Collaborative Design through Play for Children with ADHD and Peers: an Exploratory Study

While diverse initiatives promote technology design as an empowering tool for children, few consider those with attention-deficit or hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD) in technology design. So far, research has focused on children with ADHD as users of technology designed to manage or correct their behaviours. A recent research line instead tries including them in the initial design of technology with their peers. This paper considers how to use the potential of games to engage children with ADHD as codesigners alongside their peers, fostering their participation in shaping their own technology. It presents a version of a board game of cards, CoDePlay4ADHD, which invited a child with ADHD and three of his peers to design simple smart technologies together, e.g., smart bracelets that react to a change in temperature with light effects. The paper presents the main game elements and gameplay of CoDePlay4ADHD to foster collaborative behaviours. It analyses and discusses the results of a workshop with the four children. It concludes discussing the main findings for future editions of game-based design or similar initiatives for engaging children with ADHD and their peers in collaborative technology design.