INOM EXAMENSARBETE TEKNIK,GRUNDNIVÅ, 15 HP

, STOCKHOLM SVERIGE 2018

Product development in low income marketsIdentifying user needs and approaches in design in a low income market, with focus on the water filtration market in Malaysia

NATALIA LINDGREN

JULIA MORTENSEN

KTHSKOLAN FÖR INDUSTRIELL TEKNIK OCH MANAGEMENT

Preface 

This study has been carried out within the framework of the Minor Field Studies Scholarship                             Programme, MFS, which is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation                     Agency, Sida. The project is executed as a bachelor thesis in Integrated Product Development                           (MF131X) within the department of Machine Design at The Royal Institute of Technology                         (KTH) in Stockholm. It has been executed in collaboration with the water purification company                           Blöndal Group in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

We want to use this space of the publication to thank some of the people who were especially                                   helpful during this project. First and foremost, a big thank you to the Blöndal CEO, Sophus                               Broberg, for inviting us to Kuala Lumpur, giving us a warm welcome and a lovely stay in                                 Malaysia. We are also especially grateful to the company technical director Tommy Tan, for his                             constant guidance and the company engineer Yusri Hussin, for always coming forward when                         help was needed. Of course, thank you to our supervisor at KTH, Gunilla Ölundh Sandström,                             for supporting us throughout the project. Last but not least, a big thank you to SIDA for helping                                   us realizing this project. 

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Abstract 

The water situation in Malaysia is not ideal. Due to the unsatisfactory quality of the piped water,                                 the demand of domestic water filters in Malaysia is increasing. At the same time, 40 percent of                                 the Malaysian population are described as a low income group who are especially vulnerable                           against increases in living costs. Developing products that meet the needs of consumers who are                             constrained in resources is vital for straining the growth of poverty and reaching the global                             SDGs. To ensure that the access to clean water is achievable for all, regardless of income group,                                 established methodologies within product development in emerging markets with low income                     target groups needs to be identified.  

The intention with this study is to identify and evaluate some of the existing models and                               methods within this area through thorough research and a case study. The main focus is to                               analyse the methodologies for identifying user needs, as well as the approaches in design and                             conceptualization, when developing products for the lower income group. An extensive                     literature study has been made, in combination with interviews from Engineers without borders,                         Sweden. The results were that no models or methods were frequently used in their different                             projects but every project was individually structured. These results were then applied in a field                             study in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. During the field study, a market analysis took place and a new                                 product concept was shaped. The project was in collaboration with the company Blöndal, a                           water purification company in Kuala Lumpur. Their point of use water filter called Källa 8 was                               further developed, guided by the identified models and methods gained from the                       predevelopment research. 

Before the development of Källa 8, the user needs were identified through surveys, in-home visits                             and shorter interviews. To translate the identified user want and needs to product attributes, a                             House of Quality matrix was used and worked as a basis of discussion during the                             conceptualization of the new Källa 8. Throughout the conceptualization, the mindset originating                       from the theory of Frugal Innovation was constantly present. 

The result of the market analysis clearly pointed to a too high of a price of the product, but                                     stating that the already existing design of the product was both attractive and important for the                               lower income group. These attributes were later realized by foremost changing the configuration                         of the piping in the product. The purpose was to make the filters easily changeable, sparing the                                 users the service cost of changing the filters. This was done without interfering with the most                               valued features of the product. 

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Titel: Produktutveckling inom låginkomstmarknader Identifiering av användarbehov och utformning av produkter med låginkomsttagare som målgrupp, med fokus på marknaden för vattenfilter för hushåll 

Sammanfattning Vattensituationen i Malaysia är inte ideal. På grund av den dåliga kvalitén av kranvatten, har                             efterfrågan av vattenfilter för hemmabruk i Malaysia ökat. Samtidigt beskrivs 40 procent av                         Malaysias befolkning som en del av en låginkomstgrupp som är särskilt sårbara för ökade                           levnadskostnader. Att utveckla produkter som möter behoven hos konsumenter som är                     begränsade i ekonomiska resurser är avgörande för att förhindra tillväxten av fattigdom och för                           att uppnå FN:s Millenniemål. För att försäkra att tillgången till rent vatten är uppnåeligt för alla,                               oavsett inkomstgrupp, måste beprövade metoder inom produktutveckling i tillväxtmarknader                 med låginkomsttagare som fokusgrupp identifieras. 

Målet av denna studie är att identifiera och utvärdera vissa av de existerande modellerna och                             metoderna inom detta område genom grundliga studier och en fallstudie. Huvudfokus ligger på                         att analysera metoder för att identifiera användarbehov samt konceptualisering och utformning                     av produkter för låginkomstgrupper. En omfattande litteraturstudie har gjorts samt intervjuer                     med Ingenjörer utan gränser. Resultatet från intervjuena visade på att inga specifika metoder                         användes frekvent utan varje project utformades på eget vis. Detta resultat applicerades sedan på                           ett fältarbete i Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Projektet var i samarbete med företaget Blöndal, ett                           vattenfilterföretag med huvudkontor i Kuala Lumpur. Deras så kallade “point of                     use”-vattenfilter, vid namn Källa 8, vidareutvecklades med de identifierade modellerna och                     metoderna från förstudien som ledsagare. 

Före vidareutvecklingen av Källa 8, identifierades användarbehoven genom enkätundersökningar,                 hembesök och kortare intervjuer. För att översätta de identifierade användarbehoven till faktiska                       produktegenskaper, utarbetades en så kallad House of Quality-matris som sedan användes som                       diskussionsunderlag under konceptualiseringen av det nya Källa 8. Tankesättet som användes                     under utformningen av den nya produkten härleddes av konceptet Frugal Innovation. Frugal                       Innovation visade sig vara en värdefull teoretisk ramverk, men var inte så lätt att implementera                             på just denna fallstudie. 

Resultaten från marknadsanalysen visade tydligt att produkten kostade för mycket men att den                         yttre designen var attraktiv och viktig för låginkomstgrupper. Dessa attribut realiserades i                       produkten genom att främst förändra konfigurationen av rören i produkten. Anledningen till                       detta var att minska underhållskostnader för användaren, eftersom hen själv ska kunna byta ut                           filtrena. Detta gjordes utan att större förändringar på produktens högst värderade egenskaper. 

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Table of contents  1. Introduction 6 

1.1 Problematization 6 1.2 Objective 8 1.3 Research questions 8 

2. Theory 10 2.1 Malaysia 10 2.2 Low income consumers 11 2.3 Understanding the user 12 2.4 Conceptualization from collected user needs 14 2.5 Product development concepts for low income markets 15 2.6 Källa 8 16 2.7 Domestic water filtration systems 19 

3. Method 20 3.1 Literature studies 20 3.2 Interviews 20 3.3 Processing of interviews 21 3.4 Comparison of literature studies and interviews 21 3.5 Market analysis 22 3.6 Product development 25 3.7 Conceptualization 25 

4. Results 25 4.1 Models/methods/processes for customer integration 25 4.2 Models/methods/processes for product development 26 4.3 Identified customer needs 28 4.4 Development of Källa 8 30 

5. Discussion 36 

6. Conclusions 40 

Bibliography 41 

 Appendix A:  Interview guide for interviews with Engineers without borders, Sweden Appendix B:  Survey used during market analysis Appendix C:  Results from the surveys Appendix D:  Comments and observation from short interviews Appendix E:  Comments and observation from in-home visits Appendix F:  Comments and observation from sales staff encounter Appendix G:  Used standard tube fittings 

   

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1. Introduction In the following section, the problematization, objective and research questions are being presented.  1.1 Problematization At the UN World Summit in September 2015, world leaders adopted to the 17 Sustainable                             Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to end                           all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change (UN, 2017). Significant progress                           has been made in reducing poverty, but the amount of people still living in poverty is                               unacceptably high. Furthermore, the progress is often temporary for people who have been lifted                           out of poverty. Food insecurities, economic shocks and climate change are a constant threat                           (Worldbank, 2016). Whilst it is common to believe poverty only implies to people living in rural                               surroundings, urban poverty is an existing problem and implies to a great number of cities                             around the world (Lawhon et al., 2013). One of the main reasons for a growing urban poverty is                                   a growing portion of people in the city not affording their living situations (UCLG, 2014).                             Hence, developing products that meet the needs of consumers who are constrained in resources                           is vital for straining the growth of poverty and reaching the global SDGs.  In 1992 a Chinese firm developed an energy-efficient and low-cost microwave that was small                           enough to fit inside small apartments in China. This took microwaves from being affordable for                             only 2 percent of Chinese households to a mass market of 60 percent. This example illustrates                               the growing demand of low-cost and high-value products in the emerging markets. Development                         of products that are directed to the often neglected masses can dramatically raise the living                             standards of these great amount of people. Typically, for Western firms, the organizational                         structures and business models are designed for development of relatively advanced products                       adapted for the few at the top of the economic pyramid (Gassmann et.al., 2011). Meeting the                               needs of consumers who are constrained in resources consequently introduces shortcomings in                       the commonly used methodologies.   Adding to this, Aline Krämer (2015) argues that a low-income context also introduces limitations                           when working with conventional approaches to new product development. Methods of                     integrating and understanding the user in product development such as experiments, surveys and                         focus groups are conformed to western consumers. Such techniques can fall short in the lower                             income markets due to factors such as low literacy or perhaps difficulties conducting the                           methods due to infrastructural weaknesses. Income factors are also combined with cultural and                         social factors that likewise influence the approach within working with defining user needs in                           order to develop products. Understanding and empathizing with the users in the specific market                           is necessary for gathering useful results. Consumers are often deeply affected by regional culture                           that influence habits, values, consumption patterns and behaviour. All of these factors calls for                           new, customized methodologies within customer integration and design that are more adjusted                       to these specific lower income markets (Weidner et.al, 2010).   

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A territory that needs extra attention from the field of product development is access to clean                               drinking water. The sixth SDG is to ensure access to water sanitation for all. Although this is an                                   absolutely essential part of the world we live in, the UN estimates that at least 1.8 billion people                                   globally use a source of drinking water that is contaminated. Often, this goes hand in hand with                                 poverty (UN, 2017).  The water supply situation in South-east Asia is not ideal. WHO/UNICEF (2017) report that 94                             percent of the South-east asia population at the least use an unimproved drinking water resource                             placed within 30 minutes of their living areas. At best, this percentage use certified water                             resources, available always on premises. This means that 6 percent of the South-east Asia                           population have an even lower standard of drinking water. This type of drinking water is either                               qualified as unimproved, surface water or is situated over 30 minutes away from the users living                               grounds.   When it comes to Asia, Malaysia is a country that has excelled in regard of the SDGs. Malaysia                                   has achieved most of their SDG goals, although they are still struggling with water related issues.                               The growing population, rapid urbanization and industrialization of Malaysia are straining the                       water supply and in combination with threats of climate change, the future forecasts more                           frequent shortages of water and severe drought. The water service industry in Malaysia is under                             reform to ensure proper water supplies for both current and future needs (Teo, 2014).                           Unfortunately, construction of highland roads and deforestation has resulted in water                     contamination (Law, 2005). The water situation varies within the country: 11 percent of the rural                             population only have access to an unimproved water resource, which also applies to 1 percent of                               the urban population (WHO/UNICEF, 2017).    The Department of Statistics, Malaysia (2017) states that the water supply has increased largely                           from 2015 to 2016 because of the rapid population growth. They point to a growing demand of                                 clean water and a high percentage of the population served with piped water:   

“Demand for clean water resources increase in tandem with population growth ... 95.7 percent of                             Malaysia population were served with piped water in which 97.2 percent was urban population and 93.5                               percent was rural population 2016.” - Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 2017. 

