When I became a certified personal trainer, I didn’t imagine that some of my most meaningful insights would come from the quiet, determined strength of women in midlife. What started as a weekend commitment to coach a few clients slowly evolved into something more meaningful: a front-row seat to how overlooked and underserved this demographic often is in both health and technology.

These women weren’t chasing six-pack abs or trying to squeeze into pre-pandemic jeans. Many were quietly navigating menopause, post-pregnancy shifts, career transitions, and the emotional weight of caring for both children and ageing parents. Through every hesitant squat and self-conscious glance in the mirror, they offered a window into a user group that is rarely considered in product design.

Health equity, I’ve come to learn, isn’t only about access for rural or low income groups. It also means asking who’s being left out of the conversation and which products are unintentionally being excluded.

The midlife gap in health innovation

In Southeast Asia, we’re seeing a surge in digital health startups. AI-powered diagnostics, mindfulness apps, wellness platforms, they’re all booming. But scan through pitch decks, and the typical user personas often fall into two camps: young, tech-savvy urban millennials or elderly patients in rural areas.

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Left in the shadows? Women aged 35 to 55. They’re juggling careers, caregiving, and their own changing bodies. They are usually financially independent and digitally literate, yet their needs often go unaddressed or get generalised under broader user categories.

During training sessions, I often hear:

“I just want to feel strong again.”

“I’m not sure if this is stress or age.”

“Everything feels like it’s made for 20 year olds.”

These aren’t one off comments. They’re recurring patterns, insights hiding in plain sight.

Confidence before conversion

Confidence, not capability, is often the invisible barrier. These women are disciplined. They show up. But their bodies are changing, and that makes them second guess themselves.

When a health app asks them to count macros without accounting for perimenopause, it can feel out of touch. When a program suggests simply “sleep more,” they might laugh or cry. A wearable might praise their step count while ignoring chronic insomnia or low energy.

Through personal coaching, I found that celebrating small, consistent effort worked better than chasing metrics. Replacing “burn 300 calories” with “you made time for yourself today” had a bigger impact than expected.

And when that message landed, commitment followed.

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What inclusive design could look like

If more health tech builders sat in my coaching shoes, they might notice the same quiet needs I did. Based on these lessons, here are a few gentle design nudges that could go a long way:

• Menopause aware design: Acknowledge the experience. Add resources for hormonal changes, disrupted sleep, or joint discomfort. Sometimes, just seeing those words in an app is a relief.
• Flexible goals: Instead of focusing solely on aesthetics or performance, offer goals like increased energy, reduced stress, or simply being able to carry groceries with ease.
• Respectful, empowering tone: Avoid cheerleading or condescension. Speak as if to a peer, not a patient.
• Supportive communities: Leaderboards and competitive stats can backfire. What resonates more are peerled spaces for sharing stories and setbacks without judgment.
• Real-world feedback loops: Test new features with real women in this demographic. Their input is often more nuanced and more valuable than what metrics alone can show.

The coach’s perspective

Coaching taught me to observe what’s not being said. If someone skips a session, is it because they’re too busy or because they feel they’ve failed? The difference matters.

When a client quietly admits she almost didn’t come because she felt ashamed of her progress, that’s not a personal failure; it’s a design challenge waiting to be solved.

Founders often say, “we want to solve real problems.” But that takes more than user surveys. It takes sitting in discomfort, showing up with empathy, and noticing the unspoken.

Designing with, not for

If we’re building health tech for real impact, we might ask:

Are we acknowledging confidence changes with age? Are we including those juggling care and career? Do we invite users back kindly when they miss a day or do we guilt them with streak reminders?

These aren’t just design tweaks. They reflect whether a product truly sees the user or just their data.

Closing reflections

Working with women in midlife continues to shift how I view inclusion. It’s no longer about checking boxes for representation. It’s about listening better, designing more gently, and recognising that strength looks different at different stages of life.

In tech, we often ask: “Does the market need this?” But perhaps another question is just as vital: “Would this make someone feel seen?”

If we start there, we don’t just build for health equity. We build with it.

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