Getting athlete evidence into a training wearable’s development sprints

The question

A sports brand and its technology partner were building a wearable that tracks a training session, responds to what happens in it and coaches the athlete through to the end.

The product team worked in development sprints, and each one needed evidence from athletes in time to shape it. Three questions ran through the program: how people would set the product up, how it would fit into everyday training, and what relationship they would want with a coach that is digital.

Our approach

Runners and cyclists in several countries trained with prototypes in their own routines, because a coach is judged across many sessions, never in one.

The research ran in stages matched to those three questions, from setup to everyday use to trust, and what we heard went to the product team as it came in, timed to the rhythm of its sprints.

What the team came away with

Evidence arrived at the pace of the sprints, while design choices could still change, in short updates the product team could read between builds.

A running list tracked every issue athletes met across the trial, so the team could see at any point which had been dealt with and which were still open as each new sprint began.

A final debrief brought the stages together into one account of the whole experience, from the first setup to everyday training with the coach, for everyone taking the product forward.

“They are a master communicator who can put the team at ease and also get things done.”

Senior Manager, Sports brand