// NEwS & EVENTS
- 18 01 2023
- News
HERGO, the new restroom experience for all
It is no surprise that visiting the toilet is easier for some than it is for others. Everywhere we can find evidence that the queue for the ladies’ restrooms is always longer. But why?
When visiting public toilets, women are more concerned about hygiene than men are. Not having the option to stand while peeing, they usually squat and, in the effort to maintain the squatting position, they struggle not to touch any toilet surface.
Therefore the average time men spend in a portable toilet is 57 seconds, while the average time a woman spends in the same place is a staggering 3.39 minutes. These statistics applied to any large-scale event have a huge impact and must be taken into account to plan portable sanitation facilities accordingly.
Concerts, festivals and social events: crowds need fast and easy-to-use portable restrooms
Armal Research & Development team started to look into these facts in 2017 with the aim of improving the portable toilet experience.
Listening to the narratives of women’s experiences we realized that they face many difficulties when using portable toilets. In vulnerable situations (concerts, festivals, refugee camps, disaster areas) toilet availability is often an issue of safety too. The more we studied the problem, the clearer it became that we had to find a solution.
At the time we were the first ones in the portable sanitation industry to engage in the search for new ergonomic solutions to optimize the toilet interiors, seat and tank shape. Instead of putting us off, being the forerunner gave us even more motivation to succeed.
User experience driving change
The study focused on 3 main objectives:
- improve ergonomics;
- reduce contact zones;
- reduce the time.
Ergonomics is the science that guides manufacturers to adapt the shape of a product to human experience. We studied how users, especially women, typically make use of portable toilets and discovered the many physical challenges they face to avoid touching any toilet surface. The body posture of most women when visiting a toilet is standard: 35° of inclination is the position that most women adopt in a portable toilet.
From this starting point we looked at improving the use of space within the cabin as well. We designed a new tank and seat shape allowing everyone to use the toilet with the adequate posture. The newly shaped seat is not only facilitating women, but everyone needing to go for a wee.
Comfortable, contact-less, fast
The final result is HERGO, a portable toilet featuring a tank similar to a urinal but with full privacy and the comfort of a toilet. Additional accessories (large handle, coat hanger and foot-operated flush pump) make Hergo the go-to choice for any large scale event.
HERGO provides a stress-free experience because it is:
- contactless (everything within Hergo is designed to minimize contact with the toilet surfaces)
- spacious (there is much more space within the cabin to allow freedom of movement)
- quick and easy to use (so that usage time drops and queues are reduced)
HERGO, Don't Touch, and go!