  Nevertheless, there are uncertainties regarding the quality of the piped water. A study of 20                             selected areas in Kuala Lumpur, with 100 collected random tap water samples combined with                           consumer surveys, shows that the tap water quality was considered safe for drinking according to                             the guidelines of the Malaysian Ministry of Health. However, the consumers had argued that the                             quality of the water was acceptable except on certain days. The fluctuation of water quality was                               also amplified by the test results, that showed a significant variation of water quality among the                               samples. Half of the households in the study had domestic water filters installed and 74 percent                               of the households boiled the tap water before consumption (Ibrahim et. Al., 2007). This suggests                             

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a distrust among the consumers about the tap water quality. Due to this, domestic water filter                               systems has become widespread (Law, 2005).   Until access to treated, clean and piped water is fully attained, point-of-use water treatment has                             emerged as an attractive and cost-effective approach to the problem. Point-of-use water filtration                         systems cleans the water directly from where the water is being used, meaning that access to                               clean water is made possible even via a contaminated water source (Parker Fiebelkorn et al.,                             2012). The demand of domestic water filters in Asia Pacific is increasing due to the growing                               population, pollutants and growing awareness of the consumers (Broberg, 2017). The demand                       needs to be met by a product accessible for all and manageable by all, with a target group that                                     includes a lower income audience.  In Malaysia, the lower income population is represented by nearly half of the population in 2009.                               Amita Singh et al. (2013) define that those living in the bottom of the Malaysian society had an                                   income of less than 742 USD per month, of these, 40 percent resided in urban areas and 40                                   percent had no school certificate. In 2009, that would mean that approximately 9 million were                             placed in the low-income category. There is an extreme income gap within the population. The                             majority of Malaysians are members of the working class and can be found at the lower levels of                                   the inequality spectrum (Singh et al., 2013). This introduces another issue, namely that                         low-income consumers are often low educated. A problem that can arise from working with                           products related to hygiene and sanitation is that consumers are not aware of their needs                             (hand-washing or the importance of drinking clean water) (Gradl et al., 2008). Thus, when trying                             to understand and specify user needs, one may have difficulties communicating their desires or                           product feature. This too, calls for customized methodologies in product development.  1.2 Objective The aim of this project is to identify and evaluate methods and approaches for identifying user                               needs and designing products in a lower income- and emerging market. Since Malaysia is an                             example of these rapidly growing emerging markets, it is a suitable market to focus on in this                                 study. To nuance the understanding of these methods, an intent is to put them in practise.                               Therefore, a collaboration with the Blöndal Group, a water purification company in Kuala                         Lumpur, Malaysia was initiated. The fundamental idea of the project is to further develop the                             PoU water filter system Källa 8, making it more adapted for mass market retail with focus on the                                   lower income market. The models and methods of design and user need identification will be                             applied and evaluated in this product development process, with focus on the pre-prototype                         phases.     

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1.3 Research questions To lay a good foundation for the product development in Kuala Lumpur, thorough preparatory                           work will take place. This will be covered by the following research questions:     RQ1.1: When focusing on a low income market, what models and methods for  

identifying customer needs are recommended in literature and used by low income market oriented organisations? 

  RQ1.2: What models and methods are most suitable for developing products for low income markets, according to literature and low income market oriented  organisations? 

  The second part of this project, will be to apply the preparatory studies on the product development of Källa 8. This results in the following research question:   

RQ2:  What changes in design of the PoU water filter system Källa 8 can be done to meet identified customer needs? 

  

   

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2. Theory This section is divided into two parts: One introducing the theory that is relevant for research                               questions 1.1 and 1.2 and a second for research question 2. The first part will thus treat the                                   methodological part of this project in sections 2.3 - 2.5, while the second will be treating the                                 technical part in sections 2.6 - 2.7. As an introduction to this, there will be some general theory                                   about Malaysia.  2.1 Malaysia In this section, general information about Malaysia is presented. 2.1.1 General information Kuala Lumpur, with its 7 million inhabitants, is the capital of Malaysia and is located in the west                                   coast of the country (Landguiden, 2016). The population of Malaysia reaches almost 32 million                           inhabitants (Nations online, 2016). About half of the population is ethnically Malay, under a                           fourth is Chinese, around 7 percent are Indian and 12 percent indigenous, according to statistics                             from 2010. There are plenty of small languages used in Malaysia, especially on the island of                               Borneo, but the main language is Malay and English is widely used. Over 60 percent of the                                 population are Muslim (sunni), around 20 percent are Buddhists and the rest are mainly Christian                             and Hindus. Between the 1800 century and 1963, Malaysia was a British colony (Globalis, 2015).  2.1.2 Geography Malaysia is geographically divided into a western and an eastern part, one found in the south tip                                 of the Malay Peninsula and one found on the island of Borneo. The western part of Malaysia, on                                   the peninsula, is rich in high mountain ranges, except for the low land coastal areas. The                               Malaysian climate is characterized by high temperatures and humidity, especially during the                       monsoon that affects the eastern Malay Peninsula somewhere in October to the end of March.                             Rainforests cover close to a third of Malaysia. Environmental problems that Malaysia are                         influences by are the poor air quality in the larger cities due to unregulated emissions from                               industries and traffic. Another issue is the contamination of drinking water (Globalis, 2015).  2.1.3 Society and politics Malaysia is divided by 13 states where each state is led by a sultan. Every fifth year, one of these                                       sultans are chosen to be king. Although, this is a so called symbolic monarchy, and the country is                                   essentially led by the government (Nations Online, 2016). The political parties are principally                         organized by ethnicity and religion. The conventional right- and left political phalanxes cannot                         really be considered as established. UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) have been the                         dominating party since the independence, though over the last years the Islamic party PAS (Parti                             Islam se-Malaysia) has gained power in one of the states and introduced sharia laws (Globalis,                             2015).  During the three decades between 1989 and 2014, the city of Kuala Lumpur has grown with a                                 rapid urbanization (Boori et al., 2015) and still is (The Malaysian Department of Statistics, 2017).                             

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Approximately 75 percent of the Malaysian population live in cities (Landguiden, 2016). The                         country is turning towards a more industrialized, multi-ethnic and business attractive civilization.                       Whilst there still are areas of great poverty in Malaysia, the percentage is below 1 percent.                               Instead, the poorest 40 percent of the population in Malaysia are described as a low-income                             group who are financially unstable. They are called “The bottom 40” in economic terms. These                             people are vulnerable against increases in the cost of living and handling financial obligations.                           Compared to other countries in South-east Asia, the income inequality is high (World Bank,                           2017).  2.1.4 Economy and trade Malaysia is one of the most developed and wealthy countries in Southeast Asia, with a GNP                               slightly lower than Singapore and Brunei (Nations online, 2016). The economy of Malaysia is in                             many aspects export-dependent: rubber, oil and wood are exported in large volumes (Globalis,                         2015). Although, by attracting high technology industries, Islamic finance and biotechnology, the                       country is aiming to achieve high-income status by 2020 (Nations online, 2016). In the 70s the                               government introduced reforms to compensate for the high proportions of Chinese and other                         minorities workers by giving the native Malays specific advantages in education and the public                           sector. Chinese and other minorities are therefore vigorously discriminated in large parts of the                           working life (Globalis, 2015). Nevertheless, a large ethnic Chinese minority holds economic                       power despite the Malay political domination (BBC, 2018).   Since the Global Financial Crisis in 2009, Malaysia has recovered rapidly with an average of 5.7                               percent per year between 2010 and 2017. The World Bank report, 2017, implies that Malaysia has                               a near-term economic outlook which reflects an open and diverse economy and is the reason                             external shocks have had minimal impact on the country. The growing income as well as the                               growing urbanization has a positive effect on the domestic demand which solidifies the                         economic growth. Because of the growing economy, the low-income groups are seeing growing                         numbers, where the income amount for The Bottom 40 has increased. However, the increase is                             not enough for an economic security for these people (Worldbank, 2017). Furthermore, the                         Indian population in Malaysia are among the poorest in the country due the positive                           discrimination of Malays (Landguiden, 2016).  2.2 Low income consumers In this report we define the low income population and our target group based on the report                                 “Millennium Development Goals and Community Initiatives in the Asia Pacific” written my                       Amita Singh et.al. Henceforth, when using the term “low income” we refer to  

“…households with an income of less than RM2,300 (US $742) per month with a mean income of RM1,440 (US $465) ” (Singh et.al, 2013). 

  

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2.3 Understanding the user In this section, theory regarding understanding user needs is presented.  2.3.1 The importance of understanding the user The importance of understanding the user as a designer has been empathized in many commonly                             used models and methodologies for design and product development. Nonetheless, within the                       field of design thinking. Design thinking answers the question of “What are designers and engineers                             really thinking and doing, when they create products, services, and enterprises? ” (Meinel, 2011) and can be                                 described as “...a systematic and collaborative approach for identifying and creatively solving problems” (Luchs,                           2016). A lot of research has been conducted within this area ever since the 1960s, when the                                 interest of deriving a design methodology started to grow (Johannesson et al., 2013). There are                             hundreds of specific methods and tools related to design thinking. One common feature in most                             modern theories of design thinking is the focus on identifying user needs in the earliest stages of                                 the development process (Johannesson et al., 2013). In order to design products that are                           successful in an aimed market, understanding the needs and wants of the customer is of high                               importance (Luchs, 2016). This is emphasized in the modern idea of design thinking, that takes a                               human-centered approach rather than just focusing on the graphic factors of a new product                           (Meinel, 2011).  Design thinking is commonly illustrated as a series of iterative key-activities in a product                           development process, as seen in a variant below (Meinel, 2016). The visualization of design                           thinking can be more dynamic in a nonlinear, iterative fashion. Though, this linear form of                             illustrating the tools of design thinking is well suited for novice teams (Luchs, 2016). This                             particular form, with five key activities, is often presented in literature (Meinel, 2016; Luchs,                           2016; Marcus, 2016). In this project, our focus will be concentrated on the second and third step                                 of the proposed process in the following figure:  

 Figure 1: Design Thinking 

 2.3.2 Methods of understanding the users and their needs To obtain the needs and wants of the customer, a thorough understanding of the market and the                                 competition is needed. This is partly achieved through preparatory studies: describing the                       potential users and market characteristics in notions such as demographics, culture and so on                           (Mital, 2014). Studying the demographics of users in variables such as nationality, income or                           geographical living is the most frequently used factor to describe users (Marcus, 2016). The value                             of the preparatory work is often pointed out in product development literature, nonetheless                         within the theory of design thinking. The preparatory studies can partly be in form of literature                               studies, which lays a solid foundation when trying to understand the product user. Furthermore,                           

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a literature study should perhaps be combined with other forms of predevelopment work to get                             a more multifaceted understanding of the user. As Luchs (2016) puts it: “The Internet is one source,                                 but interviewing and talking to customers is critical.”. In other words, it is important to use different                                 sources of material to promote versatility. The direct contact with users promoted by Luchs                           (2016), is further supported by Johannesson et al., who points out that“The richest information is the                               firsthand information” (2013) . Interacting with the future product users is therefore an essential.  The PDMA handbook of new product development by Kenneth B. Kahn (2013) continues to enhance                             that valuable information that is obtained by putting project members in the situations where the                             problem that the product is aimed to solve occurs. As a developer of the product, to use the                                   product routinely can enlighten the pros and cons of the product and collect tacit information.                             To critically observe and maybe even live with the customers plays the same role. In this way one                                   also learns the customers’ language and behaviour, which is of importance when translating the                           needs into actual product attributes. These approaches are significantly more time consuming                       and one might argue that it is not financially justifiable. For many companies and designers, it is                                 not really viable to live with or interact with the customers in such a manner. This implies                                 especially within a low income market, where projects might be restrained in resources.  Anil Metal (2014) also emphasizes the interactive approaches of obtaining user needs and wants.                           Of course, communicating directly with the users and customers of the product in any form, is a                                 conventional and well-functioning way of understanding the users. In this way needs can be                           identified directly and more efficiently, especially when collecting tacit information.  A popular way of customer integrating market research is to use focus groups. A focus group                               usually consists of 6-10 persons of similar demographic background, that are a representative                         sample of customers. With the presence of a moderator, this group then discusses certain                           product related topics together (Mital, 2014). Arranging a focus group might yet be difficult and                             depends on a handful of factors. For example, knowing how to gather and where to look for a                                   representative sample of customers is a challenge of its own. Difficulties with using focus groups                             is also the amount of time and energy every individual needs to provide. To motivate people to                                 attend a meeting of this sort, compensation for the time invested by the participants might be                               expected (Seymour, 1987). Since the product development preparatory study is often relatively                       limited in resources (Johannesson et al., 2013), and especially when designing for a low income                             target group, this method falls short.  Individual interviews can hence be easier and cheaper to arrange than the focus groups,                           depending on the profoundness of the interviews. In the individual interviews, one can get a                             deeper understanding of an individual’s habits and needs without requiring too much of their                           energy and time. The same goes for in-home visits, although in-home visits allow closer                           interaction with the users in their everyday environment (Mital, 2014). If interviews are                         conducted in a everyday environment of the user, one gets detailed information that in many                             ways can be of crucial significance when identifying user needs. The user is not obliged to have                                 

