Cut the crap; design brief to pre-production in eight weeks: Rapid development of an urban emergency low-tech toilet for Oxfam

With the world becoming increasingly urbanised, emergency sanitation for these environments have been found limited and insufficient. Governments and NGOs are becoming aware that changes need to be made and innovative solutions developed fast. Oxfam GB in collaboration with C4D of Cranfield University undertook a design brief to develop a low-tech sanitation solution for urban emergencies to be completed within a limited time frame. A multidisciplinary team of designers and engineers developed a rapid, low cost, design-led innovation framework, which captured stakeholder knowledge to create a solution that addressed the problem and was feasible for production. This article reveals the journey from design brief to pre-production in eight weeks culminating in the successful creation of a new product.