Our Product

Designing Focus Frames™ for the Modern Office Problem

When we started developing Focus Frames™, we weren't trying to "fix" ADHD brains. We were trying to solve a design problem that nobody seemed willing to acknowledge: modern offices are hostile environments for neurodivergent minds.

Open-plan workspaces, glass walls, hot-desking arrangements, they've become the default across industries from tech startups to corporate headquarters. They're meant to foster collaboration and creativity. For the adults with ADHD working in these environments, they create something else entirely: a daily assault on attention systems that process visual information fundamentally differently.

The Product Development Journey

Focus Frames™ emerged from a simple question: What if instead of expecting ADHD brains to adapt to environments designed for neurotypical processing, we adapted the visual environment to suit different neurological wiring?

The insight came from Goghini founder James's experience following his ADHD diagnosis at 31. He noticed that manually blocking his peripheral vision, creating makeshift blinders with his hands, produced an immediate, dramatic improvement in focus. "We kept coming back to this idea of visual debris," James recalls. "Safety glasses block physical debris. What about the constant visual noise exhausting neurodivergent minds?"

The core insight came from peripheral vision research. Studies show people with ADHD demonstrate 94% increased risk of visual processing challenges compared to neurotypical individuals [1]. This isn't about visual acuity, it's about how ADHD brains process peripheral visual information, with what researchers call "superior colliculus hyperresponsiveness" [2].

In practical terms, this means that a person walking past the glass meeting room, the flickering notification light three desks over, and the colleague's bright jumper in peripheral vision all steal cognitive resources, whether you consciously notice them or not.

We're aware this isn't an entirely novel concept. Safety glasses with side shields exist, but they're transparent, defeating the purpose of reducing peripheral input. Sunglasses with blinders look striking, but aside from the impracticality of wearing dark lenses indoors for work, they're visually obvious in ways many people find uncomfortable. We wanted to create something functional that didn't broadcast "I'm wearing special equipment." That's why we chose one of the most popular eyewear frame designs as our foundation, something that looks entirely conventional whilst providing the peripheral filtering ADHD brains need.

Why Peripheral Vision Matters in Modern Offices

Traditional office design never considered peripheral vision as a factor in productivity. Why would it? For neurotypical brains, peripheral information gets automatically filtered. The design assumption was that people would simply ignore irrelevant visual stimuli and focus on their work. Or perhaps it wasn’t even considered.

But research reveals ADHD brains show "enhanced visual responses" and "increased sensitivity to peripheral stimuli" [3]. Every movement in peripheral vision triggers what scientists call "attentional capture", the involuntary shifting of focus to new stimuli. Your brain's threat-detection system treats that colleague walking past as potentially important information needing processing.

Neurotypical brains quickly assess and dismiss irrelevant visual stimuli. ADHD brains continue processing, creating what one user described as "trying to focus while dozens of browser tabs keep opening automatically."

Eye-tracking studies demonstrate this quantitatively: people with ADHD spend significantly more time looking at irrelevant areas, with visual distractors particularly effective at disrupting attention patterns [4].

Focus Frames™ address this by creating gentle visual boundaries that reduce the salience of peripheral movement while maintaining spatial awareness. You're not blocking your view; you're turning down the volume on visual noise that overwhelms your attention systems.

The Open Office Catastrophe

The statistics tell a damning story. Research on open offices reveals they decrease productivity, increase stress, and raise error rates [5]. For ADHD professionals, the impact is more severe.

Princeton neuroscientist Sabine Kastner's work proves visual clutter literally competes with the brain's ability to pay attention. Her studies found that more objects in the visual field means harder brain work filtering them out, causing mental fatigue and reducing cognitive function [6].

"For people with ADHD, the open office is not a collaborative working space. It's a loud, chaotic wasteland," research on neurodivergent workplace design concludes [7].

Yet open offices continue proliferating. Google, Meta, and major financial institutions, all embracing open plans. The design trend that was supposed to democratise the workspace and enhance collaboration became an accessibility barrier for neurodivergent professionals.

This is where Focus Frames™ become not just helpful, but necessary. When the environment itself is the problem, and changing corporate real estate decisions is impossible, you need portable environmental modification.

