OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Product, Range and Distribution - Issue Feedback & Brief Set

Feedback - To get some feedback on the issues and ideas raised in the previous blog post I had a discussion with a few peers. Whilst the discussion was very brief, I wanted to see which issue people thought was the most specific, and which issue needed to be resolved the most.

Overall, everyone that I spoke to identified the issue of mobile phone drivers to be the most specific. People thought that the first issue - social media challenges - would be very difficult to aware people of, as they are very difficult to stop once trending and could even lead to people being intrigued into looking into challenges, as opposed to staying away from them. In terms of the second issue - social media addiction - people thought that the issue was too broad, as there is no recommended guideline for how much time should be spent on social media. Furthermore, many people highlighted that, whilst they know that they spend too much time on social media, they do not really care about it, as it has a lot of benefits, such as being able to stay in touch with friends and family and find out about events in Leeds. As the number of car crashes has increased over the past few years, despite mobile phone use being illegal, my peers agreed that this is an issue that needs to be addressed.  



Brief - Due to the feedback received it was clear that the most specific, problematic issue to focus on is mobile phone use when driving. To ensure that outcomes effectively tackle the problem, I have written a brief that I will use to inform further research and ideas.

Background

26% of all car accidents are caused by a driver using a mobile device. Because of this, severe physical injuries and even deaths have occurred. The cause is mainly due to Social Validation and Fear Of Missing Out, where drivers cannot focus on the road without using their mobile devices. According to findings published as part of the RAC’s Report on Motoring 2016, the number of drivers who own up to using a handheld mobile phone when driving in the UK has increased from 8% in 2014 to 31% in 2016. Additionally, there has been a rise in drivers sending a text, email or posting on social media, with the figure increasing from 7% two years ago to 19% today. This increase highlights that the issue is becoming more problematic, and that there needs to be a resolution that reduces the number of mobile phone drivers as much as possible.

The Task

Produce an outcome that attempts to reduce the number of car accidents caused by drivers using their mobile phones. This can either be done by increasing the awareness of the issue, or by physically preventing people from using their phones when driving. Target audience should be researched into and considered carefully to ensure that the outcome produced is effective. Alongside this, distribution will have to be considered, to ensure that the outcome is seen by the desired target audience. Outcomes could either be physical or digital.