Design Against Fear project

DFMD (Driving Fear Monitoring Device)

Client:
Maastricht University

Project description:
The goal of my individual project was to design a product or service what will help the amaxophonics (people with fear of driving) to overcome their fear faster. To overcome driving fear, the patient usually has to drive daily, what takes a lot of time Behavior-therapist Jan van den Berg, who is specialized in driving fear therapy, acted as expert during this project.

Concept description:
This concept is basically to help the behavior therapist to monitor the patient while driving the car, without the therapist as co-driver. With this device it is possible to get objective results about the patient’s fear. The results show the route the patient has taken with the car. Moreover it’s possible to see the speed and the amount of fear the patient had at certain points. The therapist can discuss these results with the patient, to create a more personalized, efficient therapy. This device will decrease the amount of time the therapist has to spend with his patient in the car. This device can be used when the patient is over the biggest fear of driving, when the patient can drive alone.

Growth as a designer:

During this individual project I became aware of how to perform a scientific research process and how to deal with external experts. I learned where to find scientific research sources and how to implement it in the report. I also learned that contacting experts outside the boundaries of the TU/e is very useful. They can give helpful feedback on the concept, because they are much more known with the practical side. Furthermore I became aware how to deal with the ‘privacy-agreement’ on this faculty. In presentations or reports I recommend using a scenario with (real) pictures if possible. This will make the whole concept much more clearly for the audience.