Ace Bidet
Tushy
The premium electric bidet that delivers the comfort and experience of a spa and the aesthetic of an Apple product.
Role:
Director of Product Development, Product Design Engineer
Responsibilities:
Directed the product team, co-designer of remote, packaging, engineering director, on-site production validation, compliance lead.
Project Duration:
1 year, 3 months
Launched:
September 2021
The Ace
The Ace Bidet by Tushy is the top-tier washing experience in the bathroom. Voted as CNN’s Underscored Best Electric Bidet of 2022. Bidets have been unquestionably proven to be more hygienic than traditional wiping and to be more environmentally sustainable by saving the amount of toilet paper used. After a very successful launch of the 3.0 bidet and time to digest feedback form our customers, we learned that some of them wanted an even more elevated bidet experience with more features, however options are the market were way too expensive falling anywhere form $800 to over $2000 for an electric bidet. Again we hit the drawing board and focused in on how we could deliver a simple design with the desired critical features at a price point that was adoptable.
Influenced by forms and functions conventionally associated with bathrooms combined with electronic devices used daily, the Ace showcases a seat and lid with smooth and organic curvature to mesh with the toilet alongside a seamless soft-touch remote with light and haptic feedback that magnetically snaps to the wall. Compared to non-electric attachable bidets, the Ace is the ultimate upgrade offering users features like heated water, a heated seat, a dryer, angle/pressure control and massage features designed to make the washing experience more comfortable and enjoyable. We also put considerable thought into the packaging design to make for a presentable, environmentally-friendly, inviting and easy unboxing experience for our customers.
Problem
Current electric bidets are expensive and intimidating to Americans where bidets are still in early adoption.
Insight
There is a large portion of people who want a more premium bidet experience, but the existing options are bulky, look like medical devices, and are overloaded with too many confusing functions.
Objective
Our goal was to make sure the most critical features were the best quality, simplify the functionality, and deliver a beautiful and aspirational experience.
Deliverable
We created a luxury product at an affordable price that makes any user feel like they are sitting on the throne.
User and Market Research
Before the Ace, we were only competing in the realm of non-electric bidets and after seeing the unimpressive electric bidets that were offered in the market, we wanted to bring something to our customers who wanted to upgrade their bathroom experience with a simple and sleek solution that solved the problems the existing bidets just weren’t tackling. One of the most important insights we derived from our research was that existing electric bidets were confusing because they had too many buttons on the remote control and the visual iconography used to describe functions were inconsistent and hard to interpret. This was a huge obstacle for buyers next to the fact that many of the models available are very big and bulky and designed to look like they belong in a hospital, not a bathroom.
Pooping Pain Points
From our research developing the 3.0 Bidet, we found lots of overlapping themes that led us to develop features of the Ace. In summary, those similar pain points included excessive use of toilet paper, over wiping which can be painful and harmful, and more specific to the Ace was the discomfort of a cold toilet seat and a cold water stream.
People didn’t feel clean after pooping even after excessive wiping.
Sitting on a cold toilet seat can be uncomfortable and startling.
Excessive wiping can be annoying and potentially harmful leading to hemorrhoids, skid marks, and UTIs.
Washing with cold water can also be an uncomfortable experience.
Competitor Pain Points
There were only a couple of products on the market trying to accomplish the same goal we were, however their execution was not to our liking nor their customers. So we analyzed thousands of reviews from competitor products, tested them ourselves, tore them apart and synthesized the data we needed to create the best electric bidet we could. We found that other electric bidets looked like medical devices instead of bathroom fixtures, containing lots of confusing buttons with non-universal icons. They were also exorbitantly expensive, visually repulsive, and loaded with superfluous functions that most people never used.
Way too expensive.
Ugly and looked like medical devices.
Too many confusing functions.
Lots of tricky nooks that were hard to clean.
Design Requirements
To create the best electric bidet we could, we first stripped away all the bells and whistles that were unnecessary and not seen as a value add to our customers. Then we focused on making the critical features of the bidet the best they could be: temperature controlled seat and water, a smooth continuous curvature design for easy cleaning and a complimentary aesthetic to the bathroom as well as precise angle and water pressure control. We completely redesigned the remote control from scratch using design influence from Apple to create a beautiful, clean, comfortable and easy to use functions with delightful touch points like ring light and haptic feedback alongside capacitive touch buttons.
Ergonomic remote is comfortable and easy to use with one hand, easy to clean and magnetically docks to your wall to cater to all abilities.
Continuous smooth curvature makes cleaning a breeze.
Precise temperature control for water and seat.
Precise stream pressure and angle control.
Stainless steel nozzle with automatic self cleaning.
Beautiful aesthetic that naturally compliments the curvature of any toilet.
No plastic packaging materials.
Benefits
Capacitive touch sensors work well in humid and wet environments and more reliable
Haptic response vibrates remote when functions are used
Replaced the IR transmitter with RF instead, improved design, removed black window, improved transmitting and receiving range
Ring light flashes to notify user which function is active
Battery life lasts at minimum 6 months, reduced power used by RF and LED indicators
Soft-touch coating with ergonomic form factor makes the remote easy to use one-handed without slipping
Magnetic inserts allow the remote dock to be mounted on any surface for easy access and storage
