So RMIT started a research contract with Mizuno a couple of years ago to basically look at how Mizuno running shoes perform as compared to other popular running shoes in the market. The definition of performance in this study was not purely from a technical point of view but it was also about how users (your average everyday runner) feel about wearing the shoes. This is what is known as Kansei engineering and as defined in Wikipedia, it is the development or improvement of products and services by translating
customer's psychological feelings and needs into a product's design parameters.
Here's a video that encapsulates the idea of the project:
Recently, Pat (one of the guys in the video) who is in charge of the project needed a bunch of people to do some actual running shoes evaluation and I was approached to be one of the participants. The tests involved include: 1. Running on a treadmill and giving initial thoughts and feel about the pair of shoe I was running in; 2. Force plate measurements of foot strike and traction; 3. A user survey about how my overall feel of each pair of shoes. The easiest test to do was actually the force plate measurements because it didn't require me to think, I only had to go through the motion. It was the survey and giving of my feedback about how each pair of shoes felt when I was running on the treadmill that kinda had me stumped. But thankfully I got the hang of it by the third pair of shoes, which is pretty much halfway through the tests because each tester only tested 5 pairs of shoes.
Those 5 different shoe models included 2 pairs of Mizuno, 1 Asics, 1 Brooks and 1 Nike. Other than Mizuno which is the reason for this tests, the rest were considered the more popular running shoe brands based on surveys that were done earlier on. Personally, I have owned two of the popular brands, namely Asics and Nike (not the same models as these ones of course). Anyway, before I did this test, my opinion was that Asics made better running shoes - they were not only durable, they ran well. On the other hand, Nike ran pretty well too and they usually look good but they were definitely not as durable. As for the other running shoe brands, I never really bothered to try them for whatever reason.
By the end of the testing session, I was quite surprised to come to a conclusion that my favorite pair (among the 5) was the Brooks. This is in terms of the level of cushioning, traction, the fit of the shoe on my feet, how it feels when I run in them and other psychological factors. The next in line of my preference would be one of the Mizunos, followed by the Nike, then the other Mizuno design and finally the Asics. I never thought I would rank Asics last but I did, and this was mainly possible because I could try 5 different pairs of shoes within a short period, actually run in them on a treadmill (for a couple of minutes) and had to be objective about them.
Which means, the only reason I had stuck to Asics and Nike was purely due to the perception I had of their shoes; and this is probably the effect of marketing. I mean, I am not saying Asics & Nike shoes are not good but its just that based on my running style and preferences, the Brooks actually feels better. So this evaluation is mostly about personal preferences.
Very enlightening. Don't trust marketing all the time. They lies!
The sweet thing about participating in this evaluation (other than finding out what's my preferred shoe) was that I scored myself a pair of Brooks! Yeah, Pat was kind enough to give away the shoes since he was done with testing them. So now I can really try running in them. It should be good since I tested them.
Here's a video that encapsulates the idea of the project:
Recently, Pat (one of the guys in the video) who is in charge of the project needed a bunch of people to do some actual running shoes evaluation and I was approached to be one of the participants. The tests involved include: 1. Running on a treadmill and giving initial thoughts and feel about the pair of shoe I was running in; 2. Force plate measurements of foot strike and traction; 3. A user survey about how my overall feel of each pair of shoes. The easiest test to do was actually the force plate measurements because it didn't require me to think, I only had to go through the motion. It was the survey and giving of my feedback about how each pair of shoes felt when I was running on the treadmill that kinda had me stumped. But thankfully I got the hang of it by the third pair of shoes, which is pretty much halfway through the tests because each tester only tested 5 pairs of shoes.
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| The boxes of shoes in the Sports Eng Lab |
By the end of the testing session, I was quite surprised to come to a conclusion that my favorite pair (among the 5) was the Brooks. This is in terms of the level of cushioning, traction, the fit of the shoe on my feet, how it feels when I run in them and other psychological factors. The next in line of my preference would be one of the Mizunos, followed by the Nike, then the other Mizuno design and finally the Asics. I never thought I would rank Asics last but I did, and this was mainly possible because I could try 5 different pairs of shoes within a short period, actually run in them on a treadmill (for a couple of minutes) and had to be objective about them.
Which means, the only reason I had stuck to Asics and Nike was purely due to the perception I had of their shoes; and this is probably the effect of marketing. I mean, I am not saying Asics & Nike shoes are not good but its just that based on my running style and preferences, the Brooks actually feels better. So this evaluation is mostly about personal preferences.
Very enlightening. Don't trust marketing all the time. They lies!
The sweet thing about participating in this evaluation (other than finding out what's my preferred shoe) was that I scored myself a pair of Brooks! Yeah, Pat was kind enough to give away the shoes since he was done with testing them. So now I can really try running in them. It should be good since I tested them.
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| New shoes! |
