Seeking Harmony in a Beautiful Mess: Designing for Romantic Relationship Navigation of ADHD-Neurotypical Couples

Romantic relationships require continuous effort in maintaining emotional connection, building trust, and adapting to each other's needs.These dynamics become more complex in neurodiverse relationships, where partners may have differing cognitive styles and ways of processing emotions.When one partner has ADHD, differences in attention regulation, decision-making approaches, and time management can shape relationship interactions in unique ways.This study explores how ADHD-neurotypical romantic partners navigate these differences, emphasizing mutual adaptation rather than deficit correction.Through semi-structured interviews with ten participants, we identify key challenges in communication, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution, as well as the strengths that ADHD partners bring to relationships.Findings highlight the need for support mechanisms that foster collaboration and shared agency, rather than reinforcing asymmetrical caregiving dynamics.We propose design implications for embracing neurodiversity and promoting equitable relationship practices, contributing to more inclusive and adaptive relationship-support technologies. CCS Concepts Human-centered computing Empirical studies in accessibility.