1HDC v1.0 - Voting

Voting is now open!

Please put your vote at the top and provide some kind of feedback as to why you voted.



CORE77 COMPETITION
One Hour Design Challenge v1.0
Hosted by: ip_wirelessly
BEGINS:
Monday, August 6th
7 AM PST (2 GMT)
THEME:
Water-saving designs for the bathroom.

BRIEF:
From the sink to the tub to the toilet to everything in between, how can we use design to save water in the bathroom? Next week when you’re in the shower, turn off the water, lather up, have your brainstorm, rinse, then log in.

PRIZE:
One Nintendo WII.
(Not bad for an hour’s time)

Voting
Top 5 Designs will be selected through forum voting only. No voting for one’s self (we all know you love your own design). This should, hopefully, open some good constructive dialogue as well.

Winner will be selected and announced by Core77 Administration.

Voting Criteria will be as follows:
A. Quality of product concept
B. Quality of Form Development
C. Craftsmanship of Presentation
D. Within Time limit - This is honor system.

Soap Module - jomiz80

This is something I could see selling in the real world. Also because it is one of the best presentations submitted. I am always looking for good examples to learn from and this one contains a great idea, better sketching, and is a good lesson in keeping the explaination of the product simple.

i vote for jknodell - common sense shower caddy. I think it fits people’s routine without making them feel guilty or punished by using the product. Nice line work too, btw. good work.

_carlos

The Furo Scrubber - Bill

Why: Because I couldn’t vote for myself! But seriously…

I really liked the foot pedal sinks that several people submitted, and I had that idea too. But then I searched the net and found that product already exists. So I had to pick something else.

Many of the entries seemed too harsh (ex. automatically turning off water in the middle of showering), and don’t seem like ideas people are likely to want in their homes.

Wybenga’s two-stage toilet looked pretty good, but again exists.

The “reminder” and educational ones are nice, but if you’re going to bother buying one, you probably don’t need the reminder.

And some just looked like they took way over an hour to produce.

So - I vote for Bill’s Furo Scubber, because it keeps things simple, serves the purpose of saving water, and seems like something people might want to use.

Skinny - Beam detect shower

voted upon using criteria:

Quality of concept: a unique idea, didn’t see any others like it developed the same way.

Quality of form: love the quick form + callouts on sketch… very descriptive and interesting to look at.

Presentation: not the best but clear. cool sketches get my attention. Not over or under done.

comments: this thing would be really easy to use. after a while you wouldnt even have to know it was there. you would just think “this is how a shower is supposed to work”… i like the cocept what can i say…

melovescookies - shower bucket.

Clever idea, nice and simple, perfect example of a quick one hour design. Could really imagine this being used. Also your sketching has really left me wanting to buy a tablet!

-I also liked rkuchinsky’s entry, especially his presentation (not just beacuse of the half naked women lol).
-zt67638’s entry made me smile, though couldn’t see how it would save water. Was pretty cool though.

Two-Way toilet by VanDeBar

Why? Although the concept of dual-flush toilets has been around for awhile, I like this concept because it gives 50% of users an added benefit, that of urinating standing up. Plus, I can imagine that wives might like it too if it were less messy so to say.

Also, I like the presentation. It’s clean and clear and straight to the point. Sketches are nice too.

So: adds an unique new benefit to an existing concept and great presentation equals a 914-vote!

Things I liked:

  • skinny’s. I liked how simple and organic the concept is. I ‘m not zippy to know all the issues, but I loved how it took advantage of what we do anyway, step outside of the water stream to soap up.
  • Molested cow’s. Thanks for addressing something that I thought about as well. I grew up in Uzbekistan, where water conservation is an immediate issue, but the country is poor to afford anything remotely high-tech ( no motion sensors…I am not even talking about the fact that they have power outages daily and probably wouldn’t be able to afford to install friggin computers in their showers).
  • Mr-914’s. I’m not entirely sold on the concept manifestation, but I love the thought process. Why the insert? I think even TP made in a pocket form half the size of the current TP square would be quite successful…Why paper, too? Anyway, I am not sold, but love the thought.
  • Nick-marks’ eco balls. I like the low tech aspect, but most of the toilets now days are of the water saving variety…and the eco balls don’t offer any additional value compared to the 1 litre filled plastic bottles used for the same purpose as the eco balls. Gawd, I am gonna be saying eco balls for the rest of the evening. “you gotta grow some eco balls, gurl… and start composting in your kitchen.”
  • Bart’s stickers. YA! Love it. Probably great for kids, too. It might get confusing in a shared bath, especially if you have a variety of presets ( I never take the same temperature shower, really…it’s hotter/colder depending on what’s up)
  • Nourmalaeb’s chair/bucket. I wouldn’t want to take a shower sitting down ( eww), but I bet a lot of ppl would ( elderly, diff. abled esp.). Similar to my thought process.

