ADHD: How Mind Maps Bring Clarity & Calm

Understanding Neurodiversity

What is ADHD?

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. It is a condition that affects how people behave. People with ADHD can seem restless, may be easily distracted, and may act impulsively. This can make it challenging to keep track of thoughts, which can often seem to come all at once — leading to difficulties in sticking to tasks and goals.

It is important to understand that ADHD is not a reflection of a person's intelligence or abilities, but rather a unique way their brain functions.

This is called neurodiversity.

An umbrella term that covers all individuals whose brains work differently, including autistic or dyslexic individuals. It's estimated that 15-20% of the world population (Source: Zurich Insurance 2023) fall under this category, yet this group faces a lot of stigma and accessibility barriers.

Understanding the different ways how people think, and process information is the first step in creating more accessible and inclusive tools.

3 Things Users Really Need

Every person has different abilities that impact how they interact with an app or a website. During the design process we can influence user experience heavily by focusing on their needs.

When it comes to individuals with ADHD, there are 3 main things that they need:

1. An interface that is understandable and user-friendly, with clear interactions, consistent layouts, and logical structure.
2. A distraction-free zone where they can fully focus on their thoughts, without autoplay videos or pop-ups that disrupt focus.
3. Clear guidelines on what to do next and support when errors occur.

By creating an interface that includes all that, we not only empower individuals with ADHD, but create an experience that works well for everyone.

MindNode: Your Tool for Focused Thought

Designing for Accessibility

From the very beginning, accessibility has been a core principle in our work on MindNode. We believe that capturing your thoughts should be quick, effortless, and beautiful — no matter your abilities. The result is a visual mind mapping tool that is intuitive, distraction-free, and highly customizable.

MindNode allows you to structure your thoughts in a way that mirrors your unique thinking process. Whether that’s linear or non-linear. It’s equipped with various features that support focus and attention:

• The infinite canvas provides an unrestricted space for the mind to roam freely.
• The Quick Entry feature ensures that every idea is captured as it strikes, preventing them from slipping away. The idea is to capture first, organize later. No need to worry about where to place them first.
• The optional Focus Mode, Tags, and Folding help in narrowing down attention to a single branch or even node when needed — putting a spotlight on the details that matter the most.

By reducing the friction in capturing thoughts, we enable you to concentrate more on your ideas and less on the process of recording them.

Structuring the Unstructured

MindNode was designed with the understanding that not everyone thinks in straight lines. Which is why MindNode offers full flexibility to visualize your thoughts the way you want them to:

Features like Visual Tags also add more context to your thoughts. At the same time, Themes instantly style them, making them easy to differentiate and understand.

By being able to create, connect, and rearrange nodes freely, you can capture your ideas as they arise — without the pressure of structuring them immediately. We’ve heard from our community, particularly from users with ADHD, that this was one of their most loved things about MindNode.

In essence, MindNode functions like an extension of your brain, accommodating its uniqueness and turning potential challenges into strengths. All while being easy-to-use and looking beautiful.

Our journey does not end here. We continue to improve MindNode, with the goal of being effective and accessible for everyone. For more on that, you can check out our accessibility page, where we talk about our accessibility features and improvements.