2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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.
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3. THIS TOILET HAS BROUGHT
HONOR AND DIGNITY TO OUR
FAMILY.
-MOHAMMED, ALABAR
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4. HAVING A TOILET IN THE HOME
IS GREAT FOR EMERGENCIES...
YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU
HAVE TO GO.
-STELLA AND FAMILY, KOTEI
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6. RESEARCH OVERVIEW
HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN: UNDERSTANDING pHASE ONE: NEW OppORTUNITIES FOR URBAN SANITATION
For the first six weeks of our collaboration, we focused on uncovering new
pEOpLE’S NEEDS AND DESIRES TO IDENTIFY opportunities for providing in-home sanitation to the urban poor. In order
NEW SOLUTIONS THAT WILL BE DESIRABLE, to better understand the end-users’ challenges and aspirations, our team
conducted interviews on the individual, community, and civic level. We
FEASIBLE, AND VIABLE. 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.
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8. 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
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9. TOILET FUNCTIONALITY
• 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
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10. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I’VE
FELT COMFORTABLE SITTING
ON A TOILET SINCE GRADE
SCHOOL.
-KAMAL, ALABAR
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12. 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
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13. IT’S GOOD BUT IT’S TOO SMALL.
WE’D NEED AT LEAST TWO FOR
OUR FAMILY.
-HARUNA’S FAMILY, ALABAR
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15. 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
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16. I DON’T TRUST SERVICE pEOpLE,
SO I’D HAVE TO SEE THE SERVICE
TO BELIEVE IT.
-LANDLORD, KOTEI
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18. 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
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19. THIS IS NOT A SIMpLE pROBLEM,
IT WILL HAVE TO TAKE A GOOD
TEAM TO DO IT WELL.
- RESIDENTS IN ALABAR
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21. 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
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22. 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
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24. pRODUCT SERVICE BRAND
Simplicity trumps features. Professional and organized. It takes a team.
The toilet should be intuitive to use without People trust a service with a central office that The simple visual of people working together
instruction. Water pumps and seals are set up can be held accountable. Small, local or public struck a chord. People understand the
for failure and misuse, especially from outside services have a bad reputation for getting importance of this service and that it needs a
visitors and children. things done. coordinated team to be successful.
Sturdy and familiar. Create routine. Visualize benefits.
People aspire to owning what we think of as People naturally think in weekly increments. Communicating the value of the service and
the “classic” toilet. Camping sized seats and Regular pickups, when possible, are easier to its cost to customers will require education
unstable bases are both hard to use and not plan for and organize around. and visualization of the long term benefits and
trusted. The final design should look and feel convenience compared to using public toilets.
like a robust fixture in the home, and feature a
full sized seat. Pay incrementally.
Communicate credibility.
People are used to paying very small amounts
Take out the urine. at the public toilet. The service will need to When it comes to products and services, people
accommodate frequent small payments. favor visual consistency and professionalism
People will naturally urinate while using over local aesthetics and craft.
these toilets. Diverting the urine to a separate
container or the gutter reduces smell, saves See it to believe it.
volume and reduces the overall servicing cost.
Due to a history of bad service experiences,
people resonate strongly with the idea of trying
Discourage tampering. out the toilet in their home for the first month
before paying for a regular service pickup.
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.
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26. SERVICE MODEL
01
Branded household toilet with
bio-digester chemical and
05 removable waste container.
Waste used to generate electricity
or create fertilizer to sustain and
grow local business.
02
Local franchised operator
provides household waste
collection service.
04
Vacuum truck services
local transfer tanks.
03
Waste taken to neighborhood
transfer tank for interim storage.
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28. NAME AND LOGO
Badge is meant to be placed on the toilet and accompanying products. The team mark can stand on its own, and
be embossed or stenciled as needed.
The script should stand alone when used
on the uniform of a service person.
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29. UNIFORM AND EQUIpMENT
SERVICE ASSOCIATE SERVICE pERSON
Makes financial and scheduling Replaces the waste tank
arrangements with families. and cleans toilet surfaces.
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31. WET URINE DIVERSION TOILET
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.
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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32. Seat hinges on sides to
simplify cleaning. Lid blocks smell and
insects when closed.
Wide hole funnels waste
into tank below.
Urine is diverted to tube and out
to gutter/outdoor collection.
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33. TANK REMOVAL
Top half of toilet unlocks and
hinges up, allowing tank to
be hygienically sealed and
removed by service person.
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34. WASTE TANK
Tanks stack for shipping,
transport, and storage.
Smooth rounded shape
allows easy cleaning and
evacuation of waste.
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