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the ability to describe their problems or actually be aware of their problems if the study is carried                                   out in the right environment (Johannesson et al., 2013). Interviews of this sort are also easier to                                 arrange than a focus group, since one does not have to consider the schedules of several people                                 or consider locations for interviews. The flexibility in location and time is a definite benefit of                               individual interviews, compared to focus groups. Focus groups may furthermore be in very                         artificial settings where the participants’ behaviors change according to their interpretations and                       rules of the surroundings (Seymour, 1987). This leaves in-home visits and single interviews as                           easily implemented methods in resource restrained projects with a low income target group.  Since the participants in interviews and in home visits are relatively few, the findings can not be                                 representative for the larger population. The obvious limitation of these techniques, is the size                           and amount of information that can be collected (Seymour, 1987). Quantitative research can                         therefore be a solution or used as a complement to the information gathered from qualitative                             research methods. Quantitative methods can be in the form of market surveys or shorter                           interviews. While qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews focus on the individual                       answers, in quantitative studies the collected data can be processed and statistically analysed                         (Johansson et.al, 2013). Surveys are used for collecting answers and insights surrounding the                         factors beneath customer decision-making. Surveys can contain questions with rank alternatives,                     grant points to different options and have the respondent express preferences. This broadens the                           set of insights in customer needs, preferences and requirements. As this method is often                           performed in a larger scale than qualitative methods, a broader set of customer needs can be                               recognized and therefore taken to consideration for new products. A constraint to the method is                             that the given answers can be misleading because questionnaires usually are not sure where they                             stand in the different questions of interest (Kahn, 2013).  Quantitative methods might additionally leave important information out since they are often                       based off of questions that need only statistical answers, for example where, how much, how                             many. The methods often leave out questions of deeper meaning, for an example why and how.                               Qualitative and quantitative methods can therefore be simultaneously used or crossover mixed                       (Frels, 2013). As surveys are handed out one can simultaneously fish in customers for longer                             interviews.    2.4 Conceptualization from collected user needs Once the user needs and wants are identified, they need to be translated into technical demands                               and specifications. In the theory of design thinking, this is a part of the ideation-step. A tool that                                   is often referenced to within the field of product development is Quality function deployment , QFD.                             QFD is mainly for development of established solution concepts and also involves competitor                         analysis, so called benchmarking. The method is based on four steps, of which the last one is                                 translating of customer needs and wants in to technical specifications for production and                         construction (Johannesson et al., 2013).  

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To use QFD as a tool in product development, the information is often structured in a matrix,                                 often referred to as a House of Quality (Johannesson et. al, 2013). An example of the                               construction of the House of Quality can be seen in the Result section 4.4.1 in this report.                                 Different forms of matrices are frequently used in this phase of the product development. Apart                             from the House of Quality, Pugh’s Matrix is also a common method. Pugh’s Matrix is a model                                 that helps decide and prioritize between concepts and the least favorable alternatives are sorted                           out. However, the model requires several concepts to compare, while the House of Quality                           focuses of comparing and evaluating product properties and attributes (Johannesson et al., 2013).  

 2.5 Product development concepts for low income markets Product development in the South Asian context comes with the challenge of catering to                           demands of huge populations with constrained economic resources. In literature, the concept of                         Frugal Innovation has therefore emerged as a popular core business strategy in the South Asian                             markets (Bhatti et al., 2013). Frugal Innovation is diligently referred to as reverse innovation: the                             core idea is to develop products that fit the special requirements of emerging markets and that                               are in a price range reachable for non-affluent customers (Weyrach, 2017). The term can also                             define as   

“…responding to severe resource constraints with products having extreme cost advantages compared to existing solutions” (Gassmann et al., 2015).   

Three criterias for Frugal Innovation can be defined as substantial cost reduction, concentration                         on core functionalities and optimised performance level. It is often that the cost reduction aspect                             is emphasized when speaking of Frugal Innovation, as these products are characterized much                         lower cost in comparison to the conventional products on the market. The second criteria refer                             to that Frugal Innovations often are stripped of minor functions and are focused on the core                               benefits and essential functions. Furthermore, to capture the full meaning of Frugal Innovation,                         the performance level is significant. Although, this also means avoiding over-engineering which                       is common in developed markets (Weyrach, 2017).   There are a lot of concept for product development for low income markets, a lot of them                                 overlapping with the Frugal Innovation concept. BoP innovation (Bottom of Pyramid) is a                         concept closest related to Frugal Innovation. Though, while Frugal Innovation focuses on                       developing countries as a whole, including both low-income and emerging middle-income                     segments, BoP innovation focuses on those with an annual income of less than 1500 USD.                             Frugal Innovation also includes characteristics of many other overlapping concepts such as                       good-enough innovation, disruptive innovation etc. Consequently, Frugal Innovation has a                   broad and inclusive scope (Hossain, 2018).  Bhatti et al. (2013) argues that innovation in South Asia and other emerging markets are not                               about innovating for those with the greatest purchasing power, as the commonly used practice                           

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often boils down to. Instead innovation is about reconfiguration of already existing products to                           fulfil needs at lower costs.   2.6 Källa 8 This section is a description of the Point of Use water filtration system by the Blöndal Group.  2.6.1 General information 

 Figure 2: Blöndal’s Point of Use Water Filtration System Källa 8

 Figure 3: Front of device with the pressure gauge showing 0-10 bar (left picture), GAC and UF 

(middle picture) and digital counter (right picture).  Källa 8 is a Point of Use water filter equipped with two cartridges: the Ultra-Filtration Membrane                               (UF K8) and Activated Carbon (GAC K8). The water feeding into the filtration membrane will                             be for one of two purposes: either to filter the water for consumption or to flush the membrane                                   for cleaning of the filter. The flushing or the membrane is to prevent it from choking and                                 

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enhance the lifespan of the filter. The flushing is done when the “main water tap” is turned on.                                   When the “filtration faucet” is turned on the filtration takes place. The water passes through the                               UF membrane and the particles in the water reduces to 0.01 micron before passing through the                               GAC media for odour and Chlorine removal. After this the filtered water is safe to be consumed                                 from the “filtrate faucet”. Källa 8 is also equipped with a digital display module with daily counter                                 and buzzer features that is powered through batteries. The digital counter counts the days in use:                               starting from 365 days down to zero. When the counter indicated “0” an alarm is triggered to                                 inform the user that the cartridge needs to be replaced. These features are all presented in Figure                                 2 and 3 above.  2.6.2 Technical specification 

  Point of Use filter 

Dimension  H380 x W260 x D113 mm 

Weight  Approx. 4.0 kg 

Average Flow Rate  2.0 ~ 3.0 l/min 

Max. Pressure Limit  3 bars 

Table 1: Technical specification of the Point of Use Filter shown in Figure 2.  

  Ultra-Filtrations Membrane  Activated Carbon & Kinetic Degradation Fluxion 

Filtration Capacity  10 800 litres  3 600 litres 

Pressure Range  1 ~ 3 bars  1 ~ 8 bars 

Temperature Range  5 ~ 40 °C  14 ~ 45 °C 

Table 2: Technical specification of the two different cartridges in Källa 8 shown in Figure 3.  

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2.6.3 Features and current design 

 Figure 4: Removable top- and front cover 

 The device shown in Figure 2 is designed with a top cover. The top cover is equipped with the                                     monitor and is removable as shown to the left in Figure 4. After removing the top cover, the                                   front cover can be detached, as shown to the right in Figure 4.   

 Figure 5: Connectors for filter water (left), flush water (middle) and inlet (right). 

 On the side of the device, there are three openings: one for filter water with a ¼” diameter, one                                     for the flush water of ½” and the inlet with a diameter on ½”. These are all shown in Figure 5.                                         Källa 8 is attached to the wall with 2 screws, with a distance of 148 mm.  2.7 Domestic water filtration systems The following is a presentation of different types of techniques for domestic water filtration systems.  2.7.1 Activated Carbon Filter Activated carbon filters consist of a base material of usually coal, wood and coconut shell. The                               base material has been subjected to a carbonization process and heat- and steam treatments.                           Activated carbon attracts substances that attach to the carbon particles and the filter efficiency                           depends on its chemical properties, making them attract to various contaminants. Most organics                         attach to the carbon surface very efficiently, because of the similar material properties. The                           smaller molecules- the better attraction. Also, the so-called adsorption works best at low pH                           values and low temperatures. It is also a time dependant process, where long contact time and                               

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lower flow rates leads to more removed contaminants. Carbon filters are not universal and they                             for example do not remove heavy metals or iron in the water. These filters are appropriate if the                                   water is free from bacteria, as the carbon filters risk to be a microorganism breeding ground                               (Law, 2005).   2.7.2 Membrane Filter A membrane filter consists of a thin film of a material with very small pores, that are only large                                     enough for water to flow through. The contaminants are left on the top surface of the                               membrane if they are larger than the pores of the film. The most common membrane materials                               are ceramics and polymers. Membrane filters are suitable for prevention of contaminants with a                           large particle size, as salt, metal, viruses or bacteria. The size of the membrane pores are directly                                 correlated with the efficiency of the filtration. These filters can be used both at point of entry                                 (PoE) and point of use (PoU) in domestic applications. For PoU filters in ceramics is the most                                 used membrane material and for PoE fiber (rayon, cellulose, etc.) is the most common. These                             filters also risk encouraging bacteria growth. This is very efficient for removing particulate matter                           and sediment, although it lacks in effectiveness when it comes to dissolved pollutants (Law,                           2005). This advanced treatment process is being looked into by projects under the Ministry of                             Energy, Water and Communications (Department of Water Supply, 2007).  2.7.3 Reverse Osmosis A water purification process based on reverse osmosis consists of several elements and filter, of                             which one is a so-called semi-permeable membrane. This type of water filtration removes heavy                           metals, viruses, bacteria and other impurities very effectively (Law, 2005).   2.7.4 Distillation Distillation is a natural process where the water is evaporated and leaves the contaminants                           behind. This is an effective method of removing bacteria, dissolved solids, heavy materials etc.                           Since this method requires heating of water over 100°C, it is not very energy efficient as a water                                   purification method. Distillation can produce up to 99.5% purity in water (Law, 2005).  2.7.5 Ultraviolet Light (UV) Ultraviolet light is common in water filtration and is aimed to kill bacteria, microorganisms and                             viruses. If there are a lot of solids in the feed water, the UV can not reach the microbes, which                                       makes this method dependant on a pre-filtration of particles. This method does not affect                           minerals in the water that are beneficial for humans. UV filtration does not eliminate many                             organic chemicals and is not appropriate for water with loads of suspended solids (Law, 2005).  2.7.6 Combination filters There are water filtration systems that use a combination of the treatment systems described above (Law, 2005).  

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3. Method This project was divided into two sections. The first part was the preparatory work, which                             involved literature studies and interviews concerning product development for low income                     markets and identifying customers needs. The second part of the project was in form of a case                                 study, foremost concerning the development of the PoU water filter Källa 8 by the Blöndal                             Group. This part was executed according to the methods derived from the preparatory work                           from part one, so that the second part of the project had a solid basis to work from. The                                     development project took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where Blöndal was situated.  3.1 Literature studies The literature studies have involved research of methods for integrating customer needs and                         product development for a low income market. Apart from this, studies have been made of the                               country of focus and also of the product of interest. This study was necessary, as the information                                 gained from the literature studies contributed to a broad information spectra. Different models                         form the same fields were gathered and compared against each other. The literature studies                           involved analyses of books, websites, articles, journals and statements from people of relevance.                         KTH’s own search database was primarily used to ensure the reliability of the sources used.                             Examples of keywords used in the search database are: user integration, design thinking, Frugal                           Innovation, etc. See the Bibliography for the complete addition of sources used.  3.2 Interviews Four qualitative interviews with active members of the Swedish organization Engineers without                       Borders, Sweden have taken place. Engineers without borders, Sweden is a non profit                         organisation working with countries in need of sustainable technical solutions. The organisation                       has experience in working with developing countries and different types of low income contexts.                           They are known for their close interaction with their target groups and customers.  The respondents were picked out based on their experience in working within engineering                         projects in developing countries. All the respondents had been involved in different international                         projects concerning product development and establishing the utilization of product solutions in                       low income contexts. These interviews were for greater knowledge about product development                       in developing countries, different cultures and the low income focus.  The interviews were semi-structural, meaning the interviews followed an interview guide (see                       Appendix A) with prepared themes and questions but left room for other follow up questions                             and discussions. Each interview was thirty minutes to two hours long. The focus of the                             interviews were mainly of what models are used in practice for customer integration and product                             development. With the use of interviews we could get a more realistic view of how product                               development and customer integration would look like in such environments.   Informal interviews with the Blöndal Group were also acquired for further knowledge of the                           market, product and customer. These took place at the Blöndal office in the form of meetings. 

