Project Outcomes
50% of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs fail after 2-5 years (UNICEF). This is a problem that Splash Social Enterprises (SSE) wants to help solve. SSE’s handwashing and drinking station designs emphasize durability, child-friendliness, and water-conservation, encouraging positive hygiene behaviors while being easy to maintain. However, the stations SSE currently provides depend on a plumbed water source. Innovative, non-plumbed designs that are tailored to meet the different conditions required for more remote areas are essential to closing the access gap while ensuring long-term consistent use in low-resource settings.
The process began with determining key design considerations, including portability, durability, child-friendliness, and water hygiene. At the same time, it was necessary to ensure that the solution was cost-effective, with the goal to stay under $30 per unit, and could be manufactured and assembled locally. Designing with regionally sourced, easily fabricated materials would reduce costs and support sustainable solutions.
A product requirements and specifications document was developed to guide initial concept generation, incorporating detailed testing protocols and grounded in contextual and user-centered research on water access challenges. Additionally, an illustrated storyboard was developed to further explore user context in remote African school settings. Finally, a detailed analysis of similar solutions already on the market highlighted pitfalls to avoid and important features to include in the design.
Eleven concepts were sketched and ranked against the previously defined design specifications. Several concepts were then advanced to the next stage which included generating preliminary bills of materials (BOMs) for each. Final concept packages marked the conclusion of project delivery, including initial manufacturing considerations and refined images that were generated using AI tools and precursory hand-drawn sketches. This project’s goal was to support SSE’s future product development efforts, identifying important features to prioritize as well as possible obstructions or design flaws to circumvent.
Iterative Design Cycle Example (Erioluwa Morenikeji / Splash Social Enterprises)
No Comments.