SERVICE:  Contextual design research for new product development

CLIENT:  STX Lacrosse

With sports injuries on the rise, STX asked us to study how lacrosse players play the game and to look for ways to help them reduce injuries.

Often the best way to research new ideas for product development innovation is to study them in context. For STX , we went to games and studied videotapes of player collisions. We talked with coaches and medical specialists and got insight into how we could make the equipment more protective. And, we also talked with players who told us that while protection was important, they were also concerned with comfort and how the gear looks.

From this data we came up with new ways to design the gear with better protection while also making it lighter, more flexible, and cool enough so the players would wear it. STX was pleased with the innovations we added to their product development, and for our efforts we won a 2001 IDEA Gold Award.

>> Learn more about the protective gear we designed for STX.
>> Learn about our other Research Services.