Design Principles

A collection of design principles informed by the needs of neurodiverse users and learners.

Numbers 0 to 9 presented in the format of a phone dialpad.

Numbers
Typical imposter letter shapes, lowercase, d, b, q, and p.

Font
The uppercase letter t inside a marquee box with draggable corner handles.

Typography
A colour wheel icon with lines joining the locations of complimentary colours.

Colour
Four icons of cursors, pointers and hit areas for mobile and desktop computers.

Buttons, Links, Inputs
A simple wireframe of a desktop user interface.

Interface
A collection of speech bubbles in various sizes.

Communications
An icon of an animated circle moving diagonally from bottom left to top right.

Animations

Explaining the 'Why'

Articles that detail principles of design to support learners with learning differences and variations in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention and mood. By aligning the needs of neurotypes with the psychology of user experience and human design, interactive learning media can be greatly improved and support the Universal Design for Learning.

This

The right typography can support neurodivergent learners' reading on screens.

Not This

There are specific font shapes that make dyslexic readers, read better!

Design Principle Overview

Learner Personas

A collection of personas that characterise real traits and qualities of learners and users of an LMS.

A young woman, sitting on a bed, wearing a beanie hat, drinks a hot drink.

Competent Katie
A young man wearing a black shirt, throwing a rugby ball in the air.

Talented Tama
A young happy woman wearing a blue t-shirt sitting on a park bench, under green trees.

Tenacious Tania
A middle-aged man wearing glasses and a grey t-shirt waving his hand to say hello.

Motivated Ming
A teenage girl painting a colourful abstract picture on canvas with her deformed hand.

Resilient Rachel
A man with a gentle expression on his face, wearing a patterned shirt, sitting beside a window.

Perceptive Paris
A woman sitting in a yoga pose with closed eyes and hands together in a prayer position.

Ambitious Ana
A middle-aged man wearing glasses looks very aggressive and threatening.

Deliberate Dan
A middle-aged woman wearing a grey shirt stands with folded arms appearing passively aggressive.

Critical Karen

Use for your team

Start from a firm foundation. Build your own personas from shared learner characteristics.

These personas can be downloaded individually or as a pack, adapt or advance any persona to suit your team's project.

A teenage girl painting a colourful abstract picture on canvas with her deformed hand.
  • Personal pronouns: (they/them)
  • Statement: "I was once told this world is not made for people like me"
  • Age: 19
  • Location: Dunedin, lives with parents
  • Education: Average NCEA grades
  • Neurodiversity: Dyspraxia
  • Employment: Unemployed
  • Other: Is a talented storyteller, copes with a physical disability, and experienced prejudice in school.
 A woman sitting in a yoga pose with closed eyes and hands together in a prayer position.
  • Personal pronouns: She/her
  • Statement: "I need to kickstart my career again"
  • Age: 27
  • Location: Wellington, lives with husband...
  • Education: Average to high NCEA grades
  • Neurodiversity: Typical
  • Employment: Unemployed
  • Other: Primary caregiver for her disabled son for the last six years. A regular visiting nurse and a growing support network...
 A young happy woman wearing a blue t-shirt sitting on a park bench, under green trees.
  • Personal pronouns: (she/her)
  • Statement: "I can do this, I just need time".
  • Age: 21
  • Location: Wellington, a single mum with...
  • Education: Low to average NCEA grades
  • Neurodiversity: Dyslexia, ADD, Irlen Syndrome
  • Employment: Housekeeping and Hospitality
  • Other: Strong social bonds with extended whānau and active within her iwi, but can't seem to "get ahead in life".
 A young man wearing a black shirt, throwing a rugby ball in the air.
  • Personal pronouns: (he/him)
  • Statement: "Just tell me what to do and I’ll..."
  • Age: 33
  • Location: Tauranga, lives on lifestyle...
  • Education: Level 5 NZQA, Digital Media and Design
  • Neurodiversity: Dyslexia, ADHD
  • Employment: Self-employed
  • Other: Confident, actively social, talented illustrator. Did well in art and design at school but not so...
 Persona avatar
  • Personal pronouns: (he/him)
  • Statement: "I must become qualified to get a good job..."
  • Age: 52
  • Location: Auckland, living in student...
  • Education: Above-average equivalent qualifications
  • Neurodiversity: Typical
  • Employment: None (paid for fees...)
  • Other: Wants to gain residency and family to join him later
Choose what to download

Join the NDS on Mastodon

Mastodon is an open-source, free-to-use, decentralized, platform (also known as the “Fediverse").

The NDS is currently located at neurodiversity-in.au, "a safe and inclusive area, you don’t have to be from Australia to join, and you don’t have to be neurodivergent".