Since I can’t vote for all of these guys, I ll give it some more thought before I make my decision ‘cause I like those concepts for different reasons…but wanted to highlight my favs. I’ll probably edit this post when i finally decide.

im gonna go with kris592’s pebbles. as strange as it may be, i think having an element to replace the amount of water needed in a bath is a viable idea. i mean, how much water is actually needed to clean ones self? sponge baths are used and they contain a minimal amount of water compared to any bath or shower. most of it is there just to keep us saturated.

in general, its like putting bricks in your toilets water basin to trick the device into thinking its full, so you end up using less.

I’m voting for awa64. The idea of limiting your shower with a timer is simple yet effective. A slight improvement might be the addition of a pause button.

I also have to give kudos to bornsleepy for the bluesky hydroponics shower idea. I like the idea of a closed water system and plant purification.

melovescookies’ shower bucket

We can only vote for one?? But there are so many good ones!

I liked melovescookies bucket, we already do something similar in my house here in Lebanon, but that bucket is so much nicer and the sketches were great! Skinny’s idea was really good too with excellent sketches, but that fact that you had to install a new (and most likely costly) showerhead would put off most people I think. VanDeBar’s urinal/toilet is awesome, I was trying to think of a way to combine a urinal with a toilet seat but that one beats all of mine! Jomiz80’s car-wash style shower-head is also an excellent idea with great sketches.

Well, I guess I had to choose one… I picked melovescookies’ bucket, because it is low-tech and therefore cheap and easy to install, as well as being unobtrusive. The simplicity of the concept is a plus, and the sketches help tremendously, they really catch the eye!

awa64 for a simple but effective product
rkuchinsky for presentation (beautiful girls sell, at least to me). On a side note, how come his picture of a fully nude woman was ok, but my semi nude woman in the “classic design” tread was treated far differently?

Im going to vote for

cuototo’s : laser etched drain

because design can help us use less water, but we will always be the ones that will make the most difference. All we need is a little reminder sometimes.

Great Job to everyone!

Shower Cycle by Bbarn

this concept is nice since most people have a bath use pattern. dialling the setting sets the time and water usage efficiently!

Jomiz80’s soap module

Really liked the idea, one of the few in the competition that is commercially realistic. The sketches were simple, clean and effective. You can also see that there is an effort in the form of the product. Finaly, the concept of saving the scrubbing time is a nice selling point.

Almost voted for cwaitzid’s shower 2 because, it doesnt completely cuts out the water. I also liked CMm’s concept.

Also really liked Bbarn’s digital sweetness

kris592 “Pebbles”

Not only does this concept work to displace water (archimedes principle), but i could actually see a market for this in bringing a spa-like experience home.

Good presentation and clear explanation, and the added fable story has a nice branding and marketing aspect to communicate the use and benefit.

I do see some potential issues-

  1. the material used for the pebbles may actually absorb the heat and make the bath water cool more quickly.

  2. where do you put the pebbles when you are not using them? perhaps a nice mesh bag that addresses issue #2?

  3. how to do you dry the pebbles before storage to ensure they don’t get mildewy?

all that being said, im sure there are practical solutions to the above, that could easily be addressed for a production product.

well thought out, and nice to see a concept that doesn’t punish the user to shower in a limited amount of time, and encourages water saving through active use with no required change to behavior.

I could even see some future product variations with Pebbles that offer aromatherapy scents, water coloring (for kids’ baths), or water treatment (ie. epsom salts). plus you could mold the pebbles in an infinite amount of shapes (Finding Nemo fish shapes anyone?).

