After finalizing the general R&D plan for the new smartphone, Chang You made separate phone calls to Guo Licheng, the head of Tuoguan Fitness, and Wang Xiaobin, the head of Shangyang Games, inviting them to OTTO Technology to discuss the smart fitness drying rack project together.
Normally, when Shangyang Games developed new games, Ye Zhizhou would be responsible. However, Ye Zhizhou had recently been on a business trip to Los Angeles and had just finished his compensatory leave. Moreover, he would need to return to Los Angeles for another trip to make up for his time off, so Wang Xiaobin temporarily took charge of Shangyang Games’ R&D work.
Although this smart fitness drying rack sounded rather nonsensical, Chang You didn’t dare take it lightly.
After all, this was key work personally assigned by Mr. Pei, involving collaboration between three critical departments. If poorly executed, it might affect Mr. Pei’s future industry strategy, and failure could mean taking the blame.
With such fierce competition between departments now, Chang You didn’t want OTTO Technology to fall behind and lose face as the department head.
…
In the afternoon, Guo Licheng and Wang Xiaobin arrived.
Chang You led them to the conference room and briefed them on Mr. Pei’s instructions regarding the smart fitness drying rack.
Guo Licheng and Wang Xiaobin exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in each other’s eyes.
What on earth was this bewildering product?
A drying rack with fitness functionality?
With a dedicated game to go with it?
If this were some gag product, that would be understandable – produce a few units for curious users, get some viral press coverage, and accept the loss.
But based on Mr. Pei’s tone, he seemed to place special importance on it!
Did that mean this drying rack was a legitimate commercial product? Intended for mass production?
If they wanted mass production, they’d have to think carefully about profitability. Otherwise, having three departments collaborate on a product only to lose money would be tremendously embarrassing!
Chang You looked at Guo Licheng: “Coach Guo, you’re the fitness expert here. While this product needs our and Shangyang Games’ involvement, it’s fundamentally a fitness product. Why don’t you share your thoughts first?”
Guo Licheng rested his chin on his thick arm. The sight of this muscular man thinking looked somewhat comical, though his expression remained serious and focused.
“Actually, in the fitness industry, ‘drying rack’ is a fairly common joke. Whether it’s treadmills, exercise bikes, ellipticals, or weight benches – any home fitness equipment often can’t escape becoming a drying rack.”
“It’s mainly because people lack the environment and atmosphere for working out at home, and most people’s enthusiasm lasts only three minutes. It’s hard to maintain. These things take up space, so many people use them to hang clothes or dry linens. But once they’re being used for drying, people don’t want to exercise, creating a vicious cycle.”
“Using this joke as a name could actually win over many fitness users and help with our initial marketing.”
“Mr. Pei’s contrarian thinking… I really admire it. I believe Mr. Pei’s design actually leverages users’ psychological reactance to motivate them to exercise.”
Chang You asked: “So what form do you think this product should take?”
So far, Chang You still lacked a clear concept of this smart fitness drying rack. Should it be a stand, or hang from the ceiling? Should it have folding or expandable features? Should they add a small fan to dry clothes and cool users down?
With such a vague concept and Mr. Pei providing no design details, Chang You struggled to visualize the product’s specific form.
As a professional fitness trainer familiar with various equipment and knowledgeable about fitness, Guo Licheng should be able to extract order from these scattered functions and requirements, identifying the product’s key elements.
Guo Licheng continued thinking carefully: “Mr. Pei clearly stated this smart fitness drying rack would primarily be used at home. That means it’s targeting individual consumers, not commercial gyms…”
Wang Xiaobin interjected: “Uh, Coach Guo, that’s not necessarily true.”
Like other departments, Shangyang Games had mandatory fitness quotas, and as the department head, Wang Xiaobin needed to lead by example, giving him some understanding of fitness.
Guo Licheng didn’t dismiss Wang Xiaobin’s opinion despite his greater fitness expertise, asking earnestly: “How so?”