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3.3 Processing of interviews The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcriptions were thoroughly read and the                         important material was highlighted. From the highlighted text, keywords were commentented to                       the side of every transcribed interview. These keywords were later compared (both between the                           highlighted texts and between the interviews) and combined into themes that helped us organize                           and compare the interviews. Themes from the integrating customers part of the interviews that                           were used were: observations, interview customers, preparatory studies, prioritize the needs, communication,                       culture and behaviour, too obvious of needs to involve customer. The themes from the product developing                               part of the interviews were: cost, use already existing products and ideas, logical framework approach,                             spread/multiplying effects, environment, divide project into smaller parts. As the themes were distinguished,                         the commonalities and patterns in the interviews became more evident. The similarities and                         differences were analysed and later led to the result presented in the result section.  3.4 Comparison of literature studies and interviews The literature studies and interviews were compared afterwards for a broader insight and                         understanding before applying the material to part two. Our interest was mainly in those models                             that both the literature studies and the interviews refer to. The negative aspect of comparing                             interviews with literature is that they might not refer to similar things, meaning we are left with                                 two interfering conclusions. However, both methods are necessary for thorough and                     reality-based perspectives on the subjects. Both aspects of the interfering conclusions were taken                         into account and discussed in the Discussion, found in section 5.  3.5 Market analysis Prior to the development stage in part two, research for customer integration and market analysis                             took place. Surveys and interviews of different lengths with potential users were planned for a                             more direct knowledge of specific issues that need focus. Some interviews were carried out in                             homes of potential users, while some took place in a public area where random respondents                             were approached. Since working with focus groups was discussed to be both time- and                           financially demanding, the method was not found to be feasible for this resource limited project.  Challenges with the communication can occur in such methods because of language barriers and                           others aspects. Despite this, it is beneficial to go straight to the source of information, that is, the                                   customers themselves. Surveys can be, as stated in the beginning of this report (section 1), hard                               to implement in lower income markets because of infrastructural weaknesses. After discussing                       potential whereabouts for conducting surveys and other market analysis methods, we realized                       that this problem does not apply to Kuala Lumpur. The infrastructure in Kuala Lumpur is in                               relatively good condition and the many malls of Kuala Lumpur attract people from every income                             class. Obtaining respondents was simply done by approaching people randomly in malls and                         doing in home visits. To use quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (interviews and home-visits)                         methods simultaneously made sure that both profound customer integration information and                     statistic information was being collected.   

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3.5.1 Surveys and shorter interviews Firstmost, we visited Blöndal booths in two different malls a day each. We, accompanied by                             other employees on the company, handed out surveys (see Appendix B) to customers, future                           customers and those interested. When an interest was acknowledged, we asked for a shorter                           interview with more personal questions about their lifestyle and needs when it comes to the                             quality of drinking water. These interviews do not have any interview guides but are based off of                                 the survey questions. The surveys were used for statistical reasons to answers questions of                           uncertainty and to understand what the customers are interested in when it comes to water                             filters. 84 surveys were handed out, less than 50 were evaluated as shorter interviews where                             further questions and discussions occurred.  One of the (optional) questions of the questionnaires was the income. This information was                           used to understand how customers and future customers thoughts and wants could be linked to                             income groups and how people of different incomes could value different aspects of a product                             and of water.  Meanwhile handing out surveys in the malls, questions and themes were discussed with those                           who had the time. With this method, an understanding to how the questionnaires answered the                             surveys was acknowledged. This information was used to understand how much a customer or                           future customer thought about a certain value and what made them prioritize them the way they                               did. Anecdotes and examples were used to describe how they thought when buying products,                           using products, home cultures and experiences surrounding drinking water from different                     sources and treatments.  3.5.2 In Home visits Second to first, a day was spent together with a couple of so called “door knockers” from the                                   company sales branch. These employees do home visits to sell Blöndal products and services.                           When manageable, we asked the future customer for an interview (with the intention of the                             interviews being somewhat longer than those in the mall). These in home visits with inclusive,                             unstructured interviews, have the purpose of understanding the person of interests wants and                         needs in relation to his or her surroundings. Together with the company’s seller, we arrived at a                                 low income place in Klang. Four in home interviews were accomplished. These interviews were                           unstructured, meaning they did not follow any interview guide. The answers, tacit information                         and lifestyle observations given from the interviews were recorded straight away. These records                         were later read and thoroughly discussed to intersect this with the information from the surveys                             and smaller interviews, see Appendix E.  3.5.3 Discussions with the Blöndal sellers For formality reasons, the day planned for in home-visits started off with a meeting with the                               sales department for the Klang area in Kuala Lumpur. Nine employees attended including the                           Regional Sales Manager who discussed sales results and selling arguments. This meeting provided                         much relevant information on, from experience, what the future customers were interested in                         

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and in what stage they were interested in different values. Since these sellers communicated every                             day with future customers they were well aware of what issues and what strengths the product                               had according to the future customers.  Of the two sellers that we later door knocked with, one had further explanations and discussions                               surrounding the pros and cons with the product according to what the approachable persons                           have said and insinuated towards. In tandem with a lot of observations, all of these approaches                               provided us with a lot of information to understand the market and identify the user needs. All                                 this information was recorded.  3.5.4 Merging the data  

Interview  Amount of interviewees 

Time of each interview 

How the interviews were executed 

In depth interviews with Engineers without borders 

4  30 - 90 min  By telephone or over a coffee. 

Surveys  84  < 15 min  Handed out survey in malls. 

Short interviews  <50  15 min  Discussions in combination with the handed out surveys. 

In home visits   4  5-25 min  Interviews and asking questions in suburban neighborhoods. 

Sales staff encounters  ~3  -  Meetings and informal discussions. 

Table 3. Practice of part 1  This market analysis gathered not only statistical material but also a deeper understanding of the                             encountered people. The information gained from all the interviews and observations during the                         study was compared to the statistical data gained from the surveys. As the commonalities in                             collected data was underlined, distinct user needs emerged. It resulted in a multifaceted collection                           of user needs and wants. These identified user needs were then applied to a House of Quality                                 matrix . The House of Quality model was chosen over Pughs matrix (see 2.4) as the model for                                 development of established solution concepts because of its greater emphasis on customer                       needs.   

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3.6 Product development After this, we began designing the PoU water filter to be adjusted to a greater amount of people                                   in Malaysia and their homes. This work was in line with the methods we have chosen from the                                   prestudies, where the product development process derived from design thinking (see 4.3.1) was                         the primarily guide throughout the entire process. The used process visualization was used, since                           it was constantly referred to in literature and relatively simple to work with. Frugal Innovation (see                               4.4) was used as a central theory in the product development of Källa 8 because of its South                                   Asian adaptability and prosperity in product development in low income contexts. While                       developing the new concept of the product many factors and restrictions were followed.  3.7 Conceptualization The concept of the product was constructed both in the computed aided program: Solid Edge                             and also as a prototype. The concept was presented and handed to the director of Blöndal                               Technique and the Corporate Executive Officer of Blondal for evaluation.      

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4. Results In this section, the summarized interviews, market analysis and product development stages are presented. Sections 4.1 - 4.1 present the results from the interviews with Engineers without borders, Sweden.  4.1 Models/methods/processes for customer integration All the interviewees explained that no specific models/methods/processes are used. Every                     project works in its own way and in a collaboration with a local organisation. Many explained it                                 like the local organisation have good indications of the surrounding customers needs and wants.  Interviewee nr. 3: “... The local organisations are usually very good at helping to solve these questions. Because                                   they know how everything looks and what is up…”   They all mentioned that talking to the future customers, observations of the surroundings and                           preparatory studies are important methods for customer integration and to understand what the                         biggest problems are.   Interviewee nr. 1: “... start with seeing the reality and what they use and experience as problems. This you do                                       best with a combination of studies and discussions…”  Interviewee nr. 1 and 4 mentioned how often prioritizing between the customer needs is needed.                             Interviewee nr. 1 continued with discussing how to prioritize between them and mentioned                         comparing them in pairs and in factors like the cost, to choose what needs to focus on:  “... One way is to just compare by pairs … The important thing is how to think. If you already have concepts,                                           you can compare concept to concept so that you solve the prioritized needs. And then the other factor is of course the                                           cost…”  Interviewee nr. 4 said that some of the needs are so obvious that a customer integration is not on                                     the table:  “... The access to clean water, toilets and also waste management, these are such universal needs. They are so                                     obvious just like that. So in those cases we haven’t brought up any dialogs around it ...”   4.2 Models/methods/processes for product development  All the interviewees explained that no specific models/methods/processes are used frequently.                     What they usually do is reuse products that they have used in other projects or re design                                 products other organisations have developed.  Interviewee nr. 4: “... To a very large extent, it’s really just to use things that have already been tested, that you                                           know works…” 

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 Interviewee nr. 1: “...You know, don’t reinvent the wheel again, that’s always a good ground rule...”  Interviewee nr. 1 mentioned Practical Action: “... There is a resource called Practical Action, if you dig into it you can find loads about this. Practical Action,                                         google it. If you haven’t heard of it before, they have plenty of these “do it yourself” solutions and so on. So start                                             with looking there before trying to come up with your own idea”  Practical Action is a humanitarian organisation alike Engineers without borders, Sweden, with a                         goal of ending poverty and increasing the global health without straining the environment.                         Practical Action focuses on technology and how product oriented projects will help achieve their                           goal. The organisation provides those interested with free downloads of technical information                       from their projects.  3 out of 4 interviewees talked about the importance of adapting the product to its surrounding                               environment. For an example, interviewee nr 3. mentioned a water tank product that had to be                               suited for a school environment:  “ ...It’s really important to adapt the projects to the environment. An example is the projects built in schools where                                       children are around. There is the risk of them climbing on it. For this reason, many water tanks are over ground                                         so the children can’t reach them. Those built under ground are otherwise preferable since the ground will cold the                                     water, but in those cases the roofs of the tanks will be reachable for the children…”  For economic reasons and for product multiplying effects, the product should be built using                           local materials and resources.   Interviewee nr. 1: “... The other factor is of course what the concepts costs and so on. You now have a vision of                                             this being a solution that people know will have a fast multiplying effect. Take for instance UV-cleaning for                                   achieving disinfection. The easiest way is to just use a PET bottle and put it out in the sun for some hours…”  All the interviewees talked a lot around the importance of planning and especially                         communication. The picture created after the interviews was of a organisation based off of                           communication between different projects, with other organisations and with the local                     organisations. All to make sure information would be shared to those who could have use of it.                                 This communication structure is not only used for product development issues but for                         everything, for example customer integration too.  Interviewee nr. 3: “...I think communication is very important in every situation. You notice that as soon as the                                     communication falls short, the whole project stops, you can’t really follow through then. So the communication part                                 is really important…”   

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Interviewee nr. 2: “... We have contact with them on the spot. What materials and competence do they have.                                     Then you use all this knowledge. I was in Kamerun several times and that’s when you got a sense of things…”  Interviewee nr. 2 and 4 mentioned Logical Framework Approach   The Logical Framework Approach is a method for the analytical, follow up and evaluation parts                             of a project or program. LFA consists of nine steps to guide the user through the planning of                                   project. The method is based on the idea that what justifies developing projects is that the                               service and the products corresponds to the needs of the people or the target group (Sida, 2003).  Interviewee nr. 2: “... Logical framework approach. SIDA (the company) have partly designed this model and                               it focuses a lot on not just saying “well we have a lawn mower so we should sell it in South Africa”, but to more                                                 dig in to what the problem is. Do they really need a mower? Maybe they only need a scissor. Or maybe not a                                             scissor, they need an ice cream machine. It’s about really going to the depth of problems and from this realizing the                                         consequences of different things. What do the people really need and what can we do to help?...”  Interviewee nr. 4: “... We have used a method for recognizing what needs and goals and so on that aren’t                                       connected to the technical solutions but are connected to the “Okey, how are we supposed to manage this problem.                                     How should we prioritize activities and so on. It’s called logical framework approach, LFA.  As the interviewees further described how some projects have worked they have mentioned in                           different ways how they have worked. We have been able to see as versions of already existing                                 models/methods/structures when comparing the interviews with our theory. For an example,                     interviewee nr. 1 mentioned comparing concept in pairs. This could be seen a version of Pughs                               Matrix. Also, all the interviewees have mentioned the reuse of products and reuse of products                             with further adjustments, we related this to Frugal Innovation in the meaning that further                           adjustments have been to improve and simplify the products.   Over all it was understood that when working with smaller projects, no expressed                         models/methods/structures are used.   When it comes to the product development, using already explored ideas and products is the                             ultimate way of finding product solutions in this particular environment. One of the reasons is                             knowing that the technical solution works.   4.3 Identified customer needs In this section, the information regarding the user needs provided by the market analysis is                             summarized. It is worth mentioning that of the 57 respondents who entered their household                           income, 47% had a household income of less than 2000 RM per month. 77% of the respondents                                 had a household income under 8000 RM per month (27 non responses).   

