Hi there!
To kick off this new year of exciting challenges, our design agency had the honour of working with the one and only water NGO in Belgium, Join For Water. The organisation has some far-reaching needs and dreams for their future, and we, as service designers, rolled up our sleeves and put in the effort to come up with innovative ideas to meet these demands. To maximise the outcome, our design agency split up into five separate and persevering teams and worked on the following design question:
“How can new service touch-points support the current sensitising and activation activities of Join For Water in Belgium; and which new services and experiences can encourage actions of individuals and stakeholder groups?”
In this blog post, we offer you an inside glance at all the outcomes of our projects for Join For Water.
Andrej, Daria, Saar and Mira of Team W, designed the first project
After using different brainstorm tools, such as the bull’s eye, they decided to concentrate on four focus-points for the future outcome of the project. These focus points entail: making the service accessible, fun, impactful for everyone and creating a WaterTelt-community. All of these stages in their Water Telt-service are leading towards a call to action.
First things first: ‘spread the word’! People will discover “WaterTelt” through stickers which are spread throughout the city (restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions,…). WaterTelt postcards are part of the touch-points as well, and by filling your name on them, you can become a member of the WaterTelt family. Take this sticker to the caravan and show the world that you will reduce your water footprint!
Once Join For Water has the attention of the people, they lure them further to explore the main attraction, the caravan. Implemented on squares in the city, food truck festivals and schools, people will gain more knowledge about the water footprint by exploring the caravan both outside and inside.
Ultimately, it is time for action! The team tried not only to create awareness but also to activate and motivate people to reduce their water footprint. By fulfilling weekly challenges, found in the WaterTelt challenge box, people can share all of this on social media and become change-makers themselves by inspiring and motivating people to become new members of the WaterTelt community too.
Alessia, Sepide and Olivier designed the second service system for Join For Water
They tried to spread information about indirect water use in a way that is engaging and fun. Their service consists of different elements placed in a city; modular, informative stands and paper flip games in the most visited places in the city like bus stops, the library, local businesses, schools and the city hall. The flipping panels show the amount of water used in food, clothes, and so on. The singular Instagram stand has a cutout you can pose in, with a panel where you can write what you want to change in the future to reduce your water footprint. There will also be a QR-code with a link to the Watertelt and Join For Water website.
In this service system Join For Water would also offer cooking workshops to give people more information about food’s indirect water use and how to cook healthier and with less water. Afterwards, the group can eat on a picnic blanket with infographics with extra information.
Carol Sakayan, Kimberly Vonckx and Pjotr Vandierendonck, the third group in our design agency, came up with H2(G)O
H2(G)O is a mobile bicycle cart that will present Join For Water in public areas of cities and towns in Flanders. Each side of this cart has black and white images that represent the familiar environment of a house; a kitchen, a bathroom and a washing space. The story behind the cart’s black and white drawings is that “It takes water to make a rainbow. Water counts”. Without water, there can be no colour on the cart, and this takes sustainable water use. Visitors of the cart will be able to collect 13 hidden tips on how to reduce their water footprint. These tips are based on critical areas in water usage; food, paper, clothing and direct water. The purpose of the cart is to make the water footprint comprehensible and to stimulate people to act together. It is a self-explanatory tool to provide guidelines for more sustainable use of water through concrete actions. It catalyses the existing touch-points that Join For Water uses to deliver their message to the public.
Sevdenur Dursun, Lukas Van Looy and Helder Rosa are the designers of the fourth project
This group tried to find an answer to the problem “how to reach more people and encourage behaviour change to help preserve water”.
First, they took on the aspects they liked most from the intervention of Join for Water and decided to try to improve them, with its interaction and awareness-raising effects. By taking the idea of “Superette” and changing it to the “Hypermarket” concept, Join for Water will be able to reach their goals of more raising awareness and action. The group believes this concept has the possibility of being adapted to several municipalities, as its course of action is based on common points. This way, the posters they propose to use as part of their solution, will be placed in many places already used by the municipalities.
Finally, there are actions to keep the users focused on the main goal in the future, like providing information on the “Walter” stand. This stand will show all the posters used in the project, in one place, and the user will be able to interact with it. On the back of of these posters there will be alternative products using less water compared to the mainstream products suggested. These posters will be accompagnied by an “Instagramable” sign where users can take photos and share them on social media. By continuously providing information, and encouraging users to keep improving their daily actions, these posters will be the best service touch-points to convey the Join for Water message.
“Gemorst” is an exhibition object designed by Amber De Coen, Gilles Verset, Reinout Van der Hauwert and Tafara Chibebe
“Gemorst” is a fallen cup that is spilling and wasting water, something that still way too many people do in their daily lives. Most of the time, this water wasting is indirect and caused by people’s way of consuming. This is why “Gemorst” tries to make people of all ages aware of their water footprint and how much water such a nice piece of steak or a new pair of jeans actually costs the earth.
First of all, there will be floor stickers and coasters, looking like puddles and filled with water-facts, scattered throughout the city where “Gemorst” is displayed. These stickers specifically will lead the visitors to the “Gemorst” cup.
After arriving at this installation, people can interact with the Superette Walter or measure their water footprint. Here, the visitor can also take up the #gemorst challenge where they agree to change their behaviour or habits in a way that will benefit their water footprint. They can do this by taking a picture of at the “genoeg gemorst” wall. After accepting this challenge, they can receive three stickers with water facts and ways to reduce their footprint, as a way to spread the message of Join For Water beyond the cup.