On International Children’s Day, the Chevrolet invited an international cohort of teens ages 13 to 19 to the Chevrolet Hack Lab for a day-long hack-a-thon. The kids split into teams and set out to devise original plans to combat distracted driving, with Chevy mentors there to assist.
The winning design, drawing talent from Dubai, Canada and the United States, leveraged “positive peer pressure” to intercept and deter drivers at the moment of distraction. My team partnered with Chevy’s agency of record CommonWealth McCann to transform the kids’ concept into a concrete product.The mobile app “Call Me Out” enables users to pre-record personalized audio messages from friends and family.
When the phone is in use while the accelerometer detects the vehicle is in motion, the user’s brother, mother, or best friend is virtually brought into the car to bring him/her to his/her senses.
The user interface and branding were designed to visually reinforce peer-to-peer communication for a younger demographic. The brand wanted to leverage one of the most recognizable hand gestures for it’s main icon.
Our collaborative goal was design something that felt like Chevrolet but not TOO much like Chevrolet. We utilized Chevrolet’s core elements and innovatively applied them across creative for a flexible but cohesive experience.
And for those users motivated only by the addicting glory of a win, we implemented a ranking system complete with user statistics and a leaderboard. Users earn points for ignoring notifications and abstaining from phone usage while driving, and can compete with peers for gloating rights and safest driver.
Future versions will potentially include further gamification with platforms like Facebook, Waze and Google Maps, allowing for quicker adoption rates and convenient sharing.
"We are extending our commitment beyond the technologies integrated into GM and Chevy vehicles”, said Global Head of Chevrolet Alan Batey, “and are making the app available for Android phone users who drive other vehicle makes and models in an effort to help people change their driving behavior and make our roads safer.''
"According to a recent Research Now survey, 84 percent of people admit that distracted driving while handling a phone is dangerous, yet 90 percent of drivers have done it. Driven to change the behavior and the conversation, Chevrolet hosted a hackathon where teams of young people were challenged to propose ways to reduce distracted driving. The framework for the Call Me Out app was born from the effort."
