Junto / M:IPD Grad Thesis
Enabling productivity for young adults with ADHD
Jessica Chou
Ankita Diwan
Kanika Kumar
09/2024 – 05/2025
Product Design
Interaction Design
Business Strategy
Connected Objects
Smart technology that simplies goal management for young adults with ADHD through social accountability with trusted ones, AI-assisted task management, and minimized distraction – a system that keeps user motivated in a long term.
Rather than focus solely on design, we worked on the product strategy, business plan, and tied our design decisions to the business goal. A few milstones include winning the Wharton Innovation Fund Validation Award and getting into Wharton’s Startup Challenge as semifinalists.
Acheiving long term goals are extremely difficult for young adults with ADHD.
With overwhelming feelings, time blindness, prioritization, common aspirations like securing a first job, building meaningful relationships, or pursuing professional growth often feel out of reach due to procrastination and distractions. Social accountability can boost productivity, but only when the support is meaningful and personal.
Current solutions are isolated – there’s a gap in the addressible market
$15.5 million U.S. adults have ADHD, which equals to $143 billion of societal cost annually, reflecting the magnitude of this challenge. However, Current solutions (ex. task tracking, online body doubling) fail to address the intersection of these needs — offering either isolated functionality.
Enabling productivity through social accountability, AI task breakdown, and reduced distraction – a 3 parts ecosystem to start, focus and follow through
Turn your goals to baby steps with AI tesk breakdown.
Keep you motivated with love and support from trusted friends and family.
Say “bye” to your phone and follow through with a device to minimize distraction.
Interview and conducted focus groups sessions with 15+ users to understand their struggles with productivity and goal management
Target user:
Age: 18 – 30 years old
Profession: Students, early-mid career professionals
ADHD diagnosis: Diagosed with ADHD in adulthood, or strongly suspect
Consulted experts in behaviroal science
We also received mentorship from 10+ healthcare experts (ADHD professional, therapist, etc.). They provided insights on executive dysfunction, behavioral motivation, and in-depth knowledge about productivity for ADHD individuals.
Competitive analysis showed that current solutions are isolated. 70% of the users said they don’t sustain.
While conducting interview, users said they drop off after 1-2 weeks of trial period. We analyzed those products and see how they help user achieve their goals.
Number one:
Big goal don’t motivate, they paralyze
Starting is hard, staying motivated is harder, doing it alone makes it worse
Number three:
The brain wants to focus, but phone has other plans
Social accountability became our strongest direction
Brainstormed and prototyped solutions with two assumptions:
User have strong enough friend or family member to help and support them along the way
Number two:
User are used to voice-based interaction