"A rising tide lifts all boats" is, at times, a contentious saying with roots in economic policy.
However, in the world of research and service design, it's something that needs to be front-of-mind whenever we think about our users and how to design for them - because it’s on us, as practitioners, to ensure that we are building for everybody.
Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025 is a great time to reflect on that, and to think about how I, a user researcher, can play a role in making sure that all boats really do rise with the tide.
Neurodiversity itself is multifaceted, encapsulating the many ways in which people experience the world around them. These variations are not ‘deficits’, but rather just naturally occurring differences, affecting the ways that each of us interacts with the world.
In total, around 1-in-7 people in the UK are neurodivergent, meaning that they may have a condition such as:
- Autism
- ADHD
- Dyslexia
- Dyspraxia
- Dyscalculia
- Tourette's syndrome
- ...or a combination of the above.
By definition, neurodiversity is so wide-ranging, and can sometimes be so intangible, that it's nearly impossible to identify a comprehensive list of effects or ways in which one’s experience of the world is impacted.
However, some of the most common experiences include sensory overload, overwhelm, difficulty processing information, and challenges with communication or focusing. Many neurodivergent individuals may also face obstacles with numeracy, literacy and motor skills.
At the same time, neurodivergent people may also have a heightened attention to detail, enhanced creativity, and the ability to engage in deep focus.
It's worth being aware, as well, of the fact that even just the process of navigating these experiences as a neurodivergent person can, for some people, provide additional stress, anxiety or exhaustion – often as a result of ‘masking’ (the act of “suppressing or concealing neurodivergent traits in order to appear neurotypical”).
So… how should we conduct inclusive, meaningful research, taking into account the infinitely diverse needs and experiences of users? Here are seven top tips:
- Prioritise psychological safety. Underlying everything we do should be the concept of psychological safety; embedding a sense within participants that they are not only able – but actively encouraged – to speak freely, to surface concerns, and to act naturally.
- Consider physical context. If you’re conducting research online, how might the act of engaging with you via a screen impact on your participant’s ability to focus, relax, or develop rapport? If you’re conducting research in-person, consider the potential for sensory overload: how might your location be affected by loud noise or bright lights, and therefore be liable to inducing sensory overload?
- Provide clarity. It’s crucial to remove, ahead of time, as many uncertainties as possible that a participant might have. Doing so helps to remove anxiety associated with the research process, and may better facilitate users with dyslexia or communication difficulties to engage fully. This might include providing questions in advance of the research taking place, or having tasks written down for participants to refer to.
- Tailor your approach. As mentioned above, neurodiversity is a wide-ranging concept and is experienced individually – so, naturally, it makes sense that your approach to research should avoid being ‘broad brush’. Approach it flexibly: participants’ preferences and comfortability will vary between open and closed questions, one-to-one and group-based research, qualitative or quantitative prompts, personalised scenarios or make-believe vignettes – so be prepared to tweak your research on the fly, as much as possible!
- Compartmentalise. Create a clear structure for your research: split up questions and tasks, and don’t rush or flip-flop your way through them. Research sessions themselves benefit from being broken up: schedule in breaks, allowing you and your participants to retain energy and focus. And allow extra time, to compensate for the cognitive load of participating in research, and how much information may need to be processed in a short amount of time.
- Active listening. It goes without saying to engage in active listening, but it becomes all the more important when researching with neurodiverse people. Approach your research with an open mind, understanding and empathy. Show interest and respond appropriately. And observe both verbal and nonverbal cues for clues about your participant’s own response to the research: how they’re feeling, whether they’re confused, agitated or triggered, whether they might benefit from a break or a change in topic…
- Consider the small things. As a researcher, it’s my job to be cognisant of the variables and influences that intermesh to create a participant’s impression of the world around them. And as menial as it sounds, the clothes we wear, our tone of voice, the language we use, our body language… these all affect how research participants will experience the research.
What’s wonderful about researching in this way is that it’s not just neurodiverse people who benefit. Everybody benefits from an approach which prioritises psychological safety, clarity and partitioned research sessions. Research ‘done right’ – done inclusively – means that everyone is enabled and supported to participate… and that the services we subsequently create will be built on those foundations of inclusivity.
So, when researching with and designing for people that use our services, the best, most effective and most meaningful solutions can be found when we make a conscious effort to ensure that not only does the tide rise, but all of the boats rise with it.
To talk to us about accessibility, neurodiverse-friendly research and human-centred design, reach out on transformation@transformuk.com.