Abstract;
Neurodivergent individuals –individuals with Autism,
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)/ Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, etc – tend to
be inhibited in their self-regulation skills. This means
that, in a study setting, neurodivergent students may have
a difficult time getting started with work, or suffer
increased consequences from losing focus.
As a project, Neurodiversity in Focus explores the
experience of focus and self-motivation of neurodiverse
students while studying and working. Through user
studies, namely a survey and design probe (diary study),
common struggles and challenges are identified. The data
from these studies provided a research basis for design
iterations. These iterations led to the concept of Mind
Clouds; a tool for neurodiverse students to improve
awareness of distracting factors in their environment.
Mind Clouds encourages users to gain initial task insight
by pushing them to write down specific tasks, whilst also
providing insight into distractions, recorded by spinning
and pressing the tool.