First Post: Magic Wand!

On July 31^st 2017, I made one of the boldest moves I had ever made in my life – I moved to the US to take my MBA.  That, of course, involved going through a massive slew of school and career-related decisions and experiences.  What many people do not see, though, is the significant transition to living alone in a foreign country.  Just like that, I became a lone Pinoy (slang for Filipino) living in Texas.

Let me set the context of how it is for a Pinoy like myself to live in the US.  There are two main cultural norms that need to be understood about Filipinos.  First, Filipino children live with their parents far longer than most cultures.  Second, it is normal in our country to have household help. 

This is technically not my first time living by myself.  When I turned twenty-eight, I moved out of my parents’ house in the suburbs of Manila to live in in the city (avoiding monstrous Manila traffic jams).  In my new place, I added furnishing, did all the paperwork, applied and paid for all utilities – in other words, I did what my friends called the “adulting” stuff. I did all that but one – I did not do my own laundry.  My parents then claimed, and rightfully so, that I only partially moved. 

One of the benefits Filipino culture – and living with your parents and having help – is laundry.  You see, laundry in the Philippines is not as easy here in the US.  Most clothes are washed by hand.  In fact, only 33% of Philippine households own washing machines.  This was one of the staple household help tasks.  So I went home every week to my parents with a huge bag of dirty clothes, and swapped that with last week’s washed ones. 

Fast-forward to July 2017.  I moved into my apartment here in Texas.  This Pinoy, for the first time, finally legitimately lived alone with no Filipino parents and help.  This time, I did all the house chores myself – from doing the laundry, vacuuming the rug, changing sheets, making dinner, and cleaning the toilet.  This made me more conscious about all these chores and the products we use to accomplish them.

My brother, who has lived in Nashville for fifteen years, came to Austin.  He drove me to Ikea, Target, and Costco so I could get my initial supplies.  If you think about convergent and divergent thinking, I did thoroughly think about every single thing I needed.  Thinking about my daily activities, I realized that I would need not only a hamper but also a hanger for clothes that you would not throw into the hamper.  I thought about laundry and knew I needed a basket for that.  Diverging and convering again, I imagined what my process would be like in doing my laundry and realized that I needed a wheeled basket to transport my clothes to the laundry room which was in the building next door.

And then I thought about the inevitable task of cleaning the toilet.  I had already imagined getting the typical toilet brush cleaner which was what everybody used back home.  And then at Target, I was introduced to a magical product – the Toilet Wand.

Yes, I know this sounds trivial.  But from the perspective a Pinoy who had just moved to the US and practically lived alone for the first time, these are some of the most important product decisions to be made.

Back home, I was used to cleaning the toilet with the toilet brush that we are all familiar with.  You know – that stick, usually made of plastic, which had a handle on one end, and a round brushy head that I can only describe as one that looks like Marge Simpson’s hair.  We all know what I’m talking about.  That product did the job.  It cleaned the toilet bowls.  It reached some of the corners and crevices that you dare would not touch.  Together with some cleaning agents, these brushes did wipe your toilet bowl clean.  They did the job.  Or did they?

Did you ever use one of these brushes and brushed your toilet bowl a little too aggressively that the toilet bowl water splashed on you?  That’s not pretty, is it. Did your brush ever catch anything in that bowl, like toilet paper, and you had no brilliant idea how to take it out?  Did you ever figure out how to properly clean that brush (I have some ideas, but I’d rather not)?  Finally, was the brush ever enough by itself?

Yes, those good old toilet bowl brushes did the job.  But they also caused pain (more like disgust) points.  That is exactly why the toilet wand is indeed a magical product. 

Just like the brush, the toilet wand cleans.  Because of the stick-like structure, both products are able to reach far into the bowl.  Like the brush, the wand is able to scrape the surface of the ceramic as well.  The main difference is that instead of Marge Simpson’s head, the wand has a clamp on the other end, which can be controlled with a switch on the opposite end.  The clamp holds a sponge that has two main differences versus the brush: 1) It already has a cleaning solution; 2) the sponge is smaller than an average brush; 3) It is disposable.

The toilet wand, with the two main differences above, is able to provide consumers like myself with some important utility advantages.  First, I no longer need a separate cleaning solution; it is in the sponge.  Second, because the sponge is smaller, it causes significantly less splashing from the toilet bowl water.  Finally, it eliminates the unpleasant need to clean sponge (or brush).  You can simply unclamp it and flush it in the toilet. 

The toilet wand cleans efficiently (no need for a cleaning solution), it is less messy, and less traumatic (talking about having to go through the ordeal of cleaning a brush).  It’s magic (just imagine my reaction after discovering this product, which for some reason, companies like Clorox has not made available in the Philippines)!

What makes the Toilet Wand a magical product?  It is definitely a product of thoughtful and insightful design.  Looking at this seemingly simple innovation, I have come to illustrate what makes a good design.  I realize that great product design should be: 1) Intuitively useful; 2) Appropriately simple; 3) Aesthetically engaging.

The toilet wand is intuitively useful.  It uses the same basic structure of a proven product (toilet brush), but possess improvements for use.  The developers of this product definitely heard and empathized with some legitimate pain points.  We complained of water from the toilet bowl splashing, so they made the sponge smaller.  We were disgusted by the unhygienic ways to clean the brush after use so they made it disposable.  We also have a need for lower costs, so they dipped the sponge in concentrated cleansing solution.  The answers provided by the wand are very definitive and deliberate.

The toilet wand is also as simple as it is needed.  There’s no revolutionary contraption.  It is a stick with a handle, like the brush.  But possibly during prototyping stage, they found out that making the cleaning sponges disposable meant that they had to make it easy.  So they simply added a clamp at the end of the tool and added a switch on the other end.  Again, it empathized with a pain point and had a definite solution. 

Finally, the wand is also aesthetically engaging.  It is white and blue – a color combination that has been proven to be closely attributed with cleanliness.  Imagine if it were brown. 

Living by myself in a different country without the comfort of my Filipino family household had its challenges.  I did have to do things for the first time.  With a little bit of magic from the Toilet Wand and similar thoughtfully designed products, however, I am able to lessen my worries just a little tiny bit.