[ottah]

I need assistance with task retrieval, time management, and working memory. I do not need an app that makes me feel guilty, and quantifies it with pretty charts. We are not lacking in knowledge, and track data isn't particularly useful. Especially if you're ability to consistently engage with an app is not there. No amount of notifications and prodding will work to solve overwhelm and and distraction.

What we need is assistive technologies that complement our deficits. I won't use an app to just log I did something, but I will use an app if it's crucial to do that activity, and it makes it easier for me to do so.

[Fr0styMatt88]

When you say assistive technology, what kind of things are you thinking about?

I don't have ADHD myself but I'm heavy into home automation and am just interested in it in general, since I think there's so much potential for smart tech to actually improve the lives of those with ADHD.

Some things that come to mind:

- Washing machine alerts you if you have accidentally done washing and forgotten to take it out.

- Household lights change colour consistently throughout the day to assist with time blindness; house goes into wind-down mode at night automatically at the same time. Music starts automatically when you should be getting up out of bed. Coffee machine starts brewing coffee (if that's your thing).

- Doomscrolling pits like Instagram and Tiktok are disabled except for very specific times of the day.

- Extremely low friction note taking (eg- smartwatch, recorder pin) that's instantly available, searchable and automatable.

- Airtags for finding misplaced items quickly.

Also goes without saying -- when you know one person with ADHD.... you know one person with ADHD. What works for any particular person is going to be mostly unique, or at least a unique combination of things.

Essentially, anything that a) puts cues in your environment to help steer you in the right direction and b) requires very little executive function to access.

Is that on the right track?

[tormeh]

Yes, this makes sense, at least to me. But the issue is that this is a lot of stuff working together and not just another app.

[sureglymop]

I have adhd myself and I am designing assistive technology for myself.

My software is basically "self spyware", a (mouse/key/browser history/etc) logger for linux. In a way like an open source (though not yet) microsoft recall but even more extensive and with better search and no AI. The idea is to:

1. Be able to put in small notes easily and quickly without having to think of name, tags, etc.

2. Be able to recall what I did, when I did it and what else I did around that time, with _time_ being the main link. So you don't have to semantically link things together like in e.g. obsidian. You can, but using locality of reference should already provide good results.

I wrote some code already for the keylogging parts. Where I got stuck is when thinking about/designing the parts that require cryptography. When I have more free time I definitely want to get back to it.

What I found I need most due to my adhd:

1. A way to do anything "in the moment". Let's say I'm about to procrastinate on my phone but know I have to write an email. Then I must have the ability to do that very quickly right from my phone. If mentally the task of "turning on my laptop" and doing it there seems like too much, I won't do it. So the "preparation friction" to do any task must be as small as possible. This is somewhat a difficult problem but technologically it requires everything to be cross platform and easily accessible.

2. A way to very quickly confirm what I already did before or confirm that I already did something. I have to constantly confirm it because I can't remember if I did. This part is what my software tries to address.

[CastFX]

As ADHD dev that thought about something similar (but never worked on it) I'd love to see the code. Please make a post when you intend to release it as opensource, it seems super interesting

[misswaterfairy]

Agreed. This app feels like work, which for ADHD-PI sufferers will stop using almost immediately, forget to use it entirely, or use it inconsistently and then feel bad/guilty for failing then give up anyway.

> No amount of notifications and prodding will work to solve overwhelm and distraction.

+1000. Depending on the 'flavour' of ADHD one suffers, an app that requires data to drive graphs only creates more noise, which is a killer for ADHD brains, especially those with the 'hyperactive' traits of the disorder.

Less bells and whistles. Not more.

[christalwang]

thanks for this feedback - curious what current assistive technologies you use right now? totally agree on complementing our challenges, and there are definitely a lot of apps that do pieces of it (we have some of these features on our roadmap to integrate in) but what we've found through coaching and our members is that a big part of their barrier to reaching the life they want is around self worth, noticing wins / patterns in little wins over time, and coming up with / remembering strategies across different life areas. the goal here is not to choose one or the other but to support both types of needs

[misswaterfairy]

Not OP, but a notepad, a calendar (both I already get for free on my phone), and medication.

Your app interesting, but the tracking data and linked data required is an absolute non-starter for me. Privacy is key, especially for those who are really sensitive about revealing their ADHD diagnosis or symptoms. I know of people who have been discriminated against because of their ADHD diagnosis.