Observations and Interviews
Social Worker/Guidance Counselor
Works with college age students in a private practice. Also runs a K-12 guidance department at a mid size school.
Social Involvement of others is important to improving attention
People with ADHD understand they have a problem. A common behavior is installing self help software and then not using it/uninstalling it.
Tedious and boring material is so unappealing in relationship with easy access engagement and stimulation
Precipitous drop in the grades of ADHD kids who are given iPads in the classroom
Reward systems have proven effective where stimulation is given in exchange for accomplishment
MIT Course 16 Senior
Long unordered lists get ignored, while lists with a clear hierarchy of titles or ideas are very attractive.
Graphics and colors get noticed first, things that are familiar or expected or easier to look at and more appealing
Low tolerance for sites that take more than a few seconds to understand
Chunking improves ability to scan/comprehend
It is important to keep track of useful information to pull up and see all together (e.x. Summaries)
Dina Course 9 Junior
Has difficulty starting tasks, doesn’t know what approach to take
Hyperfocuses on specific things. This tends to happen with hands-on work
Low capacity for working memory: losing thread in the middle of a paragraph/long questions.
Breaks information into parts to deal with it. Switches between topics and tasks to keep interested. Sets goals to accomplish before starting to work, and writes them down.
Plans rigid time blocks in which to do activities
User Analysis/Groups
From our observations and interviews, we identified two broad user groups: students with ADHD, as well as their parents, friends, teachers or other interested parties.
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