[brlewis]

Disclaimer: I work for Fitbit, but don't speak for Fitbit.

Thank you for bringing attention to this very important point. From the tweet:

"FWIW this feature was led by women (product manager, head of product, engineering manager). I am not defending the design & I understand that it fails to meet your expectations. Fitbit isn't that big and the people there care a lot about helping people."

A later reply by a current employee: "Also, the algorithm development was led by a woman."

This is just another software flaw, not a demonstration of rampant sexism. I'd ask commenters here (in general, not replying to the parent comment) to curb their outrage. And if things like this really bother you, apply to one of our many open positions.

[imarg]

Yeah, as I said before in another comment I would be surprised "if the people that designed the Fitbit's period tracking feature did not include or at least consulted women".

I take your comment (and the tweet I linked) as being correct about my assumption.

As a non-American (I am European) I am always amazed about how easily things like that are attributed to gender (non) inclusion in the USA. On the other hand, as a male I have to always wonder if I find these kind of reactions over the top not because I am not American but because of my gender.

[brlewis]

In this particular case, the problem is that everybody thinks that if you include women you'll get menstruation right. This applies both to Fitbit assuming we didn't need to consult a gynecologist, and to outsiders assuming Fitbit must not have put women on the project.

More generally, there is a lot of sexism, at least in the U.S., which makes people more inclined to see it everywhere...it's a natural human bias.