As Easy as Putting One Foot in Front of the Other
The new Nike+ Website
Over the holiday I had the pleasure of receiving a “Nike+ iPod Sensor” from one of my siblings. As always I broke it open within minutes of being handed the package and immediately began loading the software onto my laptop. How the system works, there’s a sensor in your shoe that sends data from your run to your iPhone (or iPod), which when synced with your computer, uploads the material to the Nike+ website.
Upon viewing the Nike+ site, I was thoroughly impressed at how intuitive and user friendly it was. Much like the fitness trends of today, people want results with minimal effort, and they want them NOW. Rarely does either goal occur, but Nike was able to cross the finish line for both, in impressive fashion. For starters, the site has a very futuristic feel to it. With its rounded corners, gradients that seem to go on for miles, and large, bulbous color fields, Nike is telling users that the days of logging miles in an Excel spreadsheet are over.
Counting calories and setting weight lose goal is easier than lacing up your sneakers
The site logs all the information from past runs, uploads them, and instantly spits back data for a plethora of different statistical uses. Calorie counting, exercising for a certain number of days, or even speed and pace patterns can all be reviewed with the click of a curvy, colorful, new-age tab. Exciting charts and graphics, which are updated in real-time, are used to motivate and sometimes, I admit, shame the users into continuing with training. Completely controlled by the user, you are able to set up goals and training programs geared to achieve the results that you find to be worthwhile. It helps to alleviate previous excuses of “running is boring” and “I don’t know how to train,” by leaving them in their dust.
Set up a coaching program in order to hit goals for the future.
As a runner I find the site to be pretty inspirational. Whether the results are good or bad, I get to interact with them and see where progress is being made. No longer do I have to log miles and workout information in a tattered and torn yellow legal pad. The data becomes an actual entity, which grows as I progress through training. The one potential drawback I could see occurring is that people may spend more time playing and exploring the system, rather than actually working-out. I, however, will be out running, and for once, I won’t have to re-gift something my brothers gave me for Christmas.
Leave a comment