KOHLER Rivlet Wudu & Kohler Struktura hygiene urinal
Two products testing for muslim market in Indonesia. This project has gained a positive feedback from the head of design of
KOHLER in the USA. Two years after, KOHLER have commercialized the
products and they have received some design awards, such as iF Design
Award 2021 and Singapore Good Design.
Project types:
Context
Contributed in interviewing, research planning and preparation, note taker, documentation, reporting & presentation.
May-June 2019
Client:
KOHLER
Year:
2019 (1,5 months)
Tools
Interview
Recognition
IF Award winner
Background
Two product ideas from Kohler were tested for Indonesia muslim market. The goal of this project is to tests some alternatives, such as size, position, pattern, colours, and product semantics.
Wudu:
Wudu is a ritual where Muslim wash their face, hands, and legs before praying. Being the first of its kind on the market, the Rivlet Wudu is a dual-use bathroom washbasin and cabinet with an integrated foot washer, designed for normal washing up. The challenge is the Islamic self-cleansing ritual usually done using a wall tap, which results in a wet floor and unhygienic bathroom conditions. Rivlet’s tall faucet helps to eliminate spillage.
Istinja:
Istinja is the Arabic term of a process to clean whichever has been passed after urination & defecation with water or toilet paper, or with pebbles if neither are available.
KOHLER’s istinja urinal is a thoughtful and elegant solution to the Muslim’s obligatory cleansing ritual for men’s private parts after using the toilet. Unlike conventional urinals that have dirty or rusty pipes with a weak trickle of flush water, the Struktura Hygiene Urinal has a dedicated spout to ensure a good supply of fresh and clean water at just the right pressure. In addition, a special cover helps preventing splashing and increasing the privacy. All of the participants in user testing found this product a great improvement in terms of ease of use, hygiene, and respect for their ritual.
Approach
User testing (Rivlet Wudu)
The objectives are to evaluate ergonomics, affordance, and general usability of Rivlet Wudu’s prototype.
There are a total of 30 respondents with certain different backgrounds (Muslim experts, building interior experts, and residential users). It took approximately 60-70 minutes per session.
User testing (Urinal)
The objective is to validate the refinement prototype of urinal design, including pee cover (i.e. privacy barrier) and istinja spout design.
21 male respondents; 10-15 minutes/session.
Insights
Feedback about Wudu
General comments
+ More comfortable, and save more water.
Ergonomics
- Improve the position, water flow, and stability.
+ Less fatigue (washing leg without bending the back).
+ More mindful feeling, inline with values of the beliefs.
Texture & feel
+ Selected by majority user (e.g. tall faucet, wooden exterior).
Design styling
+ Suitable for a certain usage*,
- reduce some feature add-ons*
Feedback about Istinja
Ergonomics & semantics
+ Height of the flushing.
+ Type of flushing interaction.
+ Addition of features in the urinal.
Design styling
+ The icon and text on the spout
Design Challenge
Product testing
Result
We found the next step for the improvement. The istinja and rivlet wudhu were released 2 years after this user testing session and gained iFaward 2021.
Reflection
(and feedback)
My reflection goes to the technicality of the testing and participants. We need to spare some time for delay in installing the prototypes.
Some participants also have a bias towards the design. Hence, as a researcher, we need to ask critically about the reason of their reaction.