Research software focuses on sporting goods market
Qualitative data software analysis company QSR International, is helping manufacturers of sporting goods develop more athlete-friendly sports equipment and apparel, by helping them work out exactly what elite athletes want from their equipment.
Using QSR’s NVivo 8 software, sporting equipment designers are now able to get a much more detailed idea of whether a sporting prototype such as a new running vest, meets the exact needs of an athlete.
The software enables sporting goods companies to conduct research into a new product and analyse the findings much more comprehensively and quickly than before. It means sporting manufacturers’ brands are much more likely to appeal to their end users because their product can be tailored to their needs.
The software is currently being used by Progressive Sports Technologies Ltd - a sports innovation consultancy that specialises in the research and design of cutting edge fitness equipment for major global sports brands like Nike, Reebok and Speedo.
Progressive’s Research and Development team has been using the software to gauge athlete’s perceptions of new sporting equipment to be used at the highest level. Detailed interviews were conducted with 25 elite athletes across two countries. Each sportsperson was asked to describe their perceptions towards the different products.
All interviews were recorded, transcribed and entered into NVivo, which then grouped all the keywords and themes that the athletes were describing.
As Progressive’s Research and Development Engineer, Dr Jouni Ronkainen, explains “our data files had in the order of 50,000 words relating to the athletes’ product perceptions which had to be analysed. We couldn’t have done it without NVivo as it would have been an arduous task to try and evaluate this amount of data.”
QSR International’s Chief Executive John Owen adds “in an industry where there is often pressure to develop a product that meets the needs of its target market in a short timeframe, NVivo is helping sporting manufacturers speed up the research process by helping to sort and evaluate customer feedback.”
Progressive Sports Technologies Ltd is a Loughborough University spinout company, located in the $35 million state-of-the-art Sports Technology Institute (STI) at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.
Formed in 2001, Progressive itself has a complete research and development offering combining several discrete yet complimentary areas of expertise. Its aim is to provide comprehensive turn-key innovation and new product development services to the sporting goods and associated sectors. Key areas of expertise include pure research, concept generation, scientific product validation, product and graphic design, prototype generation, and multi-media communication. Progressive is currently working on consultancy and development projects for several global brands including Nike, 220 Triathlon magazine, Canterbury Rugby, Reebok Fitness, UK Sport, Clarks, Dow Corning, Spalding USA, Umbro and PepsiCo. Projects range from the scientific testing and investigation of applications of new products, through to innovation, design and development of new ready for manufacture products for external collaborators and for internal patent protection.
QSR International is the world’s largest qualitative research software developer and has offices in North America, Europe and Australia. More than 400,000 users in 150 countries use QSR software, from universities, government bodies and market research agencies, to tourism, urban affairs and human resources professionals. NVivo 8 allows users to upload and analyze video, audio, images and text side-by-side. Users can organize and classify thousands of pieces of information; examine complex relationships in the data; and, combine subtle analysis with linking, shaping and searching. Professional models and charts can also be created, and NVivo project files and results can be shared via mini websites – even with those who don’t have NVivo. While data in any language can be imported into and analyzed in NVivo 8, users can choose to work with English, French, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese or Japanese interfaces.
For more information go to www.progressivesports.co.uk
