Picture of woman sitting near a swimming pool

Sports users, we're watching you

(It's honestly for the good cause)

We design products for sports users. So it seems obvious to go and meet them and get their views and listen to them. Why? Because they are the first concerned

How do we go about observing sports users?

→ We take on board the reviews they've left on the website. Yes, all reviews, especially the negative ones, because these are the ones that help us improve our products. If they don't meet our customers' expectations, certain products are improved, or even withdrawn from sale.

→ We regularly meet our international teams. They know sports users' habits and needs, which are different in every country. A runner in Lille (France) doesn't equip themself the same way as a runner in Bangkok (Thailand), simply because the weather isn't the same.

→ Our sales assistants, product managers, designers and engineers get out and about.They're in the field detecting and analysing sports users' issues and needs. They then imagine products that meet these needs and facilitate sports practice, comfort, pleasure and safety. For example: It takes Michel 45 minutes to pitch his tent. You know what happens in the end!

Sports users & sporstmates: defining sports users' needs

After having observed sports users, we define the sportsmates.
What's this?Sportsmates are different types of sports users categorised according to several criteria: socio-professional categories, age, type, objectives, etc. In marketing jargon, we refer to “persona”.

We also categorise sports users according to their level of skill, frequency and where they do their activity: competitor or occasional sports user, alone or team player, outdoors or at home, etc.

Categorising sports users helps best meet everybody's needs. A competitor needs technical equipment to win and get on the podium, while an explorer wants durable equipment to explore the world. It's not the same thing!

Let's take an example to give you a better idea!

Quentin, 15 years old, has been sailing since he's 6 years old, he lives right next door to his sailing club, he's passionate about his sport and dreams one day of crossing the Atlantic.
Quentin needs high-performance and technical equipment.

Martin, 14 years old, is starting sailing, he only comes to his club in summer when he's on holiday at his grandmother's, to have fun on the water with his friends.
Martin needs to be reassured with comfortable and safe equipment

Did you know?

NOT JUST A PRODUCT, A COLLECTION!

We don't just make a product, but a collection of products.
What do we mean by collection? We design all the equipment (clothing, equipment, accessories, etc.) to be consistent for each sport's brand, and for each type of user (beginner, intermediate or advanced). It's a matter of appearance, but also the type of skill and use. Beyond the colours, a beginner's bike saddle isn't the same as that of an advanced user. And the same goes for the rest of the collection.

Throughout the product design, we call upon in-house and external sports user groups that match with our sportsmates. This helps us to better find out what their expectations and desires are, and meet their needs.

Style value & product consistency: meeting sports users' needs

To meet a sportsmates or personas' needs and preferences, the designer develops, in partnership with the product manager, a range of tools to create a range of products, in sync with world trends.We talk about style value (aesthetic aspect) and product consistency.

To ensure our departments are consistent, the products must also embody 4 values, shared by all our sports items and equipment:
→ SPORTY, because sport is our passion, and because we also want it to be yours.
→ ESSENTIAL, what you need, where you need, in all honesty.
→ FRIENDLY, because we want to spend good times together.
→ RESPONSIBLE, for everyone's safety and preserve our playground, the planet.

Spotlightingthe sportslab

OUR LAB ANALYSING THE SPORTSWOMEN AND MEN'S BODY

Next step:

The right product: a story about making the right choices

Designing a product is about making lots of choices while always trying to make the best ones. We're going to explain a bit more about our technical, sensory and aesthetic choices!