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 4.3.1 The need for water filters During our study, it was evident that there is a huge demand for domestic water filters in                                 Malaysia. A total of 88% of the respondents did not drink water directly from the tap (4 non                                   responses). 74% of the respondents had some kind of water filter installed at home, such as                               PoU, PoE, dispensers etc. (3 non responses). A vast majority (89%) of the respondents believed                             that water filters were currently a necessity (4 non responses).  People were not fully satisfied with the piped water provided by the government. The                           respondents were asked to rank their tap water quality from 1 to 10, where 1 is not satisfied at all                                       and 10 is very satisfied. The tap water quality scored an average of 5.7 out of 77 answers,                                   showing that the tap water quality was slightly above average, according to the respondents. They                             were also asked to estimate how important tap water quality was for them on a scale of 1 to 10,                                       where 1 was not important at all and 10 was very important. On an average out of 77                                   respondents, the importance of tap water quality ended up with a value of 8.7. One interviewee                               discussed this thorough. He/she said that the water situation in Kuala Lumpur is horrible. “Just                             go look at what the rivers look like, that’s what we have to drink here”.  Because of the dissatisfaction of the piped water, the consumption of water bottles is also quite                               high. The respondents were asked to approximate how many bottles, regardless of size, they                           bought each month. On average, out of 39 respondents, they bought approximately 39 bottles                           each month.  The study also showed that people were willing to pay for the access to clean water. The                                 respondents were asked to enter a price they were willing to pay each month for unlimited access                                 to clean water. On average, people were willing to pay 93 RM per month. Since the amounts                                 stated by the respondents varied from 0 RM to 500 RM, the median of the suggested monthly                                 amounts were 69 RM.   Several of the interviewees seemed to value clean water and seemed to want filters. For instance,                               one of the interviewees in the malls showed us what kind of bottled water he/she drank. The                                 interviewee held up a bottle of deionized water and said “I only drink this”. Another example is                                 at one of the in home visits, where a family had had a water filter installed before. It came with a                                         free of charge installation. However, they realized that as soon as they had to pay a monthly bill                                   it became very expensive and they had to deinstall the filter. They explained that they were very                                 interested in having a water filter because of the need of clean water. Since they could not afford                                   a filter they drank the tap water unfiltered.  The price was a hot potato throughout the entire market analysis. The analysis pointed towards a                               need in decrease of price for water filters. As explained above, one in home visit family had to                                   uninstall their water filter because of the monthly price. Price was also valued greatly according                             

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to the survey answers and the sellers. One of the sellers had said that because of the economy                                   situation in Malaysia at the time being, money is a scarcity for many.  4.3.2 The user wants and needs After discussion, literature studies and brainstorming, seven different key qualities of a water                         filter were derived (see the survey in Appendix B). The quality of the water was evidently the                                 most important quality, as 28 out of 38 respondents placed the price as the topped ranked                               attribute. 23 of the respondents then placed price as one of their top three most important                               values. Furthermore, 24 respondents also placed durability as one of the top three most                           important values. The design of the water filter was evidently the least important attributes                           among the respondents. Only 9 respondents placed the design in one of their top five ranked                               values. Other values that were mentioned in the blank option was customer service (how easy it                               is to contact the company or a repairman), the taste of the water after filtration, the amount of                                   space the filter device claimed (due to space limitations in homes) and also the variety of                               functions, products and/or customizations.  At the morning meeting at the sales branch, it was pointed out that the design of the filter is one                                       of the main reasons why people bought the product. A lot of people place the filter on top of the                                       sink instead of under. The appearance of the Blöndal products was often the winning argument                             for the door knocking salesman. This was reasserted by interviewed salesmen too. The                         importance of the design is especially apparent when the customer sees the aluminium. A lot of                               the products in the market are made out of plastic and when the customer sees and feels the                                   aluminium of the Blöndal products, they often perceive the product as durable and of high                             quality.  When the salesmen were asked what the challenges of the product were from a selling point of                                 view, they all answered that the price was too high: “because of the economy, people can’t afford                                 to buy Blöndal products”. Another challenge for the salesmen was to make people understand                           why the product was necessary: “They are not using any filters and they do not see any problems                                   and they therefore think they don’t need filters”.  One of the in home interviewees had a water filter of another brand installed. The interviewee                               was very pleased with the filter: it was easy to use, it could be used all the time, it could provide                                         the family with both hot and cold water, it looks good, the price was good and the service was                                     good. The interviewee explained that he/she spends a lot of time in the kitchen, therefore                             he/she appreciated the design and looks of the product since it is very visible. Another                             interviewee who owned a Källa 8, was also very satisfied with the product. He/she mentioned                             that the water had good taste and resulted in clear colorless water. Important qualities that the                               interviewee mentioned was the availability and good quality. He/she continued with saying that                         they paid a service fee at 400 RM for Blöndal to change filters every year and that this was                                     expensive. He/she would like that a change would happen here.  

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 4.4 Development of Källa 8 4.4.1 House of Quality 

 Figure 6: Quality derived from market analysis 

 A summarization of the user needs derived from the market analysis was formulated and applied                             in the House of Quality matrix seen in Figure 6 above. The identified and weighed user needs are                                   in the left section of the matrix. Firstly, the weighted sum emphasizes that changes in the                               cartridge connections could lead to a lot of product improvements. This is also supported by the                               competitor analysis. A lot of filters in the market have simple changeable and user friendly filter                               cartridges. Secondly, changes in the material, shape and filtration capacity (changing filter types)                         could also lead to increased product value. The matrix insinuates that the development of Källa 8                               should not focus so much on adding functions or improving filter performance, as it shows to be                                 satisfying. Avoiding to over-engineer the product is important, as it also can lead to a higher                               price on the market.   The matrix led to the conclusion that the main focus in the development was to make the filter                                   cheaper. The development work therefore concentrates on cutting down manufacturing costs                     and making the filters more user friendly and easily interchangeable, so that the sometimes                           

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expensive service fees could be reduced. This goes hand in hand with changing the filter housing                               to a more user friendly design. This is especially important since the competitors has the                             advantage in that area. Although, it was also concluded that the changes should be made without                               jeopardizing the appearance of the product. This is because the design of the product was one of                                 the company’s main advantages in the water filter market. This also concerns the developed                           filtration technique such as filtration substances, cartridge order, filter compositions, inside                     structure of filter etc. A lot of the popular PoU filters in the market require cartridge change                                 every three months or so. Therefore, the yearly required change of cartridges for Källa 8 is a great                                   market advantage and will not be of focus during the product development.   4.4.2 Design concept 

 

 Figure 7: Overview of the new concept of Källa 8, with an outside- and inside view 

 The main focus of the developed concept was that the filter cartridges should be removed and                               attached easily. This was achieved by gathering all the piping behind the housing wall and having                               the filter cartridges being pushed in to the wall. The outer lid of the housing is remained                                 somewhat unchanged, to save costs on mold changes for the extruded aluminum. Furthermore,                         users often expressed appreciation for the non-plastic exterior. The concept overview, with                       outside and inside view, is illustrated in Figure 7 above. As shown in the picture, the pressure                                 gauge is placed inside the filter house, between the cartridges. This is to minimize processing on                               the aluminium cover and to move the gauge pipe to the backside. The logo on the outside front                                   part is changed to a metal finish sticker instead of the plastic glued plate.  In the concept several different standard PVC quick fittings were used. These type of tube                             fittings are very accessible, cheap and reliable for this type of water applications. The quick                             

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fittings are equipped with a collet, which can also be described as a “gripper”. The collet is                                 shaped with teeth that holds the tube firmly in position when pipe and fitting are being pulled                                 apart. The fittings are also mounted with a (often blue) lock ring to secure the gripping collet.                                 These quick fittings come in plenty of different shapes and sizes and are very easy to get a hold                                     of in Malaysia. See Appendix G for specified fittings.  

 Figure 8: Inside of filter house, mounted bulkhead fittings. 

 In this concept, these fittings are used in a somewhat unconventional way. The collet together                             with the lock ring are being detached from five of the quick fittings mounted to the wall. The wall where the filters are attached are equipped with bulkhead fittings, as seen on Figure 8                                 above. As the collets and lockrings have been removed, the fittings do not lock the filter when a                                   force out of the wall is applied. Without the collets, the pipes from the filter cartridges can easily                                   be pushed in and out. The filters consequently need to be fixated to the wall to prevent leakage                                   and detachment of cartridges once mounted into the wall. This is done by plastic wall clamps,                               shown in Figure 7 (right). The holes for the bulkhead fittings on the wall are made oval. This is                                     so that the positioning of the bulkheads can be adjusted to withstand margins of error during                               manufacturing of the cartridges.   

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 Figure 9: Aligned elbow fittings combined with short pipe on UF cartridge. 

 The pipe fittings for the inlets and outlets of the filter cartridges were replaced with elbow                               fittings combined with short pipes. The fittings are aligned, so the pipes are all pointing to the                                 same direction, see Figure 9 above. The distances between the pipes of the filter cartridge are                               matched with the bulkheads on the wall. With this arrangement, the short pipes of the filter                               cartridge can with a push be inserted into the collet-free bulkhead fittings in the wall. This can be                                   compared with the original cartridge connections shown in Figure 3.   

 Figure 10: Piping behind inner wall showing left- and right side positioning of side inlet and 

outlets  The connecting pipes are then gathered on the backside of the wall. The backside of the                               bulkheads are attached with elbow stem fittings in different sizes. The pipes are cut in an                               

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appropriate length to be adaptable for both right and left positioning of side inlets and outlets.                               This can be compared with the original pipe connections shown in Figure 3.  

 Figure 11: Attachable back wall 

 The piping is then hid behind a detachable back wall. The back wall is attached to the inner wall with click on hooks. Se Figure 11 above. This can be compared with the original configuration and design of the back wall shown in Figure 4.  

 

 Figure 12: Adjustments to filter house lid 

 The filter house lid is also expanded in depth according to Figure 12 above.       

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5. Discussion The results for each research question is discussed in this section. The information gained from                             the literature study is compared to the experiences from the field study. Furthermore, the                           methods are evaluated and eventualities for future research is brought up.  5.1 Models and methods for identifying user needs The most mentioned ways of understanding the users, both in literature and during interviews,                           were the interactive ones. The main message taken from most of the interviewees from                           Engineers without borders was to “just ask”. Meaning, when identifying the needs of users one                             simply has to listen to what he/she has to say. This common message was also found in a lot of                                       literature. However, this was not as successful in this project. During our shorter interviews and                             in-home visits we would ask straight on questions: what they think of their water filter, what                               could be improved, what they wished for etc. Unfortunately, the interviewees kept themselves                         very short, giving us often very perfunctory, positive and sometimes indifferent answers. Based                         on many of the answers from these questions, the conclusion would be that the users are                               satisfied and no changes would be needed. It was almost impossible to get a hold of constructive                                 answers without leading the interviewees too much.  This was undoubtedly an issue during the interviews. This could be due to the environment                             where the interviews were held. Getting a hold of interviewees was a minor obstacle during this                               short amount of time and with the limited familiarity with the local whereabouts. We were                             therefore compelled to approach interviewees when they were on the move. The interviewees                         were often happy to contribute and participate in an interview, but were often on the go                               somewhere. The same goes for the in-home visits, where help was taken from the company                             door-knocking sales branch. However, the sales in the suburbian Kuala Lumpur were found to                           not involve a lot of door knocking since most of the houses were gated. Meaning, the houses                                 were enclosed and not equipped with doorbells. Contact was mostly made when the resident was                             just arriving or leaving the home. This introduced the same limitations as in the mall setting -                                 people were busy and wanted to keep it short. Because of these reasons, the interviews were                               sometimes rushed and held in a messy environment such as in the malls or on the street of their                                     neighbourhood. This sometimes hindered the interviews from going into depth and getting the                         full attention of the interviewee.  The language barrier was also complicit in the limitations of the interviews and the surveys. A lot                                 of questions in the survey were not understood and left blank, leaving high percentages of                             non-responses in the processed data. Assessing the credibility of the results from the surveys is                             therefore complicated, since it is impossible to know if the respondent understood the questions                           or just answered randomly. The similar problematics goes for the in-home interviews. An                         interpreter was often needed in the in-home visits. Since the only ones available at the time were                                 the salesmen, they had to act as interpreters, even though their english proficiency was also very                               limited. This long transferral of information (from interviewee to processed data) introduces                       potential misinterpretations and inaccuracies. Yet, when communicating without a interpreter, it                     

