Change always comes when you least expect it, and the optimist in me would like to think that something good comes out of everything bad (even though I know that’s hard to see at the time). When my time at my previous company finished, I was really sad. I loved the product, the change we were trying to create and the people. For me it was a perfect blending of my worlds – I was working on a technology product that would benefit children, and in particular neurodivergent children. All of my real world experiences were being poured into crafting and creating something that I could see would have a direct positive impact on my kids and kids like them. And then like that it was all over.

After the shock and grieving that we all went through, I had decisions to make on what next. I wasn’t ready to jump straight into another role, and I was nervous and scared that I wouldn’t find anything that was as fulfilling as where I had been or as enjoyable. So I thought about where I was, and what I wanted to do.

Firstly, we are raising two neurodivergent children and things continue to get more and more challenging. Things that may seem simple – like moving to a different classroom, having visitors home, a birthday party or a swimming lesson are met with preparations and accommodations that many people do not see. My husband and I are constantly working behind the scenes. It feels like we are continuously trying to prepare our children for a world that’s not quite built for them. Everything is an obstacle and I feel like everyday i’m advocating for my children’s needs and accommodations.

Secondly, I had just gained all of this knowledge and experience on how to create a digital experience that was inclusive and appropriate for all children regardless of how their brain worked. This meant graphics, language, story lines and even appropriateness of animation. For example, my eldest is very literal so when you say something like “keep an eye on it”, she will try and physically put her eye on it. When I say “hop in the car” she looks at me and says she can’t hop that high. If instructions use sayings or colloquial terms, you will frustrate and isolate a part of the population. I was seeing this over and over again in digital and physical solutions as my children would get frustrated or wouldn’t be able to use the product because of some inconsiderate design choices.

Thirdly, through some luck and connections I’d helped out some new friends with their product journey, and through that I realised that many things that were ingrained into my way of working from 15 years in medical device technology and being surrounded by innovative and smart colleagues were helpful for people who were in different places in their journey.

And so, Rehdefine was born. My nickname was Reh, so Rehdefine felt right. It’s about re-defining design approaches, re-defining products and re-defining how we think about the world around us. When we think about designing buildings, it’s built into our processes to consider wheelchair access for people that are differently physically abled. We don’t consider accommodations required for people that have invisible disabilities. I want to bring that awareness to the products we are designing. It’s about innovating with inclusivity in mind, so that we are creating a world that is more accessible for everyone.