Wang Xiaobin considered his words: “I think Mr. Pei’s approach covers both, just with different priorities.”
“As fitness equipment, commercial gyms are certainly one of our target customers. But commercial gyms are slow to update equipment, and established fitness equipment brands are hard to challenge. Starting with commercial gyms would face huge difficulties and resistance.”
“Tuoguan Fitness is an exception, but it still has a very small market share.”
“So Mr. Pei first focuses on the ‘home fitness’ scenario. Ordinary people rarely buy large commercial fitness equipment due to space constraints. At most, they get treadmills, ellipticals, weight benches, and dumbbells. Currently, there’s no high-profile, dominant brand in this category.”
“If our smart fitness drying rack wins over regular consumers and builds brand recognition, we can naturally sell it to professional gyms too.”
Guo Licheng nodded: “Exactly. Mr. Pei uses home fitness as a starting point, but as a smart fitness product, once it gains popularity, it can be sold to commercial gyms too.”
“However, this doesn’t change my initial assessment. Home fitness remains the foundation – if we can’t satisfy that, everything else is meaningless.”
“For home fitness scenarios… I think these points are crucial.”
“First, safety, stability, reliability. This needs no explanation. Fitness equipment involves steel cables and iron weights that can cause injury if misused. Materials must be solid and reliable, and the design must eliminate any safety hazards.”
“Second, space requirements.”
“Home fitness equipment sells poorly largely because it takes up too much space. Those buying fitness equipment are usually young people concerned about their physique, but they often have limited finances.”
“Most of our target demographic lives in small spaces without room for dedicated fitness equipment. This is why many people use fitness equipment as drying racks.”
“So our smart fitness drying rack must save space, ideally with foldable or retractable features. We should design it primarily for ‘balcony’ use.”
“Third, sustainability and entertainment value.”
“Exercise is inherently difficult to maintain. Tuoguan Fitness’s success partly stems from its enforcement – forcing users to meet training time requirements and eat balanced fitness meals. This mandatory aspect helps users persevere and achieve results.”
“But home workouts lack supervision, making it easy to slacken off. Home environments naturally encourage relaxation – once you’re on the couch, exercise thoughts disappear. Compared to gyms, maintaining consistency at home is much harder.”
“That’s why Mr. Pei wants smart features and a dedicated game from Shangyang Games. It’s to improve sustainability and entertainment value for home workouts!”
Chang You and Wang Xiaobin listened intently, nodding in agreement.
Indeed, as a professional fitness trainer, Guo Licheng easily analyzed the deep implications and fundamental principles behind Mr. Pei’s seemingly nonsensical “smart fitness drying rack.”
Chang You asked: “Coach Guo, if you were designing it, what would this smart fitness drying rack look like?”
Guo Licheng continued thinking: “For home fitness that doesn’t take up much space, we definitely need to integrate multiple equipment types.”
“From a training perspective, strength training is definitely superior to cardio, so our smart fitness drying rack should prioritize strength training.”
Guo Licheng briefly explained the reasoning, and with Chang You and Wang Xiaobin both having fitness experience, they understood immediately.
Anyone with basic fitness knowledge knows that in most cases, strength training should precede cardio for optimal results.
Strength training, simply put, means weightlifting, while cardio includes jogging, cycling, etc.
Of course, individual body conditions vary, affecting training approaches. But generally, strength before cardio is the acknowledged best arrangement.
The main reasons: cardio first affects strength training performance, while strength first actually enhances cardio benefits.
Doing cardio first depletes glycogen stores, potentially hindering subsequent strength training performance and reducing muscle stimulation. Conversely, leading with strength training, despite glycogen depletion, prompts the body to use fat for cardio energy, improving fat-burning results.
Many women avoid strength training fearing muscle gain, sticking to treadmills only. This approach is inefficient. For those already thin wanting to maintain shape, it’s acceptable, but for weight loss and body shaping, it’s far less effective than proper strength training.
This is why Guo Licheng insisted the smart fitness drying rack should prioritize strength training.