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was also easy to put words in the interviewee’s mouth and leading them in their answers if they                                   were very unaccustomed to the english language.   The language problematics also made it necessary for us to help some respondents to answer the                               surveys. The surveys should ideally be responded anonymously and single-handedly to avoid                       nudged answers, especially as some of the questions concern private topics. One could imagine                           that writing down your income with someone looking over your shoulder could be a sensitive                             matter. Nevertheless, the surveys provided us with a lot of useful data and the approach worked                               very well for the urban environment. Surveys require little time for the often busy people and the                                 mall was a great place for reaching out to people. Although, the reliability of the processed data                                 could be increased if the surveys were made in several languages. Since a lot of languages are                                 used in Kuala Lumpur, there is a point of making the surveys in malay, chinese, indian and so on.                                     This would improve the variety in respondents and decrease the sources of error. This would on                               the other hand call for necessary translation help.  The in-home visits were a valuable complement to the shorter interviews and surveys in the                             malls. In particular, it was a great way of getting a hold of tacit information that could not be                                     provided from the surveys. Tacit information is often brought up in literature and was in this                               study shown not to be limited by poor communication during in-home visits. As an example, a                               couple of interviewees that did not own a water filter at home, showed up a behavior that was                                   interpreted as shame. One interviewee said that he/she had owned a water filter previously, but                             that it had to be deinstalled. When asked why, the interviewee waived the question and it was                                 later understood that the family could not afford it. The similar behavior was shown in a                               interview with another family, who showed to be uncomfortable with the questions. The                         behavior around some of our questions gave us a lot of information that was not possible to get                                   from the surveys. From instances like this, it was later made clear that it is of importance to                                   focus on reducing the price of Källa 8.   Tacit information could also be collected in the malls. Respondents could for instance rank the                             design of a water filter as the least important attribute, but could on the other hand light up                                   when they would see the actual product. This was also pointed out by the salesmen. The                               customer would probably say that they do not need or want any special design of a water filter,                                   but when it came to buying one it always played a big role. Often, it is the the decisive factor for                                         customers during sales, according to the salesmen. The filter was often placed on top of the sink,                                 instead of under because of this. This was something not really brought up by the product                               development for lower income markets, either in literature or by the interviewees from                         Engineers without borders. Developing a product that users can be proud of and be happy to                               use is also an important factor to consider during design in this type of market. In this case, it                                     could ultimately mean that more people want to own a water filter and therefore less people                               would drink contaminated water. If the broad goal is to decrease the amount of people drinking                               unsanitary water, then one has to so consider how to make people want to drink clean water. In                                   

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many cases, there could be a point in also considering the visual aspect of products, which can                                 often be neglected in literature.  Furthermore, it was important that the research covered a representative group. Almost half of                           the survey respondents were a part of the predefined low income group. And the neighbourhood                             in which the in-home visits were conducted was mainly a low income area, as stated by the                                 salesmen. From that point of view, the collected data can be considered to be fairly                             representative of the low income group. However, many times when approaching a couple (man                           and woman), a family or a group of people, the woman/women often stayed in the background                               while we got to talk to the man/men. We often directly talked to the women, encouraging them                                 to also take a survey or asking them questions directly. Yet, in many cases this was not a working                                     strategy. This can have an influence in the collected data. It is important that the data is based on                                     a great variety of people, as insight about households matters can vary in a household. During                               the literature study, it was hard to find established strategies for how to gather interviewees or                               respondents in these types of projects. One of the conclusions from the case study was that the                                 way the respondents/interviewees were approached made a difference in the result. This field                         therefore calls for further research in order to find specific well-tried methodologies.  5.2 Models and methods for developing products in low income markets The main tool used in the project, that was deduced from the literature studies, was the House of                                   Quality. This tool is commonly used within all fields of product development and worked well in                               this type of project too. When all the data was collected from the market analysis, the House of                                   Quality was an optimal way of simplifying the results and creating an overview of the research                               results. The tool was a suitable way of shedding light on the competition advantages and user                               needs, as well as pointing out what should be of focus in the development step. During the                                 product development step, a lot of different concepts were presented to the company before                           settling on the final one. Using a Pugh’s Matrix would therefore also have been appropriate to                               prioritize between concepts.  During this study, one goal was to obtain and evaluate a suitable model or method for product                                 development in lower income contexts. A summary can be made from the interviews with                           Engineers without borders: no specific models, methods and processes were really used in                         practice during these types of product development projects. However, the interviewees often                       spoke in terms similar to the theory of Frugal Innovation. The interviewees spoke of using                             existing products and avoiding to “reinvent the wheel”. Frugal Innovation has characteristics                       based on the same mindset. Frugal Innovation was discussed often within product development                         in lower income contexts during the literature study and became one of our main theories to                               follow in this project.   Henceforth, the theory of Frugal Innovation came to be not so easily implemented on this                             particular case study. It was challenging in this market to develop “products having extreme cost                             advantages compared to existing solutions” (Gassmann et al., 2015), since there already are                         

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products with these attributes on the market. It was noticeable while in Kuala Lumpur that                             domestic water filters is a booming market in Southeast Asia. There are a lot of different water                                 filter products available and along with this, a huge demand from the people. The filters vary in                                 price and in technical advancement even though it technically is a fairly simple product. During                             the product development, we therefore had to focus a lot on the competition, as seen in our final                                   House of Quality (see Section 6.4.1). Because of the characteristics of the market, a conflict                             between the theory of Frugal Innovation and the trademark of Blöndal occured. An example of                             when this conflict occurred was with the housing for Källa 8, where we could have chosen to                                 make the housing into plastic instead of aluminium. Plastic would have been cheaper to produce-                             meaning it would lower the cost. However, the aluminum housing was, as stated before, one of                               the more preferable characteristics according to the market analysis. We also had to take in                             regard the importance to stand out from the competitors. Having to consider the company’s                           demands and wants was a restraint when adapting the product from a Frugal Innovation point of                               view.  This was constantly in discussion and the conclusion was to apply the Frugal Innovation mindset                             onto the core functionalities and perks of Källa 8 and make these more reachable for non-affluent                               customers. The long lifespan of the filters, the good filtration by the two cartridges and the neat                                 appearance of the housing therefore became the attributes that we worked around. Ultimately,                         we did not interfere much with these core functionalities, but mostly focused on finding a design                               that would make them more attainable for the masses in the Malaysian market.  In summary, Frugal Innovation is not an easily implemented theory when working with product                           development for mass production, yet has a good core concept to work from because of its                               elemental central idea. This way of thinking would not only adapt a product for a lower income                                 market but also, most likely, lower the production costs by avoiding over-engineering and appeal                           to a broader mass. Therefore, it is a good model to be acquainted to and to constantly reflect                                   over when working with product development in emerging markets.   5.3 Changes in design of Källa 8 The goal in the product development phase was to apply the information gained in the                             preparatory studies and market analysis on the product development of Källa 8. After we had                             identified the user needs, the main focus became to make the filter cartridges easily changeable                             and sparing the customer the expensive service costs. In addition, the new concept was designed                             with emphasis on not raising the costs of manufacturing and with the mindset originating from                             Frugal Innovation. The solution was to cut down expensive aluminium processing and make the                           filters changeable to spare the customers the service fees and the presented final concept in                             Section 4.4.2 became the result.  The appearance might seem insignificant, but during our study it has been concluded that is is of                                 considerable essence. Aluminium is an expensive and energy consuming material, which                     unfortunately has become Blöndals eccentricities in the jungle of domestic water filters. To make                           

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Källa 8 more suitable for mass market retail for the lower income groups, the next step would be                                   to look at material and manufacturing alternatives without jeopardizing the appearance or                       performance of the product.   The final product concept that was developed is a result of close interaction with the research                               and development department of Blöndal. During our time in Malaysia, we gained a lot of                             knowledge of the domestic water filter market and the company role in it all. The developed                               product is in line with a lot of restrictions that were brought up by the company engineers. For                                   example, we avoided to change the design of the aluminum front part as changing the mold of                                 the extruded aluminium would mean too high manufacturing costs. This would consequently                       raise the price of Källa 8. A possibility was to change the aluminium part for a cheaper                                 alternative, but the aluminium is what was shown to be most appreciated by the interviewed                             users and also one of the company’s trademarks.  The new concept requires 4 cm more space in depth. This can be problematic, for the often                                 crowded households in Kuala Lumpur. An alternative would be to find better suited fittings, that                             to not require that much space behind the wall. Looking into changes on the filter cartridge can                                 also be considered a future step, since they could be designed to save more space.                        

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6. Conclusions In this study, a lot of different models and methods were evaluated through the development of Källa 8. Surveys showed to be a good way of getting a broad overlook of the wants and needs of a lower income group in a urban setting. To add nuance to the non-tacit information derived from the collected surveys, in-home visits with shorter interviews is a suitable way of integrating the user. These methods do not require particular funding, but many steps of the execution has to be considered thoroughly. Picking the right time and place for an interview is of essence. It was understood that there is a lack of established methodologies and strategies for approaching and gathering interviewees/respondents to be a part of these types of studies.   Frugal Innovation is a commonly brought up concept for product development in emerging markets. The core idea of the concept is valuable, but not so easily implemented in practice for this particular case study.  The methodologies derived from the predevelopment work of this project resulted in a new concept of Källa 8. One of the most evident user needs was that the product has to be cheaper. So the focus was to spare the users the sometimes expensive service fees, by making the cartridges easily changeable. This was done by configuring the pipe fittings and gathering the piping behind the wall, not seen by the customer. There is still room for further development of the product, where focus should lay on material- and manufacturing alternatives.  

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Bibliography  BBC, 2018. Malaysia country profile. [online] Available at: <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15356257> [Accessed 2018-03-27]  Bhatti, Yasser, 2013. Frugal Innovation . UK: Woodhead Publishing Limited  Boori, Mukesh Singh; Netzband, Maik; Vozenilek, Vit; Choudhary, Komal; 2015. Urban growth in last three decades in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . [Accessed 2018-03-27]  Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2017. Compendium of Environmental Statistics. [pdf] Available at: <https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/pdfPrev&id=VTBLVkpvQVJ1QnJtMWdBcUdCTzlwZz09> [Accessed 2018-02-11]  Department of Water Supply, 2007. Water supply historical development. [pdf] Available at: <http://www.jba.gov.my/images/Historical%20Development/Historical%20Development/WSupply%20Historical%20Development_50%20years%20Progress.pdf> [Accessed 2018-02-11]  Gassmann, Oliver; Zeschky, Marco; Widenmayer, Bastian; 2011. Frugal Innovation in Emerging Markets. Research-Technology Management, 4(54), pp. 38-45  Globalis, 2015. Malaysia . [online] Available at: <https://www.globalis.se/Laender/Malaysia > [Accessed 2018-03-28]  Hossain, Mokter, 2018. Frugal Innovation: A review and research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production , 182, pp. 926-936  Ibrahim, S.; Ong, C.; Sen Gupta, B.; 2007. A survey of tap water quality in Kuala Lumpur . Urban Water Journal, 1(4), pp. 29-41  Johannesson, Hans; Persson, Jan-Gunnar; Pettersson, Dennis; 2013. Produktutveckling: Effektiva metoder för konstruktion och design . Sweden, Stockholm: Liber  Kahn, Kenneth B., 2013. The PDMA handbook of new product development. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley  Kilara, Tanaya; Rhyne, Elisabeth; 2014. Customer-Centricity for Financial Inclusion . Washington DC: World Bank  Krämer, Aline, 2014. Low-Income Consumers as a Source of Innovation: Insights from Idea Competitions in Brazilian Low-Income Communities. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 

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Sophus Broberg, CEO of The Blöndal Group  Teo, Yen H., 2014. Water services industry reforms in Malaysia. International Journal of Water Resources Development , (1), pp. 1-10  The World Bank, 2018. Poverty . [online] Available at: <http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview> [Accessed 2018-02-16]  The World Bank, 2018. The World Bank In Malaysia . [online] Available at: <http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/malaysia/overview> [Accessed 2018-02-16]  UCLG, 2014. Local and regional governments commit to partner with the urban poor to leave no one behind . [online] Available at: <https://www.uclg.org/en/media/news/local-and-regional-governments-commit-partner-urban-poor-leave-no-one-behind> [Accessed 2018-02-16]  United Nations, 2017. Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all. [online] Available at: <http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/> [Accessed 2017-10-29]  Weidner, L., 2010. Marketing to subsistence consumers: Lessons from practice. Journal of Business Research, 63(6), pp. 559-569  Weyrauch, Timo; Herstatt, Cornelius; 2017. What is Frugal Innovation? Three defining criteria. Journal of Frugal Innovation , 1(2), pp. 1-17  Whitehead, Timothy; Evans, Mark A.; Bingham, Guy A.; 2016. Design tool for enhanced new product development in low income economies. [Accessed 2018-03-30].  WHO, UNICEF, 2017. Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. [pdf] Available at: <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/launch-version-report-jmp-water-sanitation-hygiene.pdf> [Accessed 2018-02-11] 

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Appendix A Intervjuguide: Intervjuobjekt: xx från Ingenjörer utan Gränser 

Datum: 

Plats: 

Företag/Projekt: 

Namn: 

 Bakgrund: 

I vårt kandidatexamensarbetet ska vi åka till Malaysia och fördjupa oss i 

produktutvecklingsprocessen. Vi vill undersöka hur metoder för identifiering av användare och 

utformning av produkten ser ut när man jobbar med denna specifika marknad. 

