“Generous. Appropriate. Considered.” Established with Experts by Experience, these three pillars formed the design philosophy for our new co-produced washroom product range, aiming to deliver an innovative and truly human-centred product family to safely support service user wellbeing, growth, and recovery within challenging environments.
We are proud to share that the soon-to-launch product range has won Concept Product Innovation of the Year at the Design in Mental Health Awards 2025!
How the project developed
Kingsway Group are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Experts by Experience, as part of our recently-formed Lived Experience Panel, whose direct input shaped and guided the development of the new product range from start to finish
In addition, Kingsway Group worked closely with members of the NHS to ensure the new product range also meets the needs of Trust’s in terms of product performance & safety, functionality, practicality, longevity, and cost.
In result, the new co-produced washroom range meets the needs of care providers and service users simultaneously, ensuring the safety requirements are met while crucially being more emotionally supportive to service users through compassionate and considered design language.
What makes these products unique?
Each design decision was made to satisfy all three design pillars. The EbEs taking part proved crucial in highlighting areas where a design choice may sacrifice one pillar to benefit another. As such, the EbE’s unique insight paved way for unique products that are equally balanced across the project’s pillars.
As an example, EbEs highlighted an issue with existing washroom products, such as paper towel or soap dispensers, in that they’re large in size to reduce the frequency of refills. While this design choice seemingly benefits staff, it places the service user’s needs last in the design hierarchy and can translate to feelings of isolation or being forgotten; “I don’t need hundreds of paper towels or a gallon of soap, I need someone to support me” could be a thought, for example.
Therefore, by reducing the size of products in the new range, they become more personal to the user and less institutional by nature, less of a distraction in the healing process.
The EbEs also highlighted that reducing size would provide additional opportunities for interaction with care teams to strengthen relationships, with the increased frequency staff refilling dispensers serving as an important reminder for service users that they are truly cared for.
Register your interest in the new washroom range
Fill in the form below to register your interest in the new co-produced washroom range and we’ll be in touch! Thank you.
