05-29-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

Design for the ADHD brain

This is the secret hack all marketers need to know.

[Photo: Getty Images]

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of top leaders and experts who pay dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership, and more.

BY Nathan Friedman and Jessica Garlick

Researchers suggest that the average attention span has plummeted over the past two decades, from about 2.5 minutes to just 47 seconds in 2012. How can marketers capture attention when they’re losing people in less time than it takes to properly wash your hands?It turns out that there’s an overlooked community that can teach us a lot about what it takes to cut through in our distracted world.

Almost 14% of Americans report having ADHD. This is a consumer segment with enormous economic power representing trillions in net worth, yet it remains dramatically under-researched in marketing. While major marketing research overflows with studies on much smaller groups like luxury shoppers, plant-based eaters, and crypto users, ADHD and neurodiversity are almost invisible in that research. It’s no wonder we found only 20% of ADHD consumers feel that brands fully understand and serve their needs.

The industry largely ignores one of the most fundamental variables shaping behavior: how people’s........

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