H2GLO backpack worn by a first responder in a disaster-zone context. Solar panel visible on the back face. Secondary image: the icon-based interface panel showing 3-stage filtration status LEDs — no text, only symbols and light states.
H2GLO
A solar water purification backpack for disaster zones. European Product Design Gold. Designed for the person who has never seen the device and needs to use it right now.
Gold
European Product Design Award
785M
People without clean water
3-stage
Filtration: ceramic + carbon + UV
8800mAh
Battery capacity
In disaster zones, water contamination kills more people than the initial event. 785 million people lack access to clean water globally. The design problem was not 'make a water purifier' — it was 'make a water purifier that deploys correctly under stress, without training, when the person using it has ten other things on their mind.'
My Role
Solo industrial designer. Product concept, filtration system design, solar integration, icon-based interface design, structural prototyping.
Where judgment was required
The moments that shaped the product.
A research map showing two expert domains (military logistics, humanitarian water projects) and the shared constraint they identified: 'zero training, maximum stress, handoff-ready.' Arrows flowing from that constraint into three design decisions: icon-only interface, single-flow operation, visual status indicators.
Expert interviews shaped the deployment constraint before any form was sketched
Before sketching anything, I interviewed a Construction Corps officer and a Water Projects coordinator with Haiti field experience. Both confirmed the same failure mode: people in disaster zones don't read manuals, don't have time for setup sequences, and often hand off equipment mid-operation to someone who has never seen it. Every design decision downstream flowed from that constraint: the product had to work for a first-time user under maximum stress, with zero instruction.
The interface panel laid flat, showing three icon+LED pairs for the three filtration stages in green/active state. Annotation: 'No text. No language requirement. Legible under stress in any context.'
Icon-based interface: language barriers eliminated by design
Disaster zones are multilingual environments. A text-based interface fails for any user who doesn't read the language it was written in. The H2GLO interface uses no text — only icons and LED status indicators. Filtration stage 1 (ceramic) shows as a particle icon. Stage 2 (carbon) shows as a chemical symbol. Stage 3 (UV) shows as a light wave. Status is communicated through light: green = active, red = fault, off = inactive. No words. No training required to read.
A system diagram. Top: solar panel → battery. Battery branches to: UV purification stage, LED status indicators, LED ambient illumination. Water flow path: intake → ceramic → carbon → UV → output. Annotation: 'One power source. Four functions.'
3-stage filtration + solar + LED illumination: a complete off-grid system
The system was designed as a complete solution, not a filter attached to a bag. Ceramic filtration removes particulates. Carbon filtration removes chemical contaminants. UV exposure eliminates biological threats. The solar panel charges an 8800mAh battery that powers the UV stage and the LED indicators. At night, the LEDs provide ambient illumination for the operating environment — the same battery that purifies water also lights the area. Every component earns multiple functions.
Process
Expert interviews: Construction Corps officer, Water Projects in Haiti.
Zero training. Maximum stress. Handoff-ready. Every decision flowed from this.
Icon-only interface, 3-stage filtration, solar + battery system.
European Product Design Award, Gold.
What Shipped
Gold
European Design Award
3-stage
Filtration
8800mAh
Battery
0
Words in the interface
European Product Design Award, Gold. A complete off-grid water purification system for first responders in disaster zones. 3-stage filtration (ceramic + carbon + UV), solar charging, 8800mAh battery, icon-only interface with no language requirement. Research-validated against real deployment constraints from military and humanitarian field experience.
- European Product Design Award, Gold — 2021
- 3-stage filtration chain: ceramic + carbon + UV, all integrated into a wearable backpack
- Icon-based interface: zero text, operable by any user regardless of language
- 8800mAh solar-charged battery powers filtration and provides ambient LED illumination
What I Learned
The design problem was not filtration — that technology exists. The design problem was the deployment constraint: a device that must be operable by someone who has never seen it, in the worst conditions they will ever work in, possibly mid-handoff to a third person. Every decision that solved a filtration problem but introduced a training requirement was the wrong decision. Expert interviews before any sketching set that constraint clearly enough that I could evaluate every design choice against it. The icon-only interface came directly from field experience shared in those interviews — not from a design principle applied in the abstract.
What this demonstrates
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