Ghanasan

1Unilever + WSUP + IDEO

GHANASAN


The Ghanasan project is a collaboration between Unilever, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), and IDEO to develop new products and services for in-home sanitation in Kumasi, Ghana. The project aims to address the barriers that prevent 1 billion people in urban areas from accessing adequate sanitary facilities. These include insecure or non-existent land tenure, cramped living conditions and poor access to finance.

The project team used the Human Centered Design process to better understand the needs and aspirations of people in the city and identify potential solutions to the challenges they face. An overview of the research and methods used in this process has been made public on www.ghanasan.com to engage and inspire the sanitation community at large to participate in the project.

This document presents the product design direction and suggestions for the service design to pursue for further development and pilot testing in the field.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


THIS TOILET HAS BROUGHT HONOR AND DIGNITY TO OUR FAMILY.-MOHAMMED, ALABAR


HAVING A TOILET IN THE HOME IS GREAT FOR EMERGENCIES...YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE TO GO.-STELLA AND FAMILY, KOTEI


RESEARCH OVERVIEW


HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN: UNDERSTANDING pEOpLE’S NEEDS AND DESIRES TO IDENTIFY NEW SOLUTIONS THAT WILL BE DESIRABLE, FEASIBLE, AND VIABLE.

RESEARCH OVERVIEWpHASE ONE: NEW OppORTUNITIES FOR URBAN SANITATION

For the first six weeks of our collaboration, we focused on uncovering new opportunities for providing in-home sanitation to the urban poor. In order to better understand the end-users’ challenges and aspirations, our team conducted interviews on the individual, community, and civic level. We used research tools such as inspiration cards, observations, shadowing, and storytelling to gain a deeper understanding of their day-to-day lives and sanitation needs and preferences. Additionally, the OpenIDEO community and the project team worked together to share inspirations and generate concepts, working together to uncover unmet opportunities in urban sanitation.

pHASE TWO: pROTOTYpING AND OVERALL DESIGN DIRECTION

Building upon our work from Phase One, we spent the second six weeks building and refining prototypes of our early ideas and incorporating the learnings from those prototypes into the designs presented in this document. We brought with us to Kumasi four toilet prototypes, each designed to test a different functional approach to collecting and removing waste from the home. We left each toilet with a family for several days, returning afterward to gather the family’s feedback, collect and clean the toilets, and repeat the test with a new families. Additionally, we sought to understand users’ preferences regarding placement in the home, service and maintenance, branding and marketing, and pricing and purchase.

The following pages represent an overview of the key learnings from Phase Two, followed by our recommendations for the overall product design, design variations, service, branding and pilot testing.


TOILET FUNCTIONALITY


THIS WOULD BE GREAT FOR MY ELDERLY MOTHER, BUT IT’S TOO COMpLICATED. IT SHOULD BE SO SIMpLE THAT NOBODY COULD MESS IT Up.-HAIJA, ALABAR


• IN-HOME SANITATION IS INHERENTLY ASpIRATIONAL, WITH OR WITHOUT WATER

• MOVING pARTS AND SEALS ARE TOO FRAGILE FOR LONG-TERM USE

• COMpLEXITY OF WATER-FLUSH CAUSES CONFUSION AND DISCOURAGES USE

• WATER AND URINE OVERFILL TOILETS QUICKLY

• URINE DIVERSION IS READILY ACCEpTED AND UNDERSTOOD

• SIZE, MATERIALS, AND STRUCTURE ARE IMpORTANT INDICATORS OF VALUE

• TOILETS ARE IN REGULAR CONTACT WITH WATER, BOTH INSIDE AND OUT

TOILET FUNCTIONALITY


THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I’VE FELT COMFORTABLE SITTING ON A TOILET SINCE GRADE SCHOOL.-KAMAL, ALABAR


pLACEMENT IN THE HOME


pLACEMENT IN THE HOME

• MOST COMpOUNDS IN KUMASI HAVE SpACE FOR TOILETS

• FAMILIES ARE WILLING TO SHARE WITHIN THE COMpOUND

• BATHROOMS HAVE DRAIN TO STREET GUTTER

• BATHROOMS ARE WET AND HAVE SLOpED FLOORS

• FLOORS ARE ROUGH AND SCUFF BOTTOM OF TOILET


IT’S GOOD BUT IT’S TOO SMALL. WE’D NEED AT LEAST TWO FOR OUR FAMILY.-HARUNA’S FAMILY, ALABAR


SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE


• MOST pEOpLE DON’T TRUST SERVICE IN GHANA, AND WANT TO ‘SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT’

