personal project

Pukhi, simple technology that transforms lives

Simple, sustainable and low-cost technology: clay + water + sand

DEsign challenge

In March 2020, Media News and academics highlighted a problem that has existed in Peru for more than twenty years: 50% of peruvian families do not have a refrigerator at home. The lack of refrigeration forces the families to go everyday to the markets to buy food, which increased the probability of exposure to COVID-19.

To tackle this problem we developed Pukhi (formerly known as CoolK), an unplugged low-tech refrigerator made of clay that works with 2 simple materials: sand, and water.

Pukhi, a device that combines sustainability and poverty alleviation, offers a simple and ubiquitous way to keep vegetables and fruits fresh. Through this social design project, we aim to increase access to food preservation for Peruvian families.

Until now, we have trained more than 100 people in Peru, Belgium and Germany, reaching a total of 21 families and 3 community organized soup kitchens.

Problem

50% of Peruvian families do not have a refrigerator at home.

Solution

Low-cost, sustainable refrigerator made of clay that works without electricity.

Impact

100 trained individuals, 21 families and 3 soup kitchen use Pukhi in Peru.

ROLE

Founder

As the founder, I had to be versatile when developing the project from Product Design to Team Management. One of the main task during the inception was to lead the process of co-creation and ideation through Desing Thinking + Human-Centered Design (HCD).

team

Core team
1 Product Designer (Business Administration)
1 Design Research (Sociologist)
1 Potter
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Short-term members
2 Industrial Design Students

Volunteers
1 Comms
1 Social Media

partners

TECSUP, La Victoria Lab, MIT D-Lab, Nubes PERU, Global Shaper Munich, Slow Food Peru, Thought for Food, Alliance Francaise Trujillo

YEAR

2020 - Present

awards & recognitions

2022 | Selected as Humanitarian project at MIT Innovators Under 35 Latam
2022 | 1st place at Falling Walls Lab Latam (DAAD)
2021 | Selected as Food System Changer at The Food Systems Game Changers Lab (FSGCL)
2021 | Selected one of the Women in STEM program at HUB UDEP and BID Lab
2021 | Selected one of the Mentor Up program at Global Shapers Munich
2020 | Top 10 Idea at OpenIDEO: COVID-19 Global South Health and Livelihoods Challenge

main learning

"Design can transform Lives"

visit the project

Pukhi, simple technology that transforms lives

Pukhi, simple technology that transforms lives

Our final product: Pukhi Refri

Inspired by the ancient Andean ancestral knowledge, Pukhi Refri is a sustainable and artisan refrigerator that extends the life of fruits and vegetables without the need for electricity.Our fridge works by a simple principle: evaporative cooling that keeps food 5 to 11 °C cooler than the outside temperature. Only water, sand, and clay pots are needed to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables for 2 weeks.

How did we do it?

To conceive Pukhi, we used the Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach. We emphasized the application of the phases (Inspiration, Ideation and Implementation) and its different tools.

As you can see in the information presented here, the process may appear linear; however, in reality, it was not always the case.

01

inspiration

The revealing news

The pandemic put the world on pause, but not inequalities, especially in countries in the Global South like Peru. In March 2020, a headline on TV caught my attention: "50% of families in the country do not have a refrigerator". This situation in my country motivated me to take action and develop Pukhi (formerly CoolK).

A few months passed, and I heard from my sister that OpenIDEO had opened a new challenge called "COVID-19 Global South Health and Livelihoods Challenge" and we decided to apply.

The challenge

With millions of people in the Global South at risk of sliding back into poverty amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVID-19 Global South Health and Livelihoods Challenge was launched to help low- and middle-income families stay healthy while maintaining a sustainable livelihood during this crisis.

Within the 4 themes we participated in the Access to Basic Needs track (access to food, affordable water, sanitation and hygiene services outside their homes without putting their health or livelihoods at risk).

Building the Team

To meet this challenge, I decided to form a multidisciplinary team. Due to the strict confinement imposed by the Peruvian Government, the collaboration and interaction was online.

Core Team:
Jorge Siesquén Deza / Business Management Undergraduate / Product Designer
Claudia Siesquén Deza / Sociology Undergraduate / Design Researcher

Short-term members:
César López* / Industrial Design Student / Visual Designer
Nicole Guzmán* / Industrial Design Student / Visual Designer
‍
*After completing the OpenIDEO application process in September 2020, Nicole and César decided not to continue participating in the project.

Later, when the project had already materialized, we had the support of two volunteers:
‍
Volunteers
Alejandro Sandoval / Business Management Student / Comms
Teo Dejean / Political Sciences / Social Media

Researching our users

To get to know our users, we decided to use two research methodologies: Secondary research and In-Depth interviews.

