Tigre — designing a connected water meter
An open-innovation project that went from "how do I put sensors in my products?" to a working prototype installed in a coffee shop.
Service design, end to end
Tigre, a Brazilian maker of pipes and water tanks, asked a simple question after a talk on open innovation. I ran quantitative (online survey) and qualitative research (expert and contextual interviews), visited the places where the sensors would be installed, and defined the product with the project managers.
Research showed clear differences between houses and apartment buildings — where people wanted individual metering — and between conventional and tech-savvy profiles.
Outcome
A physical prototype installed in a coffee shop: a wall-mounted meter showing water use in real time, sounding an alert for waste, and warning about regional shortages early enough to avoid closing the store. I also defined four success metrics for innovation, including a valid prototype in up to three months.
