Dyslexia & The Double Diamond

A Framework for Supporting Collaboration Across Neurodiverse Teams

Many people reading this will already be familiar with the Double Diamond. It’s a design process used fairly widely in modern organisations to structure how individuals and teams tackle complex problems.

We’ll look at the framework in more detail in just a moment.

This article outlines why I think the Double Diamond can be a powerful tool for aiding collaboration across neurodiverse teams (specifically looking at collaboration between dyslexic thinkers and neurotypical thinkers).

What is the Double Diamond?

The Double Diamond breaks a scenario down into two spaces:

1. The Problem Space: What problem are you trying to fix?
2. The Solution Space: How can you fix this problem?

Within each of these two spaces, we have two phases:

The Problem Space contains:

1. The Discovery Phase: Exploring the problem at a broad level.
2. The Definition Phase: Identifying exactly what problem we need to solve.

The Solution Space contains:

1. The Development Phase: Thinking about what all the possible solutions could look like.
2. The Delivery Phase: Executing a refined solution.

The framework gets its name from its shape. When we draw these four phases from left to right, it creates two diamonds.

The first diamond is the Problem Space: An expanding Discovery Phase (<) followed by a consolidatory Definition Phase (>).

The second diamond is the Solution Space: An expanding Development Phase (<) followed by a consolidatory Delivery Phase (>).

When we marry these two spaces together, we get this shape:

What relevance does this have to dyslexia?

Most neurotypical people are expansive thinkers by nature. When they face complexity, they understand it by starting small to understand the fundamentals and then expanding their thought to welcome more complexity over time.

If we think about how we learn about photosynthesis at school, we don’t jump straight into learning that 6CO2 + 6H2O is converted to C6H12O6 + 6O2.

Instead, at Primary School, we learn by growing sunflowers and observing how they turn to face the light. As we grow older, we build on this elementary understanding to develop a more sophisticated understanding that eventually leads us to explore photosynthesis in terms of molecules and elements (I really didn’t enjoy that).

This expansive or linear approach to learning is very common because it works for most people.

However…

Move Forward with Dyslexia by Sjan Verhoeven and Gertrudie Boersen postulates that most dyslexic minds can be characterised as ‘conceptual thinkers’ that absorb information using the opposite approach: from big → small or complex → focused.

If we stick with the photosynthesis example, it would be like telling a High Schooler that 6CO2 + 6H2O converts to C6H12O6 + 6O2 and asking them to design an experiment to prove it. They could then look at the left side of the formula and see that the two constituents are carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). They could then run an experiment with three sunflowers: one that has access to fresh air and water, one that is watered but is stored in a sealed glass box, and one that gets plenty of fresh air but isn’t watered. When only one sunflower survives, it helps to validate the original formula.?

Now I’m certainly not suggesting that kindergarten kids with dyslexia are crawling around while reciting the periodic table but this idea of the dyslexic mind being consolidatory (rather than expansive) resonates with my own experiences and a couple of things I’ve read along the way.

Why my dyslexic brain loves the Double Diamond

My hunch is that I find the Double Diamond so useful because it organises my thought process into expansive phases and consolidatory phases. Without this guide, my mind tends to get over-excited about consolidatory tasks and I don’t pay enough attention to expansive tasks.

This eagerness to define problems and deliver solutions can hurt the quality of my work. If I haven’t spent enough time exploring the problem I’m trying to solve, I’m likely to be working on the wrong part of the problem. Similarly, if I jump into delivering a solution before I’ve explored all the possible ways of tackling that problem, I’m likely to double down on the wrong solution.

Over the years I’ve developed an intuition to combat my temptation to skip expansive tasks but I still find it difficult to stay disciplined. I find most expansive tasks tiring, boring and vague but most consolidatory tasks feel energising, neat and beautiful.

So, the Double Diamond…whether it’s a 60-minute meeting or a 6-month project, I use it to structure my process and keep me honest.

I find it particularly useful when collaborating with neurotypical colleagues because it gives direction and shape to conversations — allowing individual strengths to shine at different phases along the process.

Give the Double Diamond a Go

If you think you might be dyslexic or your colleagues seem to thrive during consolidatory tasks, give the Double Diamond a whirl.

I’m curious to know whether this framework is something other dyslexic thinkers have found useful. I’m convinced that the dyslexic mind is a complex and colourful thing that we need to explore by bringing more voices into the conversation and analysing lived experiences against good science.

If you’d like to share your experiences of living with dyslexia, shoot me an email at [email protected], connect with me on LinkedIn, or, if you’d like to learn more about the role of dyslexia in the future of work, subscribe to Dyvr’s mailing list here.