Hundreds of people got in touch after our crowdfunding campaign, keen to be involved in co-ordinating field trials. From these generous offers of support, we selected trial ‘facilitators’ with in-depth knowledge of the communities they would be testing GravityLight with as well as the language skills, experience, time and commitment to running a trial with several repeat visits.
We worked with organisations and individuals across 26 different countries, a breadth that would give us insights into a range of communities and climates.
Map showing campaign supporters (Orange) and field trial locations (Blue)
The objectives of the trial were:
- To prove the concept: Would people use a GravityLight instead of a kerosene lamp?
- To test demand: Would people buy one?
- To gather feedback on what people liked about GravityLight and what needed improving.
The trial ‘facilitators’ had already identified communities and households that were willing to test GravityLight and, where necessary, ensured they had people fluent in the local dialect to conduct product demonstrations and gather feedback.
We shared materials on how to install GravityLight and two different questionnaires. One to be conducted on the day GravityLight was installed and another to use on return visits.
The results were extremely encouraging…
Over 90% of triallists said they would use a GravityLight instead of a kerosene lamp.