DCA Bathroom

March 2023

#1 Product design consultancy

We have shaped the design industry since 1960

We work across four sectors

Through connecting our disciplines and sectors we draw on a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Medical & Scientific Consumer

Transport

B2B solutions

We consistently deliver market leading designs for our multi-national client list. We pride ourselves on producing designs that can be realised.

We have delivered successful products for the world’s biggest brands

We are trusted long term partners

24 year partnership supporting hundreds of patents

18 year partnership working on over 20 global brands

Product Innovation

Supplier of the year 2020

DCA selected as UX partner 3D development / design partner for over 18 years

From one to a billion

Big or small, a one-off or a billion, simple or complex, we design it all. Our breadth and wealth of knowledge enables us to design almost anything.

Whether we are simply creating the irresistible…

We have partnered with Godiva for over 6 years to create small pieces of sculpture that are simply joyful to consume and representative of their prestigious brand.

Plotting new paths for the future…

Helping Bentley with opportunities to shape the future of their in car experiences in a category that is rapidly changing context, technology and trends.

Working lean like a start-up…

We worked with Lifefuels, a US start-up, to design a bottle which can dose precise, customisable amounts of nutrients from refill pods.

Assisting brands with their sustainability ambitions

50L Home is a top 100 lighthouse project selected by the World Economic Forum. We brought to life a series of concept demonstrators to evaluate P&G’s vision with real users.

We employ multidisciplinary design principles

Since 1960 we have pioneered the multidisciplinary design philosophy. As the cornerstone of our approach, we work best when utilising the skills of our diverse range of experts to tackle the most challenging design problems.

Supporting HVAC + Water

Our skill and experience are relevant to this sector in three broad areas.

Supporting HVAC + Water

Our skill and experience are relevant to this sector in three broad areas.

Fluid management

We understand dispensing

Liquids

Foams

Aerosols

Powders

Vapours

We are experts in refillable dosing systems

We are experts in refillable systems. Durable device and refill formats not only provide consumer convenience, they encourage repeat purchases and can offer a legitimate sustainable alternative to the problems posed by single-use packaging.

Engineering precision with Sanofi

DCA have a partnership with Sanofi spanning several decades and many insulin pen models. Insulin delivery involves extremely precise dosing and foolproof user interaction. We have designed for various formats and markets, including a reusable pen for the Indian market designed for manual assembly in India.

LifeFuels

smart connected nutrition bottle

We worked with Lifefuels, a US start-up, to design a connected bottle which can dose precise, customisable amounts of nutrients from refill pods and track your consumption habits. The bottle was launched in 2018, winning the CES Innovation award, and is on sale across the US.

Concurrent technical development and visual design

Agile engineering

Integrating rapid-prototyping, resin-cast parts and off the shelf components allowed us to prove out a novel pump mechanism really quickly at fairly low cost.

Software development for water dosing systems

High integrity software development for highly accurate dosing systems. These instruments are used to control the chemical composition in domestic and beverage factory water supplies therefore robust software is critical to its function.

Software development for water dosing systems

Andrew Green, Watson-Marlow’s Technical Director, and head of the Qdos development team, said:

“The Qdos team have benefited enormously from DCA’s disciplined approach to software development, resulting in the most robust code we have delivered. The product has been successfully launched and has been enthusiastically met by the marketplace.”

Steam sterilisation

Hygiene is a critical concern for new parents. We have worked with Tommee Tippee to deliver a range of small domestic appliances for baby bottle sterilisation a food preparation.

Haigh bedpan macerator (retrofitted waste disposal system)

We designed a disposal system for Haigh which uses mechanical action and light water spray to hygienically dispose of bedpan waste into the mains plumbing system.

Haigh used our expertise in design, interaction principles and fluid engineering to take the new design to manufacture and launch.

Liquid or Air, we know how to manage flow

DCA designed Versaflo, the world’s best-selling powered air-purifying respirator. It is designed to filter hazardous dust and particulates in high-risk environments while being as comfortable and convenient as possible for workers.

Engineered to improve robustness and save cost

We understand the technical features and material properties required to engineer components for safety critical high pressure dispensing systems such as fire extinguishers.

We develop technologies to help reduce CO2 impact

Self diagnosing smoke detectors are now saving millions of miles of transport emissions created by service technician travel.

Computational fluid dynamics

Simulation of complex fluid flow and heat transfer problems helps us optimise our designs and reduce the reliance on physical prototyping.

Employing the right tools for the job

Robust testing of technical characteristics ensures that the final product meets the stringent requirements needed for high quality, high volume production. We utilise:

- FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis)

- Finite Element Analysis non-linear and linear (ANSYS and Solidworks Simulation)

- Moldflow MPI

- Computational Fluid Dynamics (Solidworks Flow Simulation)

- Kinematic analysis (ANSYS and Solidworks Motion Simulation)

- Mathematical modelling (MathCAD, MiniTab and MS Excel)

- Optical and contact part measurement

- Force and Torque measurement machines (2x Linear 1x Linear/rotational)

- Environmental chambers (temperature and humidity)

- High speed camera (25,000 fps)

- Semi anechoic chamber with binaural microphone

Putting theory into practice

Due to the complexity of the atomisation process of a spray, using equations or analysis software to predict spray quality is infeasible.

Although a math model calculates the pressure of the fluid as it enters the spray nozzle, we need to hand over to physical testing with real components in order to translate this pressure into spray quality.

Supporting HVAC + Water

Our skill and experience are relevant to this sector in three broad areas.

The hygiene environment

We have years of experience working in the bathroom

We have worked with Kohler Mira providing a number of shower and control solutions.

