The GoPee Interview

Katrin Ward is Chief Financial Human at humangear, where she has worked for fifteen years. She’s passionate about travel and the outdoors. She spoke with me about the GoPee, humangear’s stand-to-pee device (STP) that is both foldable and reusable.

What is the GoPee, and what sets it apart from other stand-to-pee devices?

The GoPee is humangear’s stand-to-pee device. What sets it apart from others is that it’s meant to last a lifetime—it’s reusable—and it’s the most compact STP that IS reusable. That’s what’s really unique: you can take it anywhere, because you can literally fit it in a back pocket. You can carry it very discreetly, and it’s this origami-style design that makes it so compact.

You know, I was a little intimidated when I heard about it, but when I tried it, I was like, “Oh! This is simple.”

Yes! On our packaging, we explain how you can fold it [Holds up packaging]. The first time you see it, it’s almost like, “What is this?” Because it looks so different from the other STPs on the market. But once you assemble it, which only takes ten seconds, it looks more like the disposable funnels people are familiar with. 

Who is GoPee for? 

GoPee is for anybody who wants to pee standing up, or potentially sitting down in specific situations. We are an outdoor and a travel product company, so our original reach was to people who are interested in the outdoors and have to squat to pee. But really, the GoPee is for anyone who would like to stand to pee and is not able to do that, for whatever reason. This is a great product for them. 

While the GoPee is sold in outdoor stores, it’s also sold on Amazon, on our own website, and we have a number of small retail shops that carry it. So, it’s not just for outdoor enthusiasts. The GoPee can be used by the transgender community, nonbinary folks, and people with a disability. You can even use the GoPee by scooting to the edge of a bed or the edge of a wheelchair, positioning it under you, and urinating into a container. 

So really, I think the GoPee is for ANYBODY who would like the ability to stand up to pee, or to pee at the edge of a chair, and doesn’t have the ability to do that without a funnel. 

I did notice when I was looking at your website that you have more options than just bright pink. I always look for that, and I saw you have blue, green, purple, orange… options for people who don’t need everything to be pink. 

Yes, I’m so glad you said that! That was a decision very early on. We specifically said, “We don’t want to do it in pink.” We didn’t want people to feel like this is a device only for people who like pink. But, two things happened. One, we did receive some requests for pink, and then, shortly after we launched, the Barbie movie came out, and we felt like pink had changed. Barbie did something for pink, so it doesn’t have to be this gendered color, so we ended up making a pink GoPee.

From the beginning though, we wanted to have colors that are fun but that can fit anyone’s personality. At this point we have enough colors that people can hopefully pick one that fits their taste and style, without being forced into a category. 

And it has a neutral name. “GoPee” is not like “SheWee” or “GoGirl.”

Yes! Which was another thing we thought a lot about. We have the GoToob and the GoTubb, so we have a history of “go” in our product names. I remember when our head designer, Chris Miksovsky, who’s also the Chief Executive Human at humangear, suggested GoPee. 

I sort of laughed at first, but then I was like, it’s the perfect name. It’s very clear what it is. It’s on the go, and it’s for anybody.

Now you were involved in the designing, is that right? What was that like?

It was great! Having worked for humangear for fifteen years, I’ve been able to see the design process across the office, but I am not a designer. I’m on the financial and administrative side of the company. 

The design of the GoPee actually started with the GoToob. The GoToob has been sold for years, and we started seeing reviews that people were using it as a bidet, specifically an outdoor bidet for camping and backpacking. We realized that if we changed the product slightly by adding a spout, we could make it an even better bidet.

So, we did that, and as we were doing that, we looked at the rest of that category. There are also trowels—so if you’re camping, you can dig a hole to bury your waste. So, we designed one of those, which is the GoDigg. The same category has stand-to-pee devices. It’s the sanitation aspect of outdoor life. 