I also do like melovescookies’ shower bucket, for a great simple concept and nice sketch presentation, but am not sure how much something like this would be used. given the bucket would be full daily (and you wouldnt want water to stay in the bucket and get stale), im not sure there is enough use for the grey water for watering plants, etc. ,esp. in urban houses or apartments that may not have lots of gardens.

R

It doesn’t take anything high tech to save water. Your grandma probably has more experience in water saving techniques that you can ever implement than how much technology can influence our habits.

cuototo:
We need to work trough design to create a change in the minds and the attitudes.

Therefore, I got turned off when I see things like “touch screen”, “LCD”, “LED”, “computer controlled” etc. I was also not too keen on ideas that involves in reminding the user with numbers, because numbers are just stats. While being specific, numbers are actually very abstract.

So I was looking for really simple ways to save water without taking any pleasure of water usage away from the user. Most importantly, I was looking for a design or idea that allows the user to not only participate in the water saving action, but enjoy the fruit of the saving directly, such as physical involvements.

So the obvious choice(other than my own :laughing: ) is melovescookies’s water bucket.

It doesn’t take anything away from the pleasure of showering, yet you can literally SEE the water that you are saving, and physically use it to your wish. It doesn’t need to be used to water plants. It can be used to mob floors, wash dishes(if the water is clean) and so on.

Furthermore, the idea really doesn’t make anyone spend money. Any bucket can do the job, therefore it is extremely affordable.

The only concern I have is the soap water being washed into the bucket, making the water a little less usable.



I’d like to mention Mr.914’s approach. It’s quite different as he is trying to save water on a different end. However, it will be hard for the user to “see” the water they are saving. Also, the idea of “reuse” and “cleaning your butt” doesn’t seem to go together.
Furthermore, I am sure there’s water reuse system within paper mills.


[/quote]

My vote is for zt67638

Why: I think most important factor for water saving is the user, so I liked the idea of educational and reminder products, specially aiming at younger generations.

Even though, I would change the product to show the fish bones after reaching certain temperature or in contact with soap/shampoo or other chemical products instead of washing after a certain time (you would have to buy a new one).

I would also encourage to think beyond the product. This “reminder” products could be part of a wider marketing campaign that could help save founds for water related projects.

Why nots: I don´t think people will buy products that will make their lives less comfortable. In this way, products that force water saving, but deteriorates the user experience, will either not be used or disconnected.

There are other products that don’t really encourage saving water. You wouldn’t be filling the tub before using them. Others are too hight tech for the purpose.

I also liked: skinny’s beam (maybe not during winter), Bbarn’s timer, bebuchanan’s curtain (maybe for hotels but of course with different graphics), melovescookies’ bucket (might work in dry environments), gaugedk (simple way to check water use but could be mechanical)

Great job everybody. Fun contest with a good purpose. Can’t wait till the next one.

p.s. Winner better run the Wii on solar power :stuck_out_tongue:

My Vote Goes to: RM_XD’s RainWater system

Why?
-Cause Im not in it for the Wii so I vote for the one that makes most sense.
-Its simple and ingenious
-Once installed you wont ever have to think about saving water, it does the job for you.
-Friendly to nature since it uses resources that is free and natural
-It doesnt replace what it saves with other non friendly resources like electricity instead.

Background:
In my opinion the best entry is the one who adheres to the theme which is to save as much (clean) water
as possible and I dont think you do that with “TV-shop products” that you use one time and then forget about.

Most waste is due to flushing toilets or unnecessary waterflow in the sink and shower but since
flushing a toilett uses clean water where it isnt even needed thats the one thing that feels most wasted.

Dont know but looking through the votes it feels like some are made cause you wanna vote on
something that probably no other will vote on and thats a shame.

And thx to everyone who got inspired by (stealing) my idea :slight_smile:

Considering that most of the concepts where posted with minimal amount of research Great Job everybody! :smiley: :smiley:

For those having hissy fits. Relax! We weren’t assigned to save the world. Just come up with ideas to save water in the bathroom. It is a very important issue, yet quite minuscule compared to total water waste. The factory producing most of the suggested ideas will probably use and pollute more water in that production month than any of us will waste in the shower… ever!

Cant vote for anyone design though as none of us really hit the spot… i think. It did take me back to the drawing board though. Research and data will assist us all in producing more solid ideas.

Lastly: Does anyone remember how many times he/she flushed the toilet or how long they stayed in the shower yesterday? :frowning: