A stoma is an artificial bowel exit for people with a non-intact digestive system. Patients have to wear a stoma bag 24/7 - a glued-on pouch that collects their output. Conventional bag systems consist out of several welded multimaterials and are hard to use for people with low dexterity.
»Click« is an innovative, modular system for stoma care. A screw connector, combined with a silicone cover, enables the secure use of monomaterial, disposable stoma bags. The system is split into carefully designed reusable and disposable parts, which reduces the material consumption per bag change and allows »Click« to be highly accessible and customizable.

The project "Click" was the result of a semester project at the FH Joanneum - University of Applied Sciences. The project was a cooperation with the medical supplier Convatec and was supervised by Prof. Mag. Thomas Feichtner and Dipl.-Des. Magnus Feil. The task for the project was to develop a solution that improves the quality of life of stoma bag users with limited dexterity.

A stoma is an artificial bowel exit for people with a non-intact digestive system due to illnesses like cancer, inflammable bowel diseases or due to accidents. To collect their output, patients have to wear a glued-on pouch 24/7. To start the project off, I wore a stoma bag for a whole day and tried to recreate some of the experiences of users, as well as conducting in-depth interviews with several ostomy patients. A stoma bag offers great benefits to its users, and makes it possible for them to lead a healthy and active life - nevertheless, a lot of the users struggle with handling their bags. They need to handle supplies like wipes, adhesives, skincare products and deal with flimsy stickers and foils - sometimes at the same time, and all of that up to twice a day. Also, a stoma bag is made from several different welded materials, and as its a single use product in most cases, users produce a lot of plastic waste on a daily basis.

Since medical products are absolutely essential to the lives of their users, they often get a pass when it comes to issues of ecological sustainability. My goal with this project was to show a different path. I set out to develop a product concept which shows that even medical products can be designed to be sustainable, while catering to their motorically challenged users special needs at the same time.

The inspiration for my solution came from my fridge: a yoghurt cup, made from a thin, white plastic, was reinforced by a cardboard wrapper, to be disposed of separately. This inspired me to design a stoma bag system with a similar concept. The system is split into reusable and disposable parts, which are all designed according to their respective lifespan.

A series of sketches, experiments and over 20 3D-printed models led me to the final design. The user applies a glued-on baseplate around their stoma. That baseplate is fitted with a simple, quarter-turn thread. The stoma bag itself is now extremely minimal: it consists out of just two thin plastic layers, with a charcoal filter that allows gases to get out. The user takes that bag and loosely shoves it into a silicon pouch. That pouch is connected to the counterthread. The opening of the pouch just needs to be pulled over that counterthread. Now the user just needs to fasten the thread, which is now easily possible for users with all dexterity levels due to an eccentric lever to the side of the thread. By fastening the thread, the stoma bag is now tightly secured to the body, sealed by the thread and safe from leakage because of the silicone pouch. Small, but distict product graphics aid the user during the bag change.

This concept drastically reduces the material consumption per bag change and simplifies the bag change process for the users. Also, the system is highly modular - so every part of the system can easily be customized to a users individual needs, in form, function and color.