Co-designing a Managing & Coping Metric with Autistic and ADHD Users

Traditional wellbeing measures often fail to capture the lived experiences of neurodivergent people. In this research, Brain in Hand worked collaboratively with autistic and ADHD adults to co-design a new prototype metric focused on managing and coping with everyday challenges.

Over eight weeks of participatory sessions, users helped shape the construct itself, the questions included, and even how the metric should be presented. The result is a 20-item prototype designed to reflect experiences often overlooked in traditional measures, such as sensory overwhelm, masking, burnout, and recovery time, while prioritising accessibility and usability.

This report shares what we learned from the co-design process and how participatory research can lead to more meaningful ways of understanding neurodivergent experiences.