Drive Go

The aim of Drive Go is to revolutionise the way in which young people learn to drive. Parents and relatives are often the primary driving coach despite their inexperience and lack of knowledge about how to help someone become a safe driver. To be effective as a learning tool, it was crucial that the Drive Go app provide valuable structure for informal coaching, supporting both the learner and the coach alike. This meant designing an engaging, educational experience that would resonate with teens — and not come across as patronising.

The solution was co-designed with the client and the end-user, enabling us to test with continual input and feedback to design an experience for teens by teens. We worked with a learning advisor to design and incorporate a learning framework that built up skill capability. Based on our user research, optimising device performance and data consumption was key for this demographic. We also included the use of game design aesthetic and achievement badges to encourage engagement. Technical R&D fed considered device and technology capability for tracking the drive in real-time. Test was done during real driving situations.

Road accidents have a massive social and economic impact. The New Zealand government wants to achieve a generational shift in the capability of drivers. Drive Go is deliberately targeted toward young male drivers between the ages of 15-24 years old, as statistics show that this demographic is responsible for 25% of serious crashes on New Zealand roads. By providing free, personalised learning plans based on real-time driver performance, the app will encourage good road practices. A benefit to the user is that it supports better first-time licence pass rates and progression through New Zealand's graduated driver licensing system.

To improve the user experience of the app's sign up process, our developers retrained a computer vision machine learning model to scan and identify NZ driver licences, removing the need to manually enter your licence details. The experience provides clear progression through the various driving skills and practice tests, as well as a "Just drive" feature for unplanned drives. Learners can view their previous activities to see what they've covered so far, and what can be improved. Measuring progress and providing fun personal statistics encourages the learner. This is assisted by geo-tracking the drive, and monitoring variables like speed, weather, and traffic conditions against speed limits, types of road, and road conditions. This meant extensive R&D to see how far we could push the smartness of device capability and integration of CoreLogic and NZTA APIs. Immediate feedback is provided after the drive including critical fail errors such as exceeding the speed limit. Through our research, it became evident that young New Zealanders appreciate an experience that reflects NZ's blended culture, and so the app delivers positive reinforcement and key messages in Te Reo Māori.