As a writer, I think this is great and really exciting but as someone who is dx ADHD/Autistic, I'm really not interested in more shapes and distractions on the platform.

In fact, my feedback is: I need less shapes, fewer colors, and less animation so that my brain functions optimally while working and writing on Medium.

I wrote this out as a long-form reply that does a better job explaining why and where I'm coming from, but it ballooned to over a thousand words and I decided to slow down and edit it into something readable before sharing.

So this is a hot take and I know there are contradictions here: the more distraction-free you make the site the less people move around on it.

I understand that I'm basically asking for the exact opposite of what you've been tasked by your boss to create.

However, you asked for feedback and as a member of the neurodivergent community, I want to add my voice and share how my disability/superpower is negatively impacted by "social-flow" Ux design decisions, aka bradley kryptonite

I am really excited about what's possible with Medium, but need to speak up about how hard it can be to work as a writer with so much distraction possible (here and) on the internet

I'll get my long-form story polished so what I'm asking for has more context but in short, here's my wish list to make Medium more ADHD/Autism friendly:

*Ability to turn off all gifs and animations

*Ability to turn off the new sidebar connections

*Ability to turn on and off the visibility of different panels on the homepage. Maybe just make it so you can turn off all but one panel, so there’s still an impulse-fluidity that helps move traffic and builds the network but in a way that is visually not so overwhelming.

None of this is a deal-breaker for me writing but it sure makes me less likely to *read*. It's also worth mentioning, in closing, that I *always* write better in a distraction-free environment so if you want me to write at my best, please consider making changes that make it easier to do so without all the brain-melty stuff that just totally destroys my focus.

I really appreciate getting the chance to share all this. It means a lot to me that you are interested in what I think and how much I (sometimes) struggle.

Thank you for all your hard work and I also really want to be clear that I appreciate your time and consideration in these regards. Writing on Medium has helped me to truly find my voice and that's just about the greatest gift anyone has ever given me.