The Clinical Evidence Supporting the Approach

We didn't just build Focus Frames™ on anecdotal evidence. We looked at the research on peripheral vision modification and ADHD.

One clinical trial found 62% of adults with ADHD showed significant symptomatic improvement using peripheral vision management tools [8]. Another study demonstrated that reducing peripheral visual input leads to measurable improvements in sustained attention and reduced cognitive load [9].

The mechanism makes neurological sense. When your brain isn't constantly processing peripheral distractions, it can allocate more resources to central tasks. Processing irrelevant visual information uses precious working memory resources, leaving less capacity for work that matters [10].

Studies reveal visual clutter increases "extraneous cognitive load", mental effort that doesn't help accomplish goals but depletes resources anyway [11]. By reducing visual input from the periphery, Focus Frames™ lower this extraneous load, freeing cognitive resources for productive use.

Beyond Individual Accommodation

Focus Frames™ don't change the environment—they give you portable environmental control. For decades, the burden was on ADHD professionals to "adapt" to hostile workspaces through sheer willpower. Learn to ignore distractions. Develop better focus. Try harder.

This approach is fundamentally flawed. Telling ADHD brains to stop processing peripheral information is like telling hearts to stop beating. It's an automatic neurological process, not a choice.

Focus Frames™ represent a different philosophy: neurodivergent brains deserve tools designed for their actual processing style. You still have to adapt, but now you're adapting with a tool that works with how your brain actually functions—modifying your sensory input rather than fighting automatic neurological responses with willpower alone.

This matters in offices, but also in:

  • Busy cafés where remote workers cluster

  • University lecture halls with movement on all sides

  • Co-working spaces designed for "energy" and "buzz"

  • Conference venues with thousands of attendees

  • Any public space where you need to focus while surrounded by visual activity

The Future of Neurodivergent Workplace Design

Focus Frames™ are one solution, but they point toward a larger shift. As organisations begin acknowledging neurodiversity, workplace design needs fundamental rethinking.

Imagine offices with:

  • Quiet zones with minimal visual stimulation

  • Adjustable peripheral boundaries built into workspace design

  • Lighting control at individual workstations

  • Private focus rooms are available without booking systems

  • "Visual rest" areas where you can escape sensory bombardment

Until that future arrives, Focus Frames™ provide portable environmental modification. You can't redesign your office, but you can modify your visual experience within it.

We designed Focus Frames™ because neurodivergent professionals deserve better than fighting their neurology in hostile environments. You deserve tools that work with your brain, not constant pressure to override your natural processing patterns.

The modern office is broken for ADHD minds. Focus Frames™ are our answer to that design failure.

Research References

[1] Bellato, A., et al. (2022). Association between ADHD and vision problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Molecular Psychiatry, 27(1), 410-422.

[2] Panagiotidi, M., et al. (2017). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder-like traits and distractibility in the visual periphery. Perception, 46(6), 665-678.

[3] Yuan, J., et al. (2023). ADHD symptoms and global-local visual processing. Journal of Attention Disorders, 27(8), 890-903.

[4] Merzon, L., et al. (2022). Eye movement behavior in a real-world virtual reality task reveals ADHD in children. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 20308.

[5] Kushlev, K., et al. (2016). Open offices and workplace distraction. Harvard Business Review, 94(3), 58-65.

[6] Kastner, S., & Ungerleider, L. G. (2000). Mechanisms of visual attention in the human cortex. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 23(1), 315-341.

[7] Morrison, R. L., & Bellack, A. S. (1981). The role of social perception in social skill. Behavior Therapy, 12(1), 69-79.

[8] Richter, H. O., et al. (2023). A novel intervention for treating adults with ADHD using peripheral visual stimulation. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1280440.

[9] Laubrock, J., et al. (2016). Attention correlates with saccade amplitude modulations caused by gaze-contingent filtering of the visual field. Journal of Vision, 16(12), 1274.

[10] Dube, B., & Golomb, J. D. (2021). Perceptual distraction causes visual memory encoding intrusions. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28(5), 1592-1600.

[11] Sweller, J., et al. (2019). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educational Psychology Review, 31(2), 261-292.