It may look nice but is it cool?

How on earth do you design and build a product for the 7 to 15 year old market and get it right? How can it satisfy the needs of a consumer group who wouldn’t leave the house if they had the wrong trainers on?

The Freerider

“It has to be cool, real cool!” Says Liz Bright, European Sales & Marketing Manager for SMP Playgrounds.

SMP recently embarked on the design, development and launch of an innovative bit of kit that would be seen as the ‘must have’ and ‘must ride on’ fashion accessory in the modern playground. Freeride was born.

Today’s kids are very fashion conscious, which is why SMP had to understand that to get them outside and active required some pretty inspiring ideas; ideas that mimic their daily interests and real life aspirations.

Before the design process begins, SMP conducts an extremely in-depth piece of consumer research into the interest market for the relevant age group. In the case of Freeride the basic concept came pretty quickly. The final process is the focus group when the target audience is asked to comment – basically asking the kids in the intended age bracket to pick their favourite design and to state why: what interests them, what they like and more importantly what they don’t like.

The Freeride is packed with challenges and it takes a degree of skill to get the hang of the concept. This makes it cool and it is also the type of ride that a parent may try and not quite get the hang of. This is also cool!

The double set of handles on Freeride means you can really give it some welly while holding on tightly. The ride board was tested so that the foot stance is similar to a snowboard and that makes getting it going easier. It’s a good size so you can actually get two kids on the board together and if they just want to hand around the ride board is comfortable to just sit and rock while chatting.

The ride board moulding is made from roto-moulded polyethylene, this is certified to the EN1176 swing impact test (the maximum impact force allowed within the test is 50G’s, Freeride tested at approximately 20G’s). It can be replaced by unbolting it from the inset steel frame and costs just £120 as a spare part. The chains, shackles and iolite bearing are the same specification as standard SMP swing chain assemblies and the swivel component reduces wear on the shackles and ensures a smooth ride.

The NEXUS Freeride is part of a successful range of NEXUS products which fuses organic forms with a raw architectural style, promoting action and excites imagination.

For further information please contact SMP Playgrounds on 01784 489 100 or sales@smp.co.uk

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