Master of Research School of Innovation & Technology
Donna Jamieson
Design & Communication Research
Donna is a Glasgow-based designer whose work explores themes of mental health, gendered data, and environmental concerns, often through group or community responses. With over thirty years of experience in digital design and third-sector enterprises, she has been a visiting lecturer at Glasgow School of Art for eight years.
Her perspectives as a Zen Buddhist and mindfulness teacher have informed her MRes project, alongside her lived experience of neurodivergence.
A Deficit Her Data
ADHD Women, Mindfulness & Healthcare Design
This study began with the historical story of deficit that surrounds what is clinically and commonly known about the presentation and diagnosis of female ADHD. It placed a soft gaze on digital healthcare horizons and assumed opportunities for future systems to encode this story of lack. The research aimed to cultivate a mindful approach, characterised by presence, compassion, and an appreciative lens.
Adopting a mindfulness-informed methodology, the study explored the lived experiences of women with ADHD, framing their insights as a unique design challenge for future digital technologies aimed at achieving equitable patient empowerment.
Mindful practices, known to benefit those with ADHD, were integrated into the research as an empathetic pathway, enhancing the inquiry process and revealing how these methods can shape healthcare data and design insights.
Six ADHD women participated remotely, mindfully delving into their lived experiences and perceptions of adult diagnoses in Scotland.
Mindful Inquiry
During the study, the utility of mindfulness evolved from simply being a tool for managing ADHD symptoms in a group design setting to becoming a powerful method for investigating and questioning memory perceptions.
Q1_What can the mindfulness paradigm contribute to healthcare design research for and with ADHD Women?
Two group workshops were held online, and participants were led through adapted mindfulness praxis to explore their memory of diagnosis. In the first workshop, the group explored the present-moment experience as they brought diagnosis to mind.
In the second workshop, participants mapped people and things that had a part to play in their diagnostic experience, they then engaged in a “loving kindness” praxis, after this, they noted any differences that had occurred. Worksheets were provided to map and record responses.
Participants shared their findings within the group using a framework for Mindful Communication. An asynchronous option was provided for those with social difficulties and timekeeping challenges.
Project Links
Findings & Analysis
Q.2_How does mindful inquiry impact the perceptions of the diagnostic experience of ADHD Women?
The participants’ worksheets allowed them to capture changes in diagnostic perceptions after their engagement in mindful praxes.
Transcriptions of group “sharings” were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) for UX. This surfaced both the utility of mindful praxes on memory perceptions and revealed potential utility for digital design tools.
Somatic inquiry had broadened awareness to reveal previously unseen emotional data. Whilst relational inquiry had revealed therapeutic data providing a counterpoint to “black and white” thinking styles.
Discussion & Feedback
The project initially aimed to explore the benefits of mindfulness in a collaborative design setting for individuals with ADHD. However, as empathy for the participants grew, mindfulness was redeployed more inclusively as an approach to design inquiry. The focus for facilitation was to encourage a willingness to authentically show up and engage a sense of curiosity.
The project led to the creation of Healthcare Vignettes that vividly captured diagnostic experiences. By using mindful methodologies, the digital design process uncovered rich emotional insights and positive, therapeutic data that participants noted would otherwise be challenging to obtain.
Project outcomes were quite astounding, participants not only gained new personal insights into their diagnostic memory perceptions, some reported profound changes in themselves and their worldview six months after participation.
