@ CMU
School of Design
4 Weeks. Spring 2025.
4 Weeks. Spring 2025.
For driving instructors to easily keep a record of each lesson so that student drivers have a clearer reference for their progress and what to practice.
PADFOLIO Hardcover padfolio, easy to write on and enjoyable texture.
Professional in aesthetics with a sleeve to snugly hold a lesson card in place while lessons are being conducted.
LESSON CARD DESIGNDouble-sided cards that feature a map you can annotate, show skills practiced, skills instructors can score to show progress, and a graphic that demonstrates what students should do each time they drive once they are driving on their own.
CARD PAD
A card pad that slots into the padfolio, each card can be written on in the pad but also can be easily torn off and used separately. Printed on thicker and higher quality paper.
Improving driving instructors’ ability to teach and communicate with their students.
I began by conducting basic online and literary research on what exactly was already out there regarding driving anxiety, distraction, and learning.
With my insights, I then surveyed people to get a better understanding of why and what might contribute to anxiety and difficulty on the road.
This included surveys, in-car driving research and interviews, and simulated driving tests.
The ‘A-Ha’ moment came following my research occured following my interview Fred Galati—a driving instructor with more than 25 years of experience with behind-the-wheel training instruction.
Fred Galati aka “Driver’s Ed Fred”
You can learn more about Fred Galati here
You can learn more about Fred Galati here
People are not learning driving theory as well now that many courses have moved online. In combination with worsening driving behavior in the US, placing my solution at the start of people’s introduction to driving could help to change the future generations of drivers.
With existing communication issues occurring between instructors, students, and even the guardians of student drivers, instructors are at a disadvantage in trying to teach good habits and strategies before the learning even begins.
No-tech driving cards allow for a more seamless adoption of this product for instructors.
Though I debated the forms this solution could take on, in the end, improving the format of existing notation methods was clearly the most promising route for the problem space of driving education in this time period.
Additionally, these cards are an improvement of existing analog solutions, which often do not clearly communicate or include the insights most helpful to student drivers. The notecards are designed to clearly convey what students need to know so they can reference it when practicing outside of the lessons with their instructors.
The front of the card features an overview of the route, custom made for each area of instruction. This way, instructors can live annotate mistakes and successes as they happen so the student can easily refer back to them later.
The back of the card has two components:
First (right half) is a skill sheet, featuring a list of qualities that the instructor can score the driver on after each lesson. This is helpful for students (and their guardians), as they can compare scores across lessons to see what they improved on, and what things they still need more practice with.
The other half (left half) is a pre-driving cheat sheet. The card is designed to be folded in half so that students can easily house it in their car once they are on their own. This way, they can reference the list easily to begin their journey into driving alone with less anxiety and armed with the proper safety measures.
With a sleeve to secure cards, a professional look, and a reasonable scale, the padfolio makes carrying and employing the lesson cards easier and more appealing.
SKILLS
Research (Primary & Secondary)
Generative Research
Problem-Mapping
Product Design
User Experience
Drawing / Ideating
Physical Prototyping
Instructional Design
TOOLS
Advanced Printing Techniques
Glue/Pad Binding
Stationary Creation
Adobe CC
Illustrator
Photoshop
inDesign