Nike Pace Station
Studies* have shown that running with music can improve performance by increasing your heart rate and lowering your perceived level of exertion. What if running with music could also help you maintain your goal pace while providing the motivation that you need?
Proving the Concept
Nike Pace Station was a concept that was inspired by video games like Dance Dance Revolution and Rock Band. It took the idea of matching one’s physical movement to the beat of the music. Before pitching the concept, we needed to prove out this hypothesis.
Before going out for a run, I created a playlist of arbitrary songs, all with a similar BPM (beats per minute). I then imported the songs into a Spotify playlist and then went out for a run using the Nike+ Running app. Here’s what came out of that experiment.
From Van Halen to Jay-Z, the pace curve stayed steady throughout the entire run.
Design
We wanted to keep the experience simple and familiar, similar to existing 3rd party integrations in the app, i.e. iTunes. As for starting a run with Nike Pace Station, it was as easy as setting your desired pace, selecting your genre and hitting the start button.
Connecting to Spotify Premium prior to using Nike Pace Station.
Starting a Pace Station Run.
Results
Pace Station gave a new dimension to the Nike+ Running App by enabling runners of all levels to experience a one-of-a-kind opportunity to tap into the world's largest music library of more than 30 million songs to create playlists that directly helped them run their target pace. Nike+ Pace Station launched to several million active users on the Nike+ Running iOS App in July 2015, and is used every day around the world by Nike+ runners with a Spotify premium account. Nike is now one of the most followed brands on Spotify, with more than 700,000 followers on just the Nike+ Run Club account, and Pace Station continues to help runners of all levels everywhere run their target pace and set new goals.
Further Reference
Nike+ Running Delivers New Ways to Motivate More Runners through Music (Nike.com)
Nike+ Running app soundtracks your morning jog with Spotify Tunes (Engadget.com)
How does music aid 5KM of running? (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research)
