That resonated with me: A user-centred approach to understanding young adult vulnerable road users’ road safety campaigns messaging needs—Case study

• Road safety campaigns for YA-VRUs must target behaviours that resonate with them. • Intersectional road use identities must be considered in campaign messaging. • Instructive, reason-based, actionable appeals motivate perceived behaviour change. • The needs of all road users involved in problem behaviours must be considered. Road safety campaigns aim to facilitate behaviour change and are a key strategy for targeting young adult vulnerable road users (YA-VRUs). Employing a user-centred design approach, we conducted workshops with 30 YA-VRUs in the Australian Capital Territory and the Australian state of Victoria to understand YA-VRUs’ needs when encountering road safety campaigns that promote personal control and responsibility. Our findings show that effective campaigns go beyond YA-VRUs’ demographic profiling to consider their intersectional identities, particularly multiple road user roles (e.g., driver, cyclist, and/or pedestrian). We offer new insights on the importance of realistic imagery and subjects, tailored messaging for different road user types, and localised road safety issues. In addition, we propose a new message appeal type, “instructive” messaging, which provides specific information that is purposeful and actionable during road use and resonates with YA-VRUs’ needs.