case study
Designing to Reduce Distracted Driving Whitepaper
Project overview
As a regular commuter, I’m particularly sensitive to issues of driving behavior, particularly distracted driving. When tasked by a professor in my graduate “Prototyping and Interaction Design” course to “write a whitepaper”, I chose to tackle the topic of designing to reduce distracted driving, using user experience research techniques to gather information and validate designs.
Research
After coming up with the initial concept, I wanted to figure out the most common issues worthy of designing warnings for, so I invited acquaintances to take a survey on driving “pet peeves”.
Design
I sketched concepts, validated with immediate family, then produced a first draft of the warning designs in photoshop.
Validation
When we were unexpectedly given an extension on the assignment, I took advantage of the extra time to dispatch
Designs that people accurately identified the majority of the time, I considered successful. Designs that were frequently misinterpreted, got redesigned before the final draft of the paper.
Whitepaper
The final product represents a theoretical framework for how design can help us combat distracted driving. As disclaimed in the whitepaper, significant research is still needed, but the designs seem to be a start.
Tools & methods:
- Survey
- High-fidelity design
- Unmoderated research
- Whitepaper