Project Information
The first major project undertaken by the NDSI was the development of our own consumer focused defensive driver and driver improvement course branded and marketed as Defensive Driver Academy. This project entailed the creation of all course materials including written, graphics, charts/graphs, images and video content. The course objective was simple yet challenging: make available to anyone seeking to improve their driving skills the absolute best online driver improvement educational experience available anywhere.
Driven by a direct need for true top quality online driver improvement education for insurance agency owners seeking to assist their customers with becoming safer drivers, an in depth analysis of available courses and costs made it clear that a new, better solution was warranted. Existing courses lacked content that was both optimized for online educational excellence and focused toward modern driving challenges. Issues also presented relative to data integrity and guarantees regarding insurance agent referred course students not having competitive insurance services marketed directly to them due to the course provider selling student data. Traditional course cost structures also represented a significant barrier to entry for many individuals.
- Client: NDSI
- Date: December 2016
- Skills: Defensive Driver Course Creation and Website Development
Challenge & Solution
The primary challenge was to create course content that without question accomplishes the goal of making individuals who complete the course safer on today's roads. The course was required too exceed all regulatory requirements from a broad range of State authorities. It had to clearly exceed the requirements of all the major insurance companies for defensive driver discount purposes. Students who registered for the new course had to be actively engaged such that they "Bought-In" to both the real need for improvement and that they had chosen an educational outlet that would make a significant difference in their road safety. All of these goals had to be accomplished such that the final course could be distributed through multiple channels at a cost structure that did not impede broad student access.
Our Process
Leveraging all of the knowledge gained during an 8 month comprehensive research process, we engaged directly and with the use of expert contractors to develop the Defensive Driver Academy course. Development was structured to support a single broad concept course designed to meet general driver safety educational standards as well as variations of the base course for individual states where required. The Defensive Driver Academy course integrates multiple formats of content delivery to aid in sustaining student focus. An emphasis is placed on teaching improved mental approaches and processes coupled with proven defensive driver skills.
01
Research based content creation with a focus on online educational best practices and modern driving challenges while covering all mandatory safe driving topics. Content creation included multiple formats integrated and optimized for student engagement.
02
Course quiz and exam design to reinforce key educational concepts and driving safety topics. Multiple testing formats were tested and question formats evolved through evaluation, student feedback and course testing results.
03
Online educational best practices were integrated throughout course development and lead to extensive modifications during the various phases of testing. Balancing student feedback with course utilization statistical data enabled development of a finished course product that proved capable of delivering a lasting positive impression for students.
04
A consistent process of testing, analysis and modification relative to all course topics, content and testing functions when repeated with structured feedback formed the core of our process for defining the completed Defensive Driver Academy course. The complete course development phase was completed over a 6 month period of time.
Results Driven
In the first 8 months since Defensive Driver Academy launched, student feedback has been fantastic. Unsolicited positive user comments have come in via email and a number of corporate and fleet clients have been engaged as a result of owners having taken the course. Almost 60 insurance agency owners have subscribed to our partner program Agency Value Accelerator and they report excellent results. The NDSI is realizing our goal of better online driver improvement coupled with increased access through unique distribution models!