Syftet med intervjun är att få en inblick i hur detta fungerar hos Ingenjörer utan gränser. 

Rapporteringen av denna intervju kommer endast användas som grund till kommande forskning 

och förhoppningsvis vara en hjälp till att identifiera metoder för kundintegrering och utformning 

av produkter för utvecklingsländer. 

 1. a) Vad är din roll på din arbetsplats? 

b) Hur länge har du arbetat på xxx? 

c) Vilken roll har du i företaget? 

d) Har du arbetat utomlands under din tid på företaget eller inom något internationellt 

projekt? I så fall, vilka länder har du arbetat med? 

e) Vilken typ av produkter och till vem har dina projekt varit riktade till? 

2.  a) Hur arbetar ni med att identifiera användarbehov? 

b) Vilka metoder/modeller/processer används? 

c) Om flera metoder, vilka används till vilka tillfällen och vilka funkar bäst/sämst? 

3.  a) Vad är ofta svårigheterna med att integrera kunderna i produktutveckling? 

b) Vilka är kunderna? (low income, U-länder..) 

4. Anpassar ni era metoder mycket beroende på var ni är och vilka era kunder är? 

Om ja, hur? Om nej, varför inte? Hur förhåller ni er till kunderna annars? 

5. Hur sammanfattas materialet som hämtas in? (ex Pughs matris ..) 

Hur prioriterar ni de olika behov som framhävts? 

6.  Hur går idégeneringen till efter att användarbehoven identifierats? 

Vad är det viktigaste att tänka på? 

7. Hur prioriterar ni mellan idéerna? 

Vad tänker ni ofta på när ni väljer ut idéer som ni vill ha i produkten? 

Vilka faktorer behövs för att generera idéer? 

8. Hur går ni tillväga för att få fram produktlösningar till användarbehoven? 

9.  Hur skiljer sig dessa marknader och kunder åt från en “vanlig” marknad? 

Hur hanterar ni detta? 

10.  Hur mycket undersökning sker innan ett projekt faktiskt sätts igång? 

                     

Appendix B Survey 

 

   

Appendix C Survey Results 

A: Do you drink directly from the tap? Y/N

B: Do you treat your tap water before drinking? Y/N

C: Do you have any form of water filter installed? Y/N

D: If yes, what brand? What kind?

E: Or do you only drink bottles water? Y/N

F: Approximately how many water bottles do you purchase every month?

G: Do you believe water filters an necessity today? Y/N

H: What do you believe is a reasonable price per month for unlimited access to clean drinking water? RM/month

I: What do you think of the water quality of your tap water? 1-10 (10 is very satisfied)

J: How important is the quality if your tap water? 1-10

K: Price 1-7

L: Quality 1-7

M: Design 1-7

N: Accessibility 1-7

O: Durability 1-7

P: User friendliness 1-7

Q: Repairability 1-7

R: Other

S: What water filter brains do you know of? Top of mind

T: Are you acquainted with Blöndal or do you recognize the brand? Y/N

U: Would you like a free home water analysis done by Blöndal? Y/N

V: Monthly household income? RM

X: Comment

The red marked boxes are nonresponses. Survey 1 - 17:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

A: Y N N N N N N N Y Y N N N N N N

B: Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y

C: Y Y Y N N Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

D: Bio Aura

3M Aqua Pure

PoE + PoU Cuckoo E-spring Panasonic Panasonic Coway Coway

E: Y N N Y N N Y N Y N N Y N N (Dispenser)

F: 3 0 20 5 1000

G: Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

H: 100 49 150 50 300-500 0 150 60

I: 6 8 5 5 1 6 5 5 4 5 8 1 5 10

J: 8 10 10 7 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 1 4 10

K: 3 3 3 1 2 1 5 2 5 1 5 2 2

L: 4 1 1 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 1 1

M: 5 6 2 4 7 5 2 7 3 1 6

N: 2 2 4 1 6 7 2 6 1 2 4

O: 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 2 3 2 3

P: 4 1 5 1 4 5 1 4 2 3 5

Q: 2 1 7 1 5 1 5 1 3 2 1 7

R:

2 customer service: easy to contact the company or a repairman

8 The taste

S: 3M Aqua Pure N

Britax Panasonic Coway

Coway Cuckoo

T: N N Y N

U: N N Y Y N

V: 0- 2000

8000- 20000 2000- 8000

2000- 8000

0- 2000 2000-8000 0-2000

X:

Filters must not be plastic

Survey 18 - 34: 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

A: Y N N N N N N N N N Y N N N

B: Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N

C: Y Y Y Y N Y N N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

D: Panasonic Coway Coway Amway, dispenser Coway Coway Cuckoo

E: Y Y N Y Y Y N N Y Y N N N Y Y N

F: 3-4 36 7 30 5 30-40 5

G: Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

H: 20 80-100 150 200 100 200 30

I: 5 1 1 3 3 5 5 5 7 5 6 2 3 8 10 7

J: 8 10 10 7 10 9 7 9 10 7 2 9 8 10 7

K: 1 1 1 1 4 3 1 1 1 8 1 4 5 2 1 1

L: 2 1 1 2 4 1 1 2 1 1 3 2 2 1

M: 5 1 7 8 5 1 7 1 5 8 5 1

N: 5 1 3 1 4 1 4 1 1 6 1 4 1

O: 2 1 4 3 7 1 3 1 2 3 2 1

P: 2 1 1 6 3 2 1 1 5 1 1 7 4 3 1

Q: 1 5 3 6 1 6 1 1 1 6 3 1

R: -

S: Coway Cuckoo

Coway Cuckoo Coway

Amway Cuckoo Coway

T: Y N N Y Y Y N N N

U: N N N N Y Y N N N Y

V: 2000-8000 2000- 8000

8000- 20000

2000- 8000

0- 2000

0- 2000

2000- 50000

50000- more

50000 - more

2000- 8000

2000- 8000

X:

Survey 35 - 50: 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

A: N N N N N N N N N N N N N N Y N

B: Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y N N Y

C: Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y N Y Y

D: H20 Cuckoo Alkane Cuckoo Cuckoo Espring Coway Diamond

PoE, Thai brand Coway

E: N N N N Y Y Y Y N N Y N N Y N N

F: 10 3 8 10 2 30-40 10 2

G: Y Y Y N Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y

H: 30 20 100-150 20 200 500 30 100 150 30 50

I: 2 10 4 5 6 3 6 3 1 6 5 5 3 4

J: 10 10 4 5 9 10 10 9 10 10 10 5 10 10 9

K: 3 8 1 2 1 6 0 3 7 6 1 2 2 4 5

L: 1 1 1 1 1 8 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1

M: 7 1 8 7 1 4 6 5 7 6 6 1 7 7 7

N: 6 1 1 2 3 1 7 4 2 4 7 1 6 2 2

O: 2 1 2 1 7 1 2 3 3 5 4 1 4 3 1

P: 5 1 1 1 4 1 5 2 5 3 3 1 5 5 2

Q: 4 8 1 1 1 5 1 4 6 4 7 5 1 3 6 3

R:

2 space limitation

S: Alkane Coway Cuckoo

Coway Diamond

T: N N N N Y N N N N N

U: Y N N Y N N N N N N N N

V:

20000- 50000 0-2000

0- 2000 0-2000

2000- 8000

20000- 50000

8000- 20000

2000- 8000

8000- 20000

20000- 50000

8000- 20000

0- 2000

X:

Tap water is the most convenient way of having clean water that can be used for washing and drinking

Survey: 51 - 66: 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66

A: N N N N N N N N N N N N N Y Y N

B: Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y N N Y Y Y Y Y

C: Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y N N N Y N Y N Y

D: Tupper ware Coway Coway Coway Alkene Nesh Diamond

E: N N N N N N Y N N Y Y N Y N Y Y

F: 0 15 3 3 10-15 2-3 5 12 6 12 20

G: Y Y N Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N

H: 167 100 69 25 100-200 50 0 50 50 150 90

I: 5 10 7 5 8 6 5 4 3 5 9 10 6 5 5 10

J: 10 10 10 10 10 8 5 10 10 10 9 10 9 10 10 10

K: 6 6 6 2 5 6 1 3 2 2 6 1 1

L: 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1

M: 7 1 8 7 8 7 4 6 6 5 7 6 1

N: 2 5 2 6 5 2 6 7 4 7 2 7 1

O: 3 2 3 3 2 4 7 2 3 3 5 1 3 1

P: 5 3 2 5 1 5 3 4 5 6 4 4 1

Q: 4 4 7 4 5 3 5 5 7 4 3 1 5 1

R: 8

S: Cuckoo Blöndal Coway Coway Blöndal

Blöndal Coway cuckoo

T: Y N N N N N Y N Y

U: N N N N N Y N N Y Y Y

V: 0, Retired

20000 -50000 0-2000

2000- 8000

2000- 8000

8000- 20000

0- 2000

0- 2000

2000- 8000

2000 - 8000

0- 2000 0- 2000 0-2000

X: 11

Blondal is a very reputable brand

Quality of water

Maybe for the future Blöndal can have air purifier

Survey 67 - 81: 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81

A: N N N Y N N N N N N N N N Y N

B: Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y

C: N Y N Y Y Y Y N Y N N Y Y Y Y

D: Cuckoo megg oasis Ionized water BIO AURA Coway

E: Y Y Y Y N N N N N Y N N Y N Y

F: 39 15 20 24 0 20

G: Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y Y

H: 100 30 20 20 50 50-100 100 70

I: 7 7 5 10 5 5 5 7 7 10 6 7 5 6

J: 10 7 5 10 10 5 5 7 10 10 6 9 5 9

K: 5 1 1 1 3 8 1 2 4 3 2 1 5 1 2

L: 8 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

M: 5 1 8 1 6 8 1 8 7 7 6 3 6 1 6

N: 8 5 1 1 1 1 1 5 2 1 3 3 2 1 4

O: 8 1 1 1 4 1 1 3 6 1 5 2 1 8 3

P: 5 1 1 1 7 1 1 4 3 1 7 3 1 1 5

Q: 8 1 1 1 5 1 6 5 3 4 5 2 8 7

R: 7 variety 1

S: Coway Coway Cuckoo

Diamond Bio aura Cuckoo

Cuckoo Coway

T: Y N N Y (ice bear) N N Y Y

U: Y Y N N N N N Y Y

V: 2000 -8000

0- 2000

0- 2000

8000- 20000

2000- 8000

0- 2000

0- 2000

8000- 20000 2000-8000 0-2000

0- 2000

X:

Survey 82 - 84 and summarization:

82 83 84 Summarization:

A: N N N 10 Y, 4 O

B: Y Y Y 11 N, 5 O

C: N Y Y 21 N, 3 O

D: Dispenser Panasonic

BIO AURA (2), 3M AQUA PURE (1), PoE and PoU (1), Cuckoo (6), E-spring (2), Panasonic (4), Coway (12), dispenser (2), H20 (1), Alkane (2), Diamond (2), poE (1), Tupperware (1), Nesh (1), MeggOasis (1), Ionizedwater (1)

E: Y Y N 45 N, 4 O

F: 50 48 38,75 bottles in average

G: Y Y Y 8 N, 4 O, Y 72

H: 0 20 93.4 RM/month in average, 37 O

I: 5 3 3 5,74 i average, 7 O

J: 5 8 8 8.48 i average, 7 O

K: 1 5 3 1 (6), 2 (11), 3 (8), 4 (3), 5 (2), 6 (7), 7 (1), 8(0)

L: 2 8 1 1 (27), 2 (8), 3 (1), 4 (1), 5 (0), 6 (1), 7 (0), 8 (1)

M: 3 7 1 (2), 2 (0), 3 (1), 4 (1), 5 (5), 6 (10), 7 (14), 8 (3)

