Brief:

Deadline: Two Weeks;

Goal: Creating a wellness app related to ADHD management;

Requirements: Designing a web app or native app for at least two devices, preferably different OS;

Challenges:

There are already a lot of apps that help manage some of the struggles ADHDers face;

However, these apps are not made for ADHDers they aren't tailored to their needs;

High percentage of these apps are paid, with either no trial period or extreme short ones;

To prevent myself from making some of the mistakes found in my secondary research and competitor analysis I directed my research to encompass only people with official diagnosis or in the stages of the diagnostics;

Survey and Interview Insights:

Over 80% of ADHDers have tried apps to manage their condition and respective byproducts;

63% of the sample pool felt like apps did not work for them, especially in the long haul;

Issues directly related to Executive Dysfunction and Object permanence were often pinpointed as reasons why success rate was so low;

These issues in turn generated negative feelings in the ADHDers (such as guilt and anxiety) which perpetuate the Executive Dysfunction cycle, and led them to uninstall the apps;

Functions that were working:

Even though apps might not have worked for the ADHDers, they were happy to report the features that captivated them the most:

Community building / social components;

Connecting friends and supporting each other directly through apps;

Gamification of boring things;

Ideation and Result:

The end result of this research turned into an app that helps any ADHDer focus on a struggle of theirs, but only one at a time.

After selecting their goal they can choose one of two ways to work on it: A) by creating a virtual pet that reflects the work the ADHDer does on themselves or B) Gamifying their struggles through a little healthy competition.

When the usage of the app lowers the app can motivate the user to comeback by exploring something new be it a goal, or a method. Consequently the range of novelty becomes much wider, and so does the dopamine of trying something new.

Next Steps:

Prototyping the rest of the flows of the app;

Updating the style guide/brand book;

Preparing the file for developers;

Exploring the full range of possibilities for the app on other devices;

For more information on this project, you can read the full article on

medium