{"id":10265,"date":"2021-08-13T04:10:02","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T04:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outer-space.co\/?p=10265"},"modified":"2024-05-01T06:05:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T06:05:27","slug":"the-fitness-product-development-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outer-space.co\/the-fitness-product-development-race\/","title":{"rendered":"the fitness product development race"},"content":{"rendered":"
Fitness products and systems vastly improve the way sports are played. They enhance and support audience participation, well-being and a healthy lifestyle. New sports technologies are improving enjoyment, accessibility, athletic performance, safety and gameplay in sport and recreation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Product development in sport and fitness can be as (seemingly) simple as designing the best jump rope<\/a> for crossfit, or as complex as engineering wearable tracking devices and underwater streaming headsets<\/a> for swimmers.<\/p>\n
From developing an apparatus to help train Olympic divers, to designing a system to allow wheelchair athletes easy access to a beach, product development for sport has broad applications.<\/p>\n
Sports \u2018tech\u2019 has always been around. People have been working to improve sporting equipment and performance since organized sport began. The difference today is the acceleration and rapid pace of product development, often paired with the technologies and expertise that make this possible.<\/p>\n
We now have more access to design thinking, engineering, miniaturized sensors and electronics, new battery technologies, computing power and data, at a lower cost than ever before. Significantly, recreation and sport as a pastime has grown and opened up profitable opportunities for businesses to find loyal followers through product differentiation.<\/p>\n
Product differentiation in sport and fitness is almost always aimed at improving a person\u2019s performance in a sport. No one wants to be left behind. Who would pay more for a golf club that doesn’t perform better or look as cool as the current model?<\/p>\n
Where there are people aspiring to do their best in a sport, there are financial incentives for founders and companies to improve the performance and appeal of sporting goods, technologies and systems to meet these aspirations.<\/p>\n
trends driving desire in sport and fitness products\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Sport and fitness product development is driven by increased access to data and computing power; lower costs of exotic materials (think titanium and carbon fiber) and lifestyle trends feeding a desire to improve personal sporting performance including at an amateur level.<\/p>\n
2020 was a massive year for investment in sport and fitness product development. The COVID19 pandemic disrupted many norms, and startups have found more investors are looking to find and develop the next Peloton or to reposition themselves in an altered and favorable consumer market.<\/p>\n
Equipment, hardware and wearable technology for athletes is hot. Product development in sport and fitness received a high proportion of funding in 2020. This continues into 2021. Investment in sport and fitness is accelerating. (Source: North American Sportstech Report 2021, sportstech.com)<\/em><\/p>\n
Sport and fitness investment is big globally, and over the period 2015 to 2020 the United States dominated investment. At close to $3.5b over that time period, the United States accounted for around 64 per cent of the total investment. (Source: Sportstechx Fitnesstech Report 2020)<\/em><\/p>\n
In the US from 2016 to 2020, California, New York and Massachusetts dominated sport and fitness investment, followed by Utah, District of Columbia, Washington, Ontario, Texas, Florida and Colorado.<\/p>\n
In California, the combination of a large population, a thriving technology industry, entrepreneurial spirit and favorable climate, combine to create many opportunities for product development in sport and fitness.<\/p>\n
passion and experience in sport and fitness<\/strong><\/h3>\n
We share a passion for sport and the development of innovative products for sportstech. The focus on keeping ourselves fit and our participation in sport translates directly to create winning results for our clients in sportstech.<\/p>\n
We couple our enthusiasm for participation in sport and keeping fit, with proven design and engineering expertise in the development of wearables for sport, ruggedized sport and fitness products and electronic sportstech products<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Our sport and fitness clients have a deep experience and passion for the fitness-related problems they\u2019re looking to solve. They are often successful tech founders, established companies seeking to reinvent their product line-up, professional sports people, medical professionals or amateur enthusiasts with years of experience in a sport.<\/p>\n
They provide the passion, expertise and insight for projects. We work with this passion and provide the skills and technical expertise to make their products happen. We partner with our clients, working closely with them as their design, engineering, manufacturing and launch team.<\/p>\n
When clients reach out to us they have either started to develop their own prototype or have developed a sportstech product before. They\u2019re at a stage where they understand what they want to create, but need a team to take on the development or refinement of their idea<\/a>. They need a team to bring their idea to a level where they can seek more investment or take it directly to market.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
providing clarity with a minimum viable product<\/strong><\/h3>\n
We start sportstech projects with an exploration and architecture phase to make sure we understand the problems we\u2019re trying to solve and any unmet needs. We clarify the technologies and materials required, and the strategies we need to follow to successfully develop the product. This establishes the architecture we use, the parameters we need and the timelines required to build a product<\/p>\n
Understanding and agreeing on these aspects early in a project, means less rework and heartache later on. I often say the first phase allows us to \u201ceffectively measure twice so we only cut once\u201d.<\/p>\n
Clarifying what the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) will be or developing a product Version 1.0 is the next important step. We define the key elements that will set a product apart from its competitors. A clear brief is key here, to focus on the most important elements of a product. An MVP answers the question, \u201cWhat does my product need to be successful in the market?\u201d versus adding every nice-to-have product feature in the first release.<\/p>\n
partnering design and engineering capability ensures efficiency<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Sportstech device development can get complex – fast. Development often requires expertise across industrial design<\/a>, mechanical engineering<\/a>, electronics<\/a>, firmware<\/a>, software development and systems.<\/p>\n