Bringing Pro-Level Performance
Data to Everyday Skateboarders
Client: Urban Sports Performance Centre
Industry: SportsTech / Consumer Sports
Service: UX/UI Design, Embedded Software, Electronics Engineering
Skateboarding doesn't lend itself to easy measurement. It's an Urban Sport, and Urban Sports are booming, with around 55,000 visitors a year at skateparks in North Brabant alone, but unlike a lap time or a heart rate, the things that matter most to a skater, height, speed, landed tricks, were always left to feel rather than fact.
Client and Goals
USPC had already developed SenSkate together with Imec Nederland, a smart skateboard fitted with sensors under and inside the deck, measuring foot placement, push-off force, balance, acceleration, and rotation during a trick. SenSkate proved the concept, but it was built for research, not for everyday riders. ACE Fitness
The goal of Skatrixx was to test the feasibility of a simplified, scalable version of SenSkate, with fewer sensors, designed for the consumer market, together with Belgian engineering firm Capetech. Rather than a research instrument, this needed to become a product: a single sensor and companion app that any skater could use, straight out of the box.
Challenges
The core design challenge was getting out of the way. Users needed to be able to place the Skatrixx sensor under their skateboard without it interfering with their tricks, and then skate completely unhindered. Any friction, weight, or awkward mounting would kill adoption before the