AsBest Makkelijk
Simplifying the removal of Asbestos for home owners, whilst raising awareness of the related risks and laws.
Most home owners have no idea just how dangerous asbestos is and just how common it can be found in your own home. On top of this, the process of removal is complex and full of strict regulation. AsBest Makkelijk is a conceptual digital tool for a well-known Dutch insurance company. It simplifies the removal process immensely and makes it more approachable for average home-owners.
CLIENT: Undisclosed
AGENCY: Freshheads
MY SCOPE – DESIGN STRATEGIST
– Design Strategy
– Interaction Design (UX / UI)
– Design Research
– Creative Business Design
The Deadly Wonder Material
Asbestos is a material that has been used for more than 4,000 years because of it’s fantastic material properties; most notably it’s fire resistance, flexibility and strength.
We really started using it at an industrial scale in the 19th century (starting in 1878 in Quebec), and only started to discover it’s toxicity in the early 1900s. Legislation to start banning it only started in the 1930s and to this day Asbestos is still used as a material.
Asbestos is a group of Silica materials that have long, hair-like structures called Asbestiform. Each hair has microscopic fibrils that can be released into the atmosphere through abrasion. These fibrils are easily inhaled and become lodged in your body. Due to the materials properties it almost never degrades and causes mesothelioma (cancer of your organ linings). Worldwide around 255.000 people die from asbestos per year. In Holland, this amount is between 900 and 1.300 deaths per year.
Looking for a solution
If you can figure out the process online you are allowed to do the asbestos removal yourself, but for most people this is not a smart option. In most cases you require a certified expert to do the removal. However, these experts are already overcapacity, and therefore expensive and time-consuming services.
The only support for this is a rather small subsidy from the government, which can only be requested after the lengthy asbestos removal process is complete. Because of this, research showed that most home-owners who wanted to take action were still looking for a package-solution to the problem.