• SIGNIFICANT EDUCATION AND OVERSIGHT WILL BE REQUIRED TO ENSURE pROpER SERVICE

• WOMEN CLEAN IN-HOME TOILETS FREQUENTLY WITH WATER OR LOCAL DETERGENTS

• FAMILIES HAD NO OBJECTION TO SERVICE pERSON COMING INTO THEIR HOMES

• UNIFORMS SIGNIFY QUALITY AND DEpENDABILITY

SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE


I DON’T TRUST SERVICE pEOpLE, SO I’D HAVE TO SEE THE SERVICE TO BELIEVE IT.-LANDLORD, KOTEI


BRANDING AND MARKETING


• ‘CLEAN TEAM’ WAS THE FAVORITE NAME BY FAR

• pRIVATE SERVICES ARE TRUSTED MORE THAN pUBLIC ONES

• CORpORATIONS ARE TRUSTED MORE THAN INDIVIDUALS

• CONVENIENCE AND EMERGENCY ACCESS ARE KEY BENEFITS

• LOCAL LEADERS ARE pOWERFUL VOICES IN THE COMMUNITY

BRANDING AND MARKETING


THIS IS NOT A SIMpLE pROBLEM, IT WILL HAVE TO TAKE A GOOD TEAM TO DO IT WELL.- RESIDENTS IN ALABAR


pRICING AND pURCHASING


• SHARING pAYMENTS IS DIFFICULT, BUT NOT IMpOSSIBLE

• SAVING IS TOUGH, SO FREQUENT pAYMENTS ARE pREFERRED

• FIRST MONTH FREE HELpS pEOpLE OVERCOME WORRIES

• pEOpLE ARE USED TO NEGOTIATING FOR SERVICES

• IT’S HARD FOR MANY FAMILIES TO COMpARE pRICING TO

THE pUBLIC TOILETS

pRICING AND pURCHASING


IT’S GOT TO BE CHEAp. AND IT’D BE BEST IF WE COULD pAY EVERY DAY...IT’S HARD TO SAVE IN AFRICA!-FAMILY, ALABAR


DESIGN pRINCIpLES


pRODUCT SERVICE BRAND

Simplicity trumps features. The toilet should be intuitive to use without instruction. Water pumps and seals are set up for failure and misuse, especially from outside visitors and children.

Sturdy and familiar. People aspire to owning what we think of as the “classic” toilet. Camping sized seats and unstable bases are both hard to use and not trusted. The final design should look and feel like a robust fixture in the home, and feature a full sized seat.

Take out the urine. People will naturally urinate while using these toilets. Diverting the urine to a separate container or the gutter reduces smell, saves volume and reduces the overall servicing cost.

Discourage tampering. Prevent illegal disposal of the waste by securing the tank to the toilet. The tank should be designed to interface seamlessly with the IBC/disposal site.

Professional and organized. People trust a service with a central office that can be held accountable. Small, local or public services have a bad reputation for getting things done.

Create routine. People naturally think in weekly increments. Regular pickups, when possible, are easier to plan for and organize around.

Pay incrementally. People are used to paying very small amounts at the public toilet. The service will need to accommodate frequent small payments.

See it to believe it. Due to a history of bad service experiences, people resonate strongly with the idea of trying out the toilet in their home for the first month before paying for a regular service pickup.

It takes a team. The simple visual of people working together struck a chord. People understand the importance of this service and that it needs a coordinated team to be successful.

Visualize benefits. Communicating the value of the service and its cost to customers will require education and visualization of the long term benefits and convenience compared to using public toilets.

Communicate credibility. When it comes to products and services, people favor visual consistency and professionalism over local aesthetics and craft.


BASIC SERVICE MODEL


SERVICE MODEL

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01Branded household toilet with bio-digester chemical and removable waste container.

02Local franchised operator provides household waste collection service.

03Waste taken to neighborhood transfer tank for interim storage.

04Vacuum truck services local transfer tanks.

05Waste used to generate electricity or create fertilizer to sustain and grow local business.


BRANDING


NAME AND LOGO

The team mark can stand on its own, and be embossed or stenciled as needed.

Badge is meant to be placed on the toilet and accompanying products.

The script should stand alone when used on the uniform of a service person.


UNIFORM AND EQUIpMENT

SERVICE ASSOCIATEMakes financial and scheduling

arrangements with families.

SERVICE pERSONReplaces the waste tank

and cleans toilet surfaces.


OVERALL TOILET DESIGN


WET URINE DIVERSION TOILET

Standard size toilet seat comfortably fits even larger users.

Urine diversion comes out back with flexible tube.

Shortened base allows room for feet.

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Based on feedback received in Ghana, our conclusion is that a urine diverting toilet in combination with a bio-digestor and removable sealed waste tank is our best option.

32Unilever + WSUP + IDEO 32

Urine is diverted to tube and out to gutter/outdoor collection.

Wide hole funnels waste into tank below.

Seat hinges on sides to simplify cleaning. Lid blocks smell and

insects when closed.


TANK REMOVAL

Top half of toilet unlocks and hinges up, allowing tank to be hygienically sealed and removed by service person.


WASTE TANK

Smooth rounded shape allows easy cleaning and evacuation of waste.

Tanks stack for shipping, transport, and storage.


THANK YOU

Date post:	21-Oct-2014
Category:	Design
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