Showerheads experience: Statistical analysis of the individual behaviour of the users

The water user embodies different physical, social and psychological factors, which in turn inform their water behaviours and the extent to which they engage with solutions aimed at water efficiency. Therefore, products designed to be resource efficient, such as the showerhead, needs to consider the affordances of user interactions and experience in order to ensure that their design, performance and environmental intents are achieved.
This paper sits within a wider body of work which aims to understand the technical efficiency of showerheads as well as the extent to which it is efficient-in-use based on other qualitative metrics such as the user, perceptual and experiential factors. The work presented in this paper uses statistical methods to investigate the correlations and differences between water use factors such as duration and volume (discharge), against user and water efficient showerhead types.
The significant findings are that while users may adjust the duration of their shower events according to the volume discharge of the showerhead, increasing the duration slightly with decreasing discharge, this does not hinder the water savings potential from the discharge reduction. Further, the showerheads discharge is the underlying motivation for the water consumptions differences between males and females. Bearing in mind the limitations of the sample, the female participants were found to consume more water on average than the male participants in these cases, indicating distinct gender behaviour change relative to the showerhead discharge. However, the sample size limits extensive statistical conclusions and needs to be further explored for conclusive results.
Still the initial findings in this paper contributes insights into how quantitative methods and analysis are beneficial for understanding the qualitative implications of water efficiency interventions; such the tendency for users to make behavioural adjustments according to the perceived performance of water efficient products.