Our end-users as co-designers : development of the safe water project reference design and design guidelines

In 2011, PATH’s Safe Water Project (SWP) launched two important tools for increasing access to clean water at the household level : a set of design guidelines for an optimized household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) product and a reference design that interprets the guidelines as a working, manufacturable unit. Both tools were developed with input from users and experts. The guidelines incorporate existing standards as well as user experience attributes, and the reference design was refined through rigorous household testing. The design guidelines provide user-focused guidance to support the development of HWTS devices targeting low-resource settings. In addition, PATH and its partners have developed a platform specification for a common filterto-device interface. New devices based on the design guidelines and platform specification should be better suited for low-income families, increase product choice, and reduce cost to low-income consumers. [authors abstract]