N: 4 8 4 1 (2), 2 (8), 3 (3), 4 (10), 5 (2), 6 (7), 7 (5), 8 (0)

O: 5 8 2 1 (2), 2 (7), 3 (15), 4 (5), 5 (4), 6 (1), 7 (3), 8 (0)

P: 6 8 5 1 (0), 2 (3), 3 (5), 4 (9), 5 (14), 6 (3), 7 (3)

Q: 8 6 1 (1), 2 (1) 3 (4), 4 (8), 5 (9), 6 (7), 7 (6)

R: Other attributes that were brought up in ranking: 2: Customer service, easy to contact the company or a repairman, 8: The taste, 2: Space limitation, 7: Variety

S: 3M Aqua Pure: 1, Britax: 1, Panasonic: 1, Coway: 14, Cuckoo: 10, Amway: 1, Alkane: 1, Diamond: 3, Blöndal: 3, Bio Aura: 1

T: Y Y NO: 27 st, YES: 15 st (one said ice bear), -: 32 st

U: N N N NO: 35 st, YES: 15 st, -: 32 st

V: 0- 2000

8000- 20000

20000- 50000 0-2000: 23, 2000-8000: 16, 8000 - 20 000: 9, 20 000 - 50 000: 6, 50 000 - more: 2, -: 28

X:

Other comments: "Filters must not be plastic.", "Tap water is the most convenient way of having clean water that can be used for washing and drinking", "Blöndal is a very reputable brand", "Maybe for the future, Blöndal can have air purifier"

  

Appendix D Short Interview comments and observation  The surveys combined with the shorter interviews were held at two different malls in Kuala                             Lumpur: IPC and Giants. Knowing where to turn to talk to our target group was a bit hard. We                                     were recommended to approach people in malls, since they attract a great range of people from                               different social groups. The IPC mall was a bit “high-end”, which was reflected in the                             respondents income and water situation. Many already had filters or were prepared to pay a                             higher monthly cost for a filter. However, since we tried to hand out surveys to as many as                                   possible, surveys were also handed out to people who worked in the mall which lowered the                               percentage of higher income questionnaires to the total. The other mall, Giants, attracted                         evidently more of a lower income group. 10 out of 24 respondents stated a income of less than                                   2000 RM each month compared to 13 out of 60 in the first mall. It also became much harder to                                       communicate with the interviewees in the second mall, since many were very bad or insecure                             with their english. Many had trouble understanding the questions and declined the surveys                         because they could not understand english neither spoken or written.  One aspect that was not taken into consideration was if people in the malls were used to filling                                   out these kind of surveys or not. A great amount of the of the questionnaires got very insecure                                   when they did not have an exact answer to different questions on the surveys or questions we                                 asked them afterwards. Because they got insecure many decided not to fill in these questions on                               the survey and laughed insecurely and apologetic if they did not know what exactly to answer.                               They were not comfortable with guessing. One example was the survey question of how many                             bottles of water they drank per month. Because they did not have an exact answer, they did not                                   answer at all.  An observation made was that many were not ok with drinking the water supplied by the                               government. Even those who we did not discuss further with would shorty comment that the                             piped water is “horrible”, “dirty”, “sometimes brown”, “not drinkable”, “looks like it’s taken straight from the                               rivers”, etc. Often, when talking to people, they often asked us where we were from. As we                                 answered Sweden, there were a lot of occasions where the respondent commented on the fact                             that in Sweden we are provided clean and free tap water. In a few cases it was clear that this was                                         something people ached for. Water filters, bottled water and the process of boiling dirty water                             can be both expensive and time consuming. One interviewee discussed this thoroughly. He/she                         compared the water in Kuala Lumpur with the water in Europe, mainly using the U.K. and                               Sweden as examples: “They drink their tap water and that’s how it should be”. The interviewee                               continued with saying that the water situation in Kuala Lumpur is horrible. “Just go look at what the                                   rivers look like, that’s what we have to drink here”. He/she was very confused as to why we have come                                       to Kuala Lumpur to study the water when the water in Europe is so good and the pipe water is                                       drinkable. He said that Kuala Lumpur is a lost cause.  

Many times when approaching a couple (man and woman), a family or a group of people, the                                 woman/women stayed in the background while we got to talk to the man/men. We often tried                               to directly talk to the women, encouraging them to also take a survey or asking them questions                                 directly. Yet, in many cases this was not a working strategy. This can have an influence in the                                   collected data. It is important that the data is based on a great variety of people as insights about                                     household matters can vary within the households. One household may have different opinions                         considering the water.   While filling out a survey, an interviewee also showed what kind of bottled water he/she drank.                               The interviewee held up a bottle of deionized water and said “I only drink this”. The discussions                                 later were about how important the water quality is and what minerals should be provided by the                                 drinking water.   One interviewee discussed how income matters when deciding the reasonable cost for water                         every month. The respondent mentioned that some people earn less and some earn more, and                             depending on that, the respondent said the price mattered. The interviewee also mentioned the                           difference between rural areas and urban. Rural areas can take drinking water straight from the                             rain easier but their piped water is really bad. Vice versa for urban.  Another interviewee mentioned that he/she lived with his/hers daughters and therefore had two                         different homes with different situations. One house was situated close to the mall and had good                               pipe water. The other house was situated somewhere else in Kuala Lumpur where the piped                             water was really bad and they therefore had a Blöndal water filter installed.                      

Appendix E In home visits summarisation  We visited two different neighborhoods in the Klang area in Kuala Lumpur. The Regional Sales                             Manager said these neighborhoods are of lower income housings.  Interviewee nr. 1 Interviewee nr. 1 had a coway water filter. The respondent said he/she had very little concerns                               with the product and was very happy to talk about it. The respondent spoke english but was not                                   fluent. Therefore the conversation was very elemental. The respondent listed only the positive                         qualities of the product and did not have anything negative to say: 

- very easy product to use. - can get both cold and hot water and very easy to change between these two. - it looks good. - good price. - good service, the company comes every three months and changes the filters. - available all the time. - good water. 

 He/she also said that they are a big family and that everyone uses it more often than on a daily                                       basis. The interviewee drew the example that he/she has a baby to feed milk formula to and the                                   eas of the hot, clean water was safe and practical.  The interviewee said he/she spends a lot of time in the kitchen, therefor the design and looks of                                   the product is important because it is very visible. It was noted that the product was large and                                   placed next to the sink on a table top.  The respondent explained that he/she pays a monthly cost for the water filter where the change                               of the water filter every third month is included in the price.   Interviewee nr. 2 The interviewee had a Källa 8 Blöndal water filter and was happy with it. He/she said it was a                                     very good filter where the water had good taste, had clear water with no color. Important                               qualities that the interviewee mentioned was the availability and good quality.  The interviewee said the product was used every time drinking water was needed. He/she                           explained that this was very often since they were many using it: three different families, around                               15 people. The respondent implied that the accessibility of the drinking water and the ease of just                                 opening a tap for drinking water was important because of the amount of people using it.   He/she continued with saying he/she paid a service fee at 400 RM for Blöndal to change filters                                 

every year and that this was expensive. He/she would like that a change would happen here. This                                 was the only negative aspect the interviewee could think of.   Interviewee nr. 3 An interviewed household contained talking to many in the family (we talked to around six                             different family members). Because of uncertainty and insecurities about their english knowledge,                       they switched persons to talk to constantly. Apparently they had had a cuckoo water filter                             installed before. It came with a free of charge installation. However, they realized that as soon as                                 they had to pay a monthly bill that it became very expensive and they had to deinstall the filter.                                     They explained that they were very interested in having a water filter because of the need of                                 clean water. Since they can’t afford a filter they drink the tap water instead. It was obvious that                                   the interview was very uncomfortable for the family. They seemed ashamed for not being able to                               afford a filter even though they wanted one.  The only two concluded values that were important to the family were price and the water                               quality. Since they could not afford the product they felt they could not afford the luxury of                                 evaluating other values to the product than price and clean water (water quality).  Interviewee nr. 4 The respondent had just arrived from work and looked tired. He/she had a child come welcome                               him/her home. The respondent was very bad at english and not interested in talking. The                             interviewee was uncomfortable with talking with a interpreter. After a few questions with all                           answers no, the respondent walked inside.  The conclusion from the questions that were answered was that a water filter is not really needed                                 and that the respondent did not have one. It was observed that the respondent found it                               uncomfortable to talk about owning a water filter or not. 

Appendix F Sales staff encounter results  Meeting For formality reasons a meeting with the sales department in Klang, an area of Kuala Lumpur,                               was held in the morning before heading off for in home visits. Nine attendants at the meeting,                                 including the Regional Sales Manager, Mr. Robert T. The meeting started off with different sales                             employees presenting their weekly results and the manager commenting to it. The comments                         included strategies for customer interests and sales approaches. The manager discussed what the                         pros of the product were from a selling point of view and talked about what values that always                                   sold.   Many of the pros that the manager discussed could be connected to the customer wants and                               needs. The manager said that the design of the product was a very selling aspect due to its looks.                                     The design of the product is different to others on the market and it looks very good. This can                                     show as to how important the design of the product is and therefore a user want. The manager                                   later noted that this was a want that grew on the future customers. The first and second time                                   they were shown the product, they were not interested in the design but others factors, such as                                 price and quality. Meanwhile the third time they were shon the product, the design was the factor                                 that made them buy the product.   When Robert T. elaborated, he stressed that one of their strongest arguments for the product is                               that it is made out of aluminium. He continued with saying that plastic is toxic and gave the                                   example of fish dying because of plastic particles in the water. Counterproductive to his                           statement, the product parts that come in touch with the water are not made out of aluminium                                 but mainly plastic. Even though this argument that plastic is toxic and aluminium is not, doesn’t                               support the product, it shows that a customer want lies in health and good, clean water. This                                 argument also supports that a customer want is non dangerous and good materials.  Another sales trick that the manager presented was an experiment with a pill which showed the                               amount of chlorine in the water by changing the water into different colors. He said that the                                 reactions from the future customers were strong and inclined that water quality is one of the                               larger concerns according to the customers.  Other aspects that were discussed at the meeting was the approach to clients. When talking to a                                 family it is important to both talk to the husband and the wife, according to the manager. Both                                   need to enjoy the product. The wife who will use it the most needs to like it, and the husband                                       with the money needs to like it. Many of the sales agreed to this and meant that most households                                     were of a housewife and a working man.  The meeting turned to talk about what differences can occur now that a new government is                               situated*. The new government had promised to remove the Goods and Service Tax (GST) in                             

Malaysia and the manager wanted to discuss what differences could occur in their sales. He asked                               questions such as how does that affect rentals? He informed us that rentals was his name for letting                                   the customer pay off the product costs monthly instead of buying it straight away. However, not                               many things were said about this.  Conversations with Salesman After the meeting we followed a salesman named Ng to go door knock. While we waited for his                                   collegue to come, we discussed the product more. Discussions about the cons of the product                             were discussed from a customer and future customer point of view. Ng’s arguments were based                             off of the experiences he has had as working with future customers for many years. The biggest                                 concern he expressed was the price. He started to discussed the price in comparison to other                               water filter companies and implied that the Blöndal Källa 8 is one of the more expensive on the                                   market. He later talked about the economy in Malaysia implying the economy is strained for                             many households in Kuala Lumpur and people hold on to their money. Because of the economy                               people decide not to buy the product: “because of the economy, people can’t afford to buy Blöndal products”.    If Ng could change one thing it would be the price: “The price is too high. Also it is hard to get people to understand why they need water filters. Even after the I                                             explain and present, the customers are not interested”.  The next problem was, according to Ng, that many in Kuala Lumpur do not use water filters at                                   all because they are not aware of the water quality of the piped, government water: “they are not using any filter and they do not see any problems and they therefore think they don’t need filter. In                                           Klang, very much competition”.  He explained that the chinese markets in Malaysia are very focused on economy. They do not                               believe that a water filter should be so expensive so they are very hard to sell to. Therefore, the                                     branch is focused on (muslim) malays.  He later elaborated in saying that many in Kuala Lumpur and in the Klang area for in factories                                   and similar employments. These people make less >2000 RM/month and are financially instabil                         with this. Therefore many of them work double shifts and or work weekends and or work nights                                 too. They are never home and hard to get hold of. This means those few people that you get a                                       hold of are very tired and not interested in making any buying decisions. He implied that this is a                                     struggle for him when working.  Ng also mentioned how bad the the english skills were in the rural areas.   

Appendix G GI: 

 GII: 

 GVIII: 

TRITA TRITA-ITM-EX 2018:138

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