Activewear for older women who exercise regularly: A product development approach

Active sportswear for older women is expected to represent a substantial and durable market because of the increasing number of older women engaging in regular physical activity. It is important to recognize and respond to the latent demand of active mature women on sportswear. This research applied a theory of user-oriented product development by Rosenblad-Wallin (1985) to develop a prototype of an exercise top for 20 older women aged 55 or over. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted to identify participants' demands for active sportswear. Content analysis yielded 23 functional and symbolic values. They were subsequently reduced to 10 essential values, from which design features and textile properties were derived. The final design was selected by the participants. The prototype went through a two-week wear test followed by individual interviews. The results showed that a majority of the participants were satisfied with the prototype in general and the fulfillment of essential values. The prototype provided a fairly comfortable thermal state during exercise. Participants valued functional values much more than symbolic values. They were also slightly more satisfied with the fulfillment of essential functional values than that of the essential symbolic values. Participants' body measurement data also confirmed that ASTM D5586 captured the anatomical characteristics of older women.