  1. Secondary Research
We began by reading papers and statistical data that would allow us to know the problem in depth and generate hypotheses that we validated after analyzing the interviews.

Initial assumptions

  • Because the frequency of shopping for groceries in the markets is daily, the economic expense is greater.
  • Families live in a dichotomy: either they go shopping every day or they lose their food.
  • Families that do not have a refrigerator have a less balanced diet.
  • Some families do not have electricity at home.

‍

  1. Interviews

To validate and contrast our hypotheses, we decided to conduct 8 in-depth interviews with families who did not have a refrigerator at home. Due to mobility restrictions due to pandemics, these interviews were conducted online.

We chose to interview the mothers of the family, since in countries such as Peru, they are commonly in charge of the role of housewives. We also chose to interview mothers from the city of Lima (since more than a third of Peru's population lives in the capital).

The main questions revolved around: Family and Food, Food preservation and washing, Access to family refrigeration, among others.

A few months passed, and I heard from my sister that OpenIDEO had opened a new challenge called "COVID-19 Global South Health and Livelihoods Challenge" and we decided to apply.

Talking to experts

Additionally, during this process we had the support of experts from La Victoria Lab (LVL), the innovation laboratory of a Peruvian economic conglomerate. They supported us in the initial phase, especially in the elaboration of the interviews and the project's roadmap.

(Re)defining our audience

Two of the people we were able to interview was one of the leaders of a soup kitchen*, and they explained that the soup kitchen also lacked a refrigeration system, so we added them as potential users.

*A soup kitchen is a community-based and managed initiative that arises in environments marked by poverty and unemployment, aimed at addressing the essential need for food. Assistance is provided through daily food distribution for an average of 100 people or more.

02

ideation

Findings

After analyzing the interviews, papers and statistical data, we found different patterns of behavior among the mothers. This allowed us to better understand their family and food purchasing dynamics.

A few months passed, and I heard from my sister that OpenIDEO had opened a new challenge called "COVID-19 Global South Health and Livelihoods Challenge" and we decided to apply.

Share inspiring Stories : Who are we designing for?

Based on the findings, we were able to find 2 different users: the mothers of families and the leaders of the common pots. Based on this we created empathy maps for each type of user and found that the main similarity is that they both care about feeding their family.

Brainstorming

Knowing the problems of our potential users, we searched for different ancestral food preservation technologies, with special emphasis on those techniques that do not use electricity and are low cost.

Inca Colca - Peru

Botijo - Spain

Indus Civilization - Egypt

Design Principles

We chose to develop the food canner made of ceramic. In this phase we determined the characteristics of the appearance: colors, shape, materials and size and rendered the product in order to have a more tangible vision of the product. To achieve that goal, we first developed a moodboard and then made sketches and renders.

03

implementation

Live Prototyping

In this phase we developed 4 prototypes of the food cannery plus the MVP.  Below we detail the process.

1st Prototype

2nd Prototype

3th Prototype

4th Prototype

MVP

Pilot

With the MVP ready, we conducted a pilot with a common cooking pot and 3 families that did not have a refrigerator.  This pilot was carried out with the help of Nubes, a partner organization. The pilot was carried out in the district of "Villa Maria del Triunfo", a place with a high percentage of vulnerable population.

Spreading the word

Thanks to Pukhi's impact, we have been able to receive recognition that has helped us to make our project more visible and reach more people. We are very grateful for this.

Some awards and recognition

Alianza Francesa de Trujillo - Peru

Documenta 15th - Germany

Karibu e.V. A fair-trade NGO - Germany

Hellow, a Low-tech company - Belgium

Partners

We have also been able to connect with organizations that have helped us from different angles to build Pukhi.

We have been in constant communication with Prof. Eric Verploegen, who has worked for almost 10 years optimizing evaporative cooling at MIT D-Lab. We have shared technical learnings and recommendations around the Pukhi Refri tests.

As a result of this connection, we collaborated on the Spanish translation of Evaporative Cooling for Fruit & Vegetable Storage: A Guide to Assembling, Using, and Maintaining Clay Pot Coolers.

We have collaborated with the 'Instituto Tecnológico Superior', TECSUP, through collaborations with their Industrial Design students. Thus, two students of this career were able to learn about the project and create an alternative design, which allowed them to learn more about social design.

Impact: Design can transform Lives

"Design can transform Lives"

In the span of three years, Pukhi has made a positive impact on the lives of families and soup kitchens. Additionally, we have successfully trained numerous individuals in three differents cities across Peru. Our influence has extended to Belgium and Germany as we continue to share our mission.

+100

Individuals trained

21

families use Pukhi Refri

3

soup kitchens use Pukhi Refri

Food waste is minimized, contributing to savings for families

The promotion of fresh foods consumption, particularly fruits and vegetables, is prioritized

We disseminate sustainable and ecological technology that preserves without electricity