Making a workspace inclusive is about more than adding a ramp or updating your software. Acas estimates that around 1 in 7 people in the UK are neurodivergent, and for many of them the design of the office or the tools they use every day decides whether work feels manageable or exhausting.
Office-based, remote or hybrid, the same principle applies: reduce unnecessary sensory load, make things predictable, and give people some control. Do that and productivity, wellbeing and retention improve for everyone, not just neurodivergent colleagues.
Here are 12 practical neuroinclusive design changes, split into physical spaces, digital spaces and the way work is organised.
Physical workspaces
1. Offer a choice of lighting
Harsh fluorescent lighting can trigger headaches, eye strain and sensory overwhelm for some people. Mix natural light, softer warm lighting and dimmable task lamps so people can choose what suits them. A desk lamp or a change of bulb is a cheap fix with a big effect.
2. Cut noise and create quiet zones
Open-plan offices are hard work for a lot of people, and especially for many people with ADHD, autism or sensory processing differences. Set aside quiet rooms or pods for focused work, make noise-cancelling headphones available, and consider agreed quiet hours. We make the full case in why every office needs a quiet area.
3. Keep layouts clear and predictable
Clutter and confusing layouts make simply getting around stressful. Keep walkways wide, signage clear, and make the kitchen, printers and toilets easy to find. Avoid moving things around without warning.
4. Provide calm break areas
A visually calm break space with softer lighting, little noise, comfortable seating and a few plants gives people somewhere to reset during the day.
5. Use flexible furniture
Height-adjustable desks, supportive chairs and furniture that can be moved let people set up their space the way they work best. Standing desks suit people who think better when they can move.
6. Reduce visual clutter
Too much visual input is tiring. Keep shared areas tidy, choose calm wall colours, and store equipment out of sight when it isn’t in use. Our guide to creating a neurodiversity-friendly office has more ideas.
7. Make sensory tools available
Fidget items, weighted lap pads or textured objects help some people regulate during meetings or long stretches of focus. Leave them in meeting rooms, or offer a small sensory kit to remote staff.
Virtual and hybrid workspaces
8. Build in digital accessibility
Every platform, training module and shared document should meet accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Use clear sans serif fonts and strong colour contrast, avoid flashing animation, and caption or transcribe video. Keep slides and shared documents visually simple. Our dyslexia style guide and the British Dyslexia Association’s dyslexia friendly style guide are good references. Keep your intranet navigation simple too.
9. Offer several ways to communicate
Not everyone does their best thinking in a live meeting. Some people prefer writing, chat or recorded video updates. Let people choose how they contribute and give more than one route for feedback. If you have rules about cameras in video calls, read our piece on camera-on policies and reasonable adjustments first.
10. Give clear instructions and visual aids
Clarity lowers anxiety, online and in person. Use checklists, visual schedules and step-by-step guides for recurring tasks. For hybrid meetings, spell out how to join, how to contribute, and where to find the notes afterwards.
How work is organised
11. Allow personalisation
Let people adapt their workspace to their own sensory and organisational preferences. Personal items and colour calm some people; others work better at a bare desk. Online, allow flexibility in tools and layouts. A working styles guide is a simple way for people to share what helps them.
12. Build flexibility into workflows
Design isn’t only about the room or the software. It is also about how people work within them. Offer flexibility over schedules, meeting formats and deadlines where you can. A well-designed office does little good if the way work is organised is rigid.
Good for neurodivergent staff, good for everyone
Designing with neurodiversity in mind improves things for the whole workforce. Quiet zones help anyone recovering from illness or doing deep work. Clear signage helps new starters. Adjustable furniture helps people with back pain. Most of these changes have no downside.
Where to start
You don’t need a big budget. Add noise-cancelling headphones to shared equipment, set up one quiet area or protected focus time in calendars, put a few fidget items in meeting rooms, review your intranet for clarity, and send a short survey asking staff what would help them work better. Use the answers to plan bigger investments.
How Enna can help
Our neuroinclusion audits include a review of your physical and digital environment, so you get a clear list of barriers and a prioritised plan to fix them. Where an individual needs specific changes to their own setup, a workplace needs assessment pinpoints exactly what will help.
Environment changes stick when teams understand why they matter, so we often pair audits with neuroinclusive collaboration training. Book a call to talk about your workspace.
