pick up on changes that are an extension of everyday life,
without overlooking them.

 
6｜We were never taught about prevention

There are many things about women's health that
can inherently be "prevented" or "noticed earlier."

Yet, many people
don't go to the gynecologist
until symptoms are clear,
or until their daily lives are affected.

It's not because we are indifferent.

It's simply that
opportunities to notice,
opportunities to learn,
and environments that encourage us
have largely not been provided.

7｜The day data took me to the hospital

I myself have an unforgettable experience from using Clue.

Some time after giving birth, I had continuous irregular bleeding.
At first, I thought, "It will settle down eventually."

But when I looked back at my records,
the amount and duration of bleeding were clearly different from usual.

Because the data was there,
I could determine that "this is not normal."

When I showed the app to the doctor at the hospital and explained, he immediately understood the situation.

(My own data recorded in Clue. The days with bleeding are shown in red, and the intensity of the color indicates the amount. The amount of bleeding was tracked using a menstrual cup.)

8｜Leaving choices for your future self

Japan also has period tracking apps.
However, the discussion about how to use "what comes after recording"
is not yet sufficient.

Clue stands between daily life and medical care,
quietly offering information
that might lead to the decision, "Maybe I should go."

"Measuring" is not about control.
Nor is it about restricting yourself.

It's about
leaving choices for your future self.

There isn't just one right answer.
But just having choices
can bring us a little peace of mind.

Next time, too,
we'll bring you another one of these "global choices."