I’ve been thinking quite a lot this summer about Autism/ADHD and digital accessibility. I’ve experienced a huge amount of personal friction and stress around the various digital tools we’re given, the instability around our offering, etc. but have struggled to articulate what exactly the underpinning source of that challenge is. I suspect there will be some conflicting or diverging needs coming from colleagues navigating similar impulses in different ways. One key issue, I think is that the current model works off of stereotypical presentations and is not drawing actual ND people into the design process.

One of mine big frustrations is when IT tools change their layout just “cause”. I am constantly cursing “try the new outlook” messages which keep popping up with increasing aggressiveness. When I know where stuff is, I can use it really efficiently. When stuff gets moved around, esp. without warning, but also without any functional benefit (e.g. rebranding), it takes energy to reorient, and then friction for several weeks as I get used to the new pattern. Way too many spoons for something that has no link to actual changes in work practice or productivity.

Approaching software from a ND perspective, interface design is really important. Good design has a kind of flow which can make work a joy. I don’t think this is unusual or uniquely neurodivergent as we’ve all worked with an app that made us want to throw a device across the room. But, bad interface design can be literally painful for ND folks to navigate (there is scholarly literature around good UX practice here). All that to say, putting in the time to learn an interface is a major investment of energy. With that in mind, I completely resent unnecessary interface changes that aren’t attached to feature enhancements. Changing the “look” of a piece of software for the sake of an arbitrary rebranding exercise may seem innocuous for many people, but it can actually be a pretty cruel thing to inflict on autistic end-users. So it’s with this in mind that I’ve got a question for the experts here… Microsoft wants me to “try the new outlook for Mac”. I have tried it and prefer not to bother as it is an unnecessary cosmetic change. Microsoft pretends that I have a choice not to adopt this change, but then badgers me with reminders every time I open the app. I have changed and reverted back several times as these “hints” escalate to enforced demands. TBH, if Microsoft can’t figure this all out I’m going to just have to find another email client, as this is the third arbitrary redesign in the Outlook UI in 5 years.