Neurodivergent design thinking, to create inclusive recruitment

Theme: Accessibility

This case study will share the experiences of a volunteer cross-government working group that was founded to look at possible improvements for neurodivergent people in the workplace.

In 2022, a diverse team of civil servants came together in a workshop to analyse the findings of a survey to understand how both vacancy holders and neurodivergent colleagues understood reasonable adjustments during job applications. 

Initial user research revealed that the end-to-end application journey had not been fully considered.

The problem statement was reframed to reduce barriers for neurodivergent applicants both getting into the civil service and succeeding in promotion, which led directly to the creation of a reasonable adjustment tool in line with universal design principles.

The tool matches applicants’ support needs with reasonable adjustments at interview stages. It also informs vacancy holders of their responsibility, ensuring requests are made and implemented at the right time. 

The workshop will discuss the organisational challenges faced, the outcomes achieved, and reflections on the benefits of using neurodivergent thinking when designing for both neurodiverse and neurotypical users.

Participant takeaways:

• Having neurodivergent designers at the table matters, especially when designing services for neurodiverse users
• Never take a problem for granted - how a slower approach can enable you to refine your understanding of the problem to be solved 
• How to tackle significant organisational constraints to implementing new ideas to old problems