New Perspective
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Concept 2024
Helping neurodivergent adults — not their families — navigate a world that wasn’t made for them
This project won Best of Show at AIGA Orlando's 2024 SPOT Showcase 🎉
New Perspective is a self-service resource app for neurodivergent adults — designed to help them navigate work, college, and relationships without requiring disclosure to anyone. It targets one of the fastest-growing, most underserved demographics in the U.S.: adults diagnosed late whose existing tools were never built for them.
Role
Product Design
UX Research
Content Strategy
Creative Direction
TimeLine
3 months
Team
Greg Leibowitz, Design Mentor
Projected Results
New Perspective won Best of Show at AIGA Orlando's 2024 SPOT Showcase, selected from an exhibition of 15 projects. If shipped, the following statistics would be used to measure results: Onboarding-to-first-Exercise conversion, Exercise completion rate, return visit rate, and Find College Accommodations engagement.
Context
Most resources for neurodivergent people were built for everyone but them
Searching "autism and ADHD resources" on Google primarily yields resources for parents of neurodivergent children & teens instead of neurodivergent people themselves seeking resources. Neurodivergent people themselves — particularly adults — are largely on their own.
This trend has been influenced by major organizations focusing on neurodiversity, most notably Autism Speaks. They frequently depict neurodivergence as a childhood problem — "a disease that needs to be cured" early on in childhood or else they will be “lost cause” in life. As a result, many of these orgs primarily serve families of neurodivergent children (particularly parents; e.g. so-called "autism moms").
Problem
Many neurodivergent adults are diagnosed late
As more research is being done on neurodivergence and how it manifests in different groups of people, adults are diagnosed later in life. Many adults diagnosed late — particularly women — do not realize they are neurodivergent before their diagnosis, being unaware of how they can manage their symptoms:
60M+
Americans identify as neurodivergent
450%
increase in adult autism diagnoses between 2011 & 2022
Over 50%
of adults with ADHD were diagnosed in adulthood
Designing a resource for neurodivergent adults meant working against every convention that currently exists in the space: no clinical language, no family-facing framing, no virtue signaling or "inspiration porn". The resource had to communicate directly to neurodivergent adults; in other words, telling them "this is for you" instead of merely supporting their families.
Research
The real barrier isn’t incapability — it’s silence
I conducted a survey with 29 neurodivergent adults to learn more about their experiences at work, in college, and in personal relationships. The results indicated a concerning trend:
Higher likelihood of getting fired at work
Not wanting to be perceived differently or be discriminated against (ableism)
Stigma surrounding accommodations
In general: Do not publicly disclose diagnosis (70%)
At work: Job interviews and managing workload (70%)
In class: Asking their professors for help (60%)
With others: Making friends & keeping them (90%)
Notable Survey Insights
I don't tell people at jobs about my brain because they don't care. […] Asking for accommodations is just asking to get fired, so in the workplace I just suffer. I find it easy to talk to customers because I know the interaction is temporary.
Respondent with AuDHD
on being at work
The hardest thing for me in school was self confidence. I would feel like I was a fraud and didn't know as much as my classmates. […] Me not taking care of myself would snowball into poorer time management and increasing my own workload.
Respondent with ADHD
on navigating college
It's important to explain [things] regularly, so people understand where you are coming from. It makes it much easier to understand why you might do or say certain things.
Respondent with autism
on friendships
Both partners being clear about needs helps [each other] know what to expect, what will help the other person feel cared for, and avoid unintentional harm or misunderstanding.
Respondent with AuDHD
on relationships
[…] I tend to forget things and can space out at times. I want people to know that I care and am not bored. It's also hard to manage since I at times will forget to take my medication.
Respondent with ADD
on living with neurodivergence
Interpersonal relationships yielded interesting insights: although respondents don't generally disclose their diagnoses publicly, they tend to tell their loved ones (90%) — especially if they are also neurodivergent. Across work & class, however, the pattern was the same: people knew what they needed, but had learned that saying so came with consequences. Here, silence was rational — it was key to survival.
Define
Many neurodivergent adults are diagnosed late
Neurodivergent people intentionally avoid requesting accommodations to avoid risking discrimination & unemployment
Solution
New Perspective: a discreet resource, not a therapy aid
Personalized user onboarding — no disclosure required
A short onboarding quiz personalizes New Perspective for every user, curating exercises & accommodation resources. Because many neurodivergent adults do not want their diagnosis to be known by their workplace & college professors, users are not required to identify their neurodivergent conditions.
In other words: no disclosure required to get started; the app simply asks users where they are.
II. Self-guided exercises for real situations
Users can take self-guided lessons (called "Exercises" in-app) to learn self-accommodation & coping strategies across the situations where respondents reported the most struggle — work, college, and personal relationships.
The app's self-service model was an intentional choice: no therapist, no peer group, no requirement to disclose to anyone. Content is structured as bite-sized exercises rather than reference material, making coping strategies easy to absorb and apply — especially for users who may be dealing with these situations alone.
III. Locating college accommodations
Many neurodivergent adults — particularly those recently diagnosed — don't know what accommodations they're entitled to, let alone which institutions offer them. New Perspective's "Find College Accommodations" feature** addresses both gaps: helping them locate local colleges & universities that provide accommodations, then pulling data from the user's onboarding quiz answers to display relevant accommodations.
** Prototype shown above displays three institutions as a proof of concept. A fully realized version would require a large, regularly updated database of accommodations — a data & partnership constraint as much as a design one.
IV. Learn and advocate for your needs
New Perspective's "Learn About Neurodiversity" feature gives users language to explain how their neurodivergence affects them — not as a disclosure tool, but as a bridge. Research showed participants were willing to open up to their friends & romantic partners, but they still struggled to articulate their needs even in those safer spaces.
Learn About Neurodiversity addresses that gap: helping users understand their own brain first, so they can communicate what's actually going on rather than leaving their loved ones to guess.
Creative Direction
Design System
Accessibility was a constraint, not a finish line. The UI was built component-first using an atomic design approach, with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance and clear, plain-language content writing throughout — ensuring the app was legible and navigable for users with cognitive disabilities, not just visually distinctive.
Results
Adults diagnosed late/well into adulthood
Adults who can't/won't disclose their diagnosis in public settings
Adults who need a resource they can use alone without feeling uncomfortable
Onboarding-to-first-exercise conversion: Does the quiz successfully move users into the product?
Exercise completion rate: Are users finishing modules or dropping off before getting value?
Return visit rate: A self-service resource tool will either live or die on whether people come back — how effective is it?
Accommodations locator engagement: Are users clicking through to colleges, or just passively browsing? Would users be more engaged if accommodations from other places (e.g. restaurants, stores) are listed alongside colleges?
Takeaways
Special Thanks…
New Perspective won Best of Show (SPOT Showcase Award) at AIGA Orlando's 2024 SPOT Showcase! I couldn't have done it without you all:
Greg Leibowitz, for giving me the opportunity to push my product thinking.
Liana Hernandez (Meija) for providing insightful feedback on designing for the neurodivergent community.
StickerPrintGo for printing the sticker designs I handed out at the SPOT Showcase.
Appendix
Want to learn more?
I'd be happy to walk you through the full case study and talk more about my process over a call!