Chris reached out to me and let me know this was a product he was interested in exploring and asked if I would like to be involved. I’m somebody who could actively use this product at the company. I said, “Absolutely, this sounds really fun.” My role was Project Manager.

What was the testing process like?

Chris and I both reached out on Facebook to outdoor groups, specifically asking for people who had used a stand-to-pee device before or would like to use one and never had. We ended up with more than twelve women who said they’d like to be involved in the project. 

The first stage was buying products that already existed and getting our testers’ feedback on them: What do you like? What don’t you like? Then we met with these women over Zoom. Some of the feedback coalesced, and some of it was wildly different. After collecting all that feedback, Chris, in his design shop, started coming up with ideas. 

One thing that struck both of us was a tester who said, “You can’t use it, if you don’t have it.” She was an avid user of stand-to-pee devices. She had even designed some on her own. She made the point, “If I forget it, or I can’t fit it in my backpack or bag, then how can I use it?”

We came back with a number of options. They were different shapes and sizes, but I will say from the beginning we wanted it to fit in a back pocket or the side pocket of a backpack. We sent the prototypes out, got more feedback, then did a final round as we refined the design more. 

How cool that you worked so closely with a team of testers.

We’re so grateful to that community. Not everyone is comfortable talking about the process of urinating. Like, did you pee on yourself? Did you test in the shower? Was it comfortable to push against your body? These are personal questions. 

This team was unbelievably generous in what they were willing to talk to us about. Because you really can’t design something for people if they’re not willing to get into the nitty gritty of the experience! [Laughs] And it’s a private experience. But they shared that experience, and that lead to this product, which has been helpful for so many people. 

Love to hear about all those women being involved! On my end, I’ll say you guys did a great job, because I used it correctly on my first try. I’m pretty experienced with these things and that’s my test: can I do it on the first try? And the GoPee, no problem. 

Wonderful! Love to hear that! Having tested a lot of them too, there were some that I was never successful with. There were others where the opening was wide enough that I knew I’d always be successful. There are many different bodies and different uses for an STP, so we were making sure it would work for everyone.

So for you personally—I’m guessing the answer is yes—but is this the stand-to-pee you use when you go hiking, or when you go out into nature? And how has it made a difference for you?

Yes! It is the one I use. I had never used a device before the project started. I was happy to squat above toilets or outside. It never dawned on me to try one. Then, I went through testing all of them, and there were some I really liked, so I was converted during the process of learning about them. 

But I never carried one regularly until we came out with the GoPee. I realized, “Wow. I can just have this in my bag, always. I can have an extra one in the car, always.” I just always have it with me. So yes, camping, backpacking, hiking, all of that. I use the GoPee all the time! 

I’ve also found new uses for it that I didn’t imagine. I went to a concert in Golden Gate Park, waited in line for the Port-o-Potty, had the GoPee in my pocket, and then could walk right in and go. It was the easiest experience in a Port-o-Potty I ever had! [Laughs] I didn’t have to touch anything I didn’t want to. I was in and out in a few seconds. 

Like you said, it’s a good device to use if you’re worried about spilling or leaking; I have full confidence in the GoPee. When you’re outdoors, maybe if you spill, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but when you’re at a concert, you really don’t want to accidentally get pee on yourself! I didn’t have any problem. I’ve used it on airplanes. I’ve used it at concerts. I’ve used it in coworking spaces, just because I find it so easy to use. 

So, it’s become a part of my life more than I ever could have imagined! [Laughs]

I’ve talked to different people who manufacture these devices, or who promote their use, and one thing that comes up is that some people don’t like them! There’s pushback, there is the idea that it’s unfeminine, or that it’s not important and not worth investing time and money in. Have you guys encountered that at all at humangear, or has it been pretty smooth sailing for you?

It’s actually been very smooth sailing. When you mentioned that, I was like, “Ooof, I’m not surprised, because in the world we live in, sometimes people don’t understand and accept other people’s needs and experiences.” But it’s a product that has existed in the outdoor industry for a while. So, in terms of outdoor enthusiasts, they may be more familiar with STPs. 

