Description:

Poppie is an innovative solution for sanitary management for public bathrooms, integrating the functions of a sanitary waste bin and toilet roll dispenser, in a single product solution.

Poppie is a wall-mounted design that holds two-commercial sized toilet rolls, similar to current standard holders, and a sanitary bin located above, freeing up floor space and area around toilet seat. The top angles of the bin were created to encourage users to place items on flat surface area, which was designed for things such as phones and keys, as these items inevitably end up being placed on flat surfaces if available.

This new compact solution reduces volume, minimises material use, and liberates space within a confined toilet cubicle. Research into sanitary products, identified significant issues with existing product provisions, complicated by constrained spatial environments, and differing primary and secondary user concerns and requirements. These included user concerns related to the cleanliness, odour, physical contact, vulnerability and security. Sanitation staff concerns related to, ease of access and speed of servicing, security of waste bags, and visibility for inspection.

Poppie addresses these concerns through the design development of key product features delivered through integration of human factors task analysis studies, iterative prototyping and an integrated product architecture. This design strategy leverages functional sharing of physical elements of the product. This reduces the overall product materials footprint, and importantly the number of sanitary management products, required for a toilet cubicle.

Poppie has been developed with both users and servicing staff in mind changing the experience had so these products impede on toilet cubicles. The key features include an elevated wall mounted access for sanitary services and product features from a sitting position improving usability and enhancing utility. A motion detection operated bin flap for sanitary products disposal alleviating concerns over touching unsanitary surfaces. A deodoriser oil spray for refreshing while providing a luberacted surface to reduce products sticking to the bin flap. A notched waste bag ring for a secure seal and reset of the waste bag which is also angled to reduce the build-up of product at the front of the bin. An integrated bag hook providing ready access to personal items when seated, elevating them off the floor. A non-slip flat dish area for laying down hand-held objects: phones, keys, etc. and a simple service lock mechanism providing sanitation staff access to Poppie through one access hinged at the rear for waste bag removal and toilet paper reloading. These features enhance the experience of toilet cubicles for all users, addressing spatial concerns, product usability and utility and the associated stigma with current sanitary bins.

This project wanted to address the frustrations that our team had with an all too common problem of a disappointing user experience with sanitary bins. We sought to use an iterative approach to develop our ideas and used insights from conversations with other public bathroom users to better understand what is needed.