And at present we are ‘free to operate’ in the ‘Bathroom Products Space’.

Tackling water scarcity

The 50L Home initiative is a top 100 lighthouse project selected by the World Economic Forum aiming to address the issue of water scarcity accelerated by climate change.

We brought to life P&G’s vision by producing a range of compelling physical experience prototypes that can be retrofitted into existing domestic water management systems. These allowed P&G to test their propositions in the real world, and convince key internal stakeholders that these concepts were technically feasible, financially viable and desirable to consumers.

Kohler - Shower Tray & Waste Trap

Kohler came to us with the challenge of slimming down the profile of their shower trays.

The key challenge was to re-engineer the waste trap to be flatter and more integrated into the tray. Our redesign of the drainage system was incorporated into several of Kohler’s best-selling shower tray and sink designs.

Carnival Cruiselines cabin

Currently being built into the Mardis Gras cruise ship, to be launched August 2020

Hitachi Universal Access Toilet

As part of our design for the Hitachi IEP train carriage, we created a universal access toilet which had to be usable for all users with impaired vision, hearing or movement.

We built full-scale mock-ups and tested them with relevant user groups to make sure they were accessible for all.

‘Future Laundry’ concepts

DCA undertook an internal project to explore alternative designs for washing machines.

User research explored the needs of emerging user groups – students and childless couples. One design this resulted in was a portable machine which doubled as a laundry basket. Though this was not a client project, it increased our in-house expertise in the laundry area.

Designing for personal beauty regimes

We’ve been working with brands such as Veet and Clearasil to deliver product experiences that fit into your typical personal hygiene and beauty routines in the bathroom.

New business models shift to circularity

Sākuru (circle) is a near term concept that envisions a likely world where digital technology and social media drive cosmetics to be more agile, creative and personal than ever before.

It uses a reusable cartridge containing base ingredients (pigments, binders etc.) which combine to create a huge range of colours and functions.

When Sākuru detects the cartridge is nearly empty, know to delivers a replacement straight to the user’s door. The old cartridge is returned, cleaned and refilled creating as little waste as possible.

Shifting to this way of making cosmetics could save the 120bn units of make-up packaging currently created each year, and minimise the 80% of product that is never used.

Elegantly integrated into your lifestyle

Designed for longevity, the Sākuru unit has a sense of permanence, with durable materials and modular internal components which can be repaired and upgraded as technology advances.

It has no fixed digital interface, allowing the user to use any smart device and to benefit from everadvancing technologies.

Supporting HVAC + Water

Delightful user experiences start with understanding real user needs

We develop industry leading UI / UX experiences for the worlds best brands

Tangible Interaction with In-Car Smart Intelligence

DCA teamed up with a PhD research team and Bentley Motors on an experimental project to better understand how to utilise Artificial Intelligence to create enhanced comfort experiences in the future.

Flexible furniture

Developed to meet the growing needs for small space city living, the DandiBedin the Dandi Space raises from floor to ceiling using a powered or manual counterbalance system. The result is a complete change in the room space utilisation from office to bedroom.

The future of flight

An immersive, modular flight simulator, used by Rolls Royce to test new configurations and methods of control as flight technology advances.

Crafting beauty in home audio

We are working with the most prestigious audio brands to understand their global consumer base and respond by creating the beautiful objects worthy of adorning their homes.

Delightful interaction

The Selekt DSM revolutionises the user’s interaction with their digital music by creating a more tactile, interactive experience, better in every sense. Its jewel-like dial and smart buttons can be personalised, giving immediate access to the music you want to hear, no matter the source.

Handmade at the Linn factory in Glasgow, Selekt DSM is a fully modular network music player designed for longevity and flexibility allowing the user to upgrade their configurations at the point of purchase or anytime in the future.

Delightful interaction

To ensure the optimum user interaction with the dial and smart buttons we created many proofof-principle prototypes to strike the perfect balance between physical and digital control and the haptic sensorial feel and feedback desired for such a premium product.

Touch and feel often determine the level of user satisfaction. Intuitive behaviour and ease of use were tested and refined multiple times, to ensure the final product conveyed the right mix of functionality and performance.

The digital experience embodied in a user interface is one of the most important design challenges. LINN created their own app, which we used to provide the structure of the interface whilst we added clarity and ease of use to a seemingly endless collection of digital music and information.

Where user research meets new technology

Wanting to enter the European market with a new ride on lawn mower, US company

Ariens employed our cutting edge development tools and skilled research team to identify untapped consumer needs and then test out realistic virtual simulations.

Harnessing VR, AR & mixed reality

The power of design

Managing patient fear requires the perfect balance of human factors, engineering and visual design.

Ergonomic and workflow analysis leads to concept design

These insights led to developing proposals for the layout of the treatment suite based on ergonomic and workflow analysis of the patient and operators using a range of tools

Stakeholder shadowing in commercial bathroom facilities

The supply of soap in high-traffic areas (such as airports and malls) poses challenges of supply and for workers.

DCA performed field research to investigate the whole system of supply and maintenance in these facilities, resulting in a new dispenser design and a system architecture for new ways of supplying soap.

User led testing

How can observed behaviours of tackling stressful operations help to inform new product features

User research for bathroom products in the developing markets

We have launched several soap and oral care products for clients in the Indian market. As part of this, we performed research following the product supply chain to the home, to discover all the touchpoints our products had to interact with.

Turning insights into tangible experiences

Our design and engineering team work symbiotically to realise the user led concepts as the design develops throughout the DFM process.

The results speak for themselves