It’s a product that is about inclusivity. It’s trying to make an activity easier or possible for people. I hope that the more the word gets out about how useful STPs are, people will support them more and more. 

The feedback we’ve received has been really positive, and I’m so happy about that, and I hope that that’s the trend we see going forward.

On that note, have you heard from people who have benefited from the GoPee? 

Yes! That, I think, is one of the most exciting things: when you work on a product for the first time, this intimately, and then you find out that it’s changing people’s lives. humangear’s core missions is—I mean, the company has “human” in the title for a reason—designing products that are evolved and sustainable to improve human lives. When I get an email from another human saying, “Oh my gosh, this has changed something for me,” that’s incredible.

One email that I think of immediately was somebody who said, “I have a disability. I have always had to wait for the wheelchair-accessible restroom. This product has made it so I can use any bathroom. So, I no longer have to wait for the disabled stall.” They said, “This has been a complete game-changer in my everyday experience.” That was amazing to hear!

Another story, which is in a completely different realm, was somebody who wears cosplay costumes. She went to a cosplay festival in costume and said, “I had no idea how I was going to pee because this costume would take me so long to get off!” The GoPee was the answer. She was able to go the whole day at the festival and pee whenever she needed to. 

So, there have been really positive stories from a wide variety of people. And I love that.

Are there any misconceptions about the GoPee, or about pee funnels in general, that you’ve encountered? 

There are these fold-lines on the GoPee, because of the origami. People have been concerned that the GoPee will eventually tear. We test our products extensively, but we also support all our products with a lifetime warranty. So, we have full confidence that a GoPee will last a lifetime! 

The other misconception is that it’s going to take too long to put it together. But I think, like you said, you put it together for the first time and you’ll see it’s actually easy. The back button on it, you don’t ever actually have to undo, unless you’re washing it. So, it’s really a few moves to unfold it and use it. [Editor’s note: you can undo the back button to hook the GoPee to a carabiner.]

On the subject of the GoPee being hard to assemble, I tested all of these devices when I really had to pee (because there’s no point testing it when you only kind of need to pee), and that was one thing I was specifically looking out for. Can I assemble this quickly if I really have to go? And yes! It is a snap. The other thing I as curious about with the GoPee was, because it’s foldable, was it gonna go in my pants properly? No problem.

Wonderful. That was a conversation point with our testers: what kind of pants were you wearing? We were trying to get an understanding of yoga pants or sweat pants versus jeans or slacks. That’s another benefit of the GoPee actually. The product was designed so the user can keep their pants higher in the back. Sometimes it takes a little adjusting with your pants to get them open enough in the front but still high enough in the back, but I find with GoPee I can do that easily. [For more on pee funnels and clothing, see our Clothing page.]

Do you have any concluding thoughts about the GoPee, humangear, or stand-to-pee devices?

Stand-to-pee devices are great, and I’m so happy that you are trying to bring awareness to them. Since what a person may want out of a pee funnel can be unique, it’s a good that there are many on the market. 

I’m really proud that the GoPee is an STP that can be used by so many different people, in so many different environments. From the emails we’ve received and the reviews online, it’s always delightfully surprising the places people have used them. “I used this on the trail. I used this when we were white water rafting. I used the GoPee in a tent at night so I didn’t have to go outside. I peed into a bottle.” The compact size and the rigidity of the GoPee makes it so great in so many different situations. 

I think it comes back to the idea I mentioned: “You can’t use it, if you don’t have it.” Having something that can be so compact makes it so much easier to have in your daily life. That’s a big reason why this is the stand-to-pee device I use. 

Thanks Katrin! You can get a GoPee here, or check out humangear’s main webpage. I describe the GoPee under Pee Funnel Reviews and What’s the Best Pee Funnel? Have something to say? Share Your Story!