This Gold's Gym club in Woodinville, WA, is a test site for Precor equipment. Photo courtesy of Gold's Gym Washington.

Fitness equipment manufacturers have plenty of ways to test a new product in the factory as it is designed, built and tweaked. But in the end, only real-world testing offers insights into just how well a product will stand up to the competition—not to mention the club and the end-users’ expectations.

As new products near the rollout stage, many manufacturers test them in partner clubs for anywhere from three weeks to six months to see how they stand up to the rigors of the commercial setting and the needs of members.

“By the time we put a beta unit into a partner facility, we are looking for anything we may have missed related to user interface issues, overall appearance and general client response,” says Jeff Dilts, director of product management at Star Trac, Irvine, CA.

Most manufacturers have compiled a lot of hard data on the products before testing them in partner clubs. Star Trac puts each product through thousands of hours of cycle and load testing and testing in the Star Trac showroom before sending it to a partner club, Dilts says.

Placing units in partner clubs helps fill in the blanks with more qualitative data to get a clearer picture of how the public responds to the product on many levels.

“We talk to members about their likes and dislikes, the features they choose to use and why, as well as how the new equipment compares to others in the facility,” says Adam Hubbard, director of product management for Woodinville, WA-based Precor. “We do this through informal conversation with members and staff as well as more formal focus groups designed to dive deeper into the member needs and how our products best satisfy them.”

Hubbard adds that the company finds out almost as much data through observation as it does through questioning club staff and users, which is part of the reason most companies work with clubs in close proximity to their manufacturing and R&D departments.

“Simple observation is also a hugely valuable tool,” Hubbard says. “Seeing how people use the products, where they place their towel and phone, etc., can provide vital information to inform the design of products.”

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