Nike+ with iPod Nano
An
article in the July 2009 issue of
Wired magazine describes the growing popularity of a running training aid system from Nike. The system, called
Nike+ (wiki page
here) consists of an electronic sensor that attaches to a runner’s shoe; the sensor feeds data to a storage device, the Nike SportBand, or an Apple iPod fit with a small receiver. The system records running duration, pace, and distance data which can then be uploaded to a website allowing for goal setting, tracking, and comparison with other users of the device. Since the introduction of the product in 2006 1.2 million runners have collectively logged more than 130 million miles. Friendly competition and challenges such as
fastest 5 miler or
first to 50 miles this month type contests amongst groups of users has proliferated. What is behind the device’s popularity? The article cites a famous study performed at Western Electric’s Hawthorne manufacturing plant in Illinois in 1920. Management, trying to discover the most favorable work environment, changed various working conditions (length of breaks, lighting, etc.) measuring performance after each change. After an initial improvement in work performance with the first change, the new higher performance continued with each subsequent change including surprisingly a change back to the original conditions. What Hawthorne managers had discovered is that the motivating factor driving the performance increase was that the workers knew their performance data was being measured and recorded. The effect is now known in Sociology as the
Hawthorne effect. Nike is capitalizing on this effect which seems to have a particularly strong influence on athletes and fitness buffs.
I can personally attest to the motivating effect of competition and knowing that I am or will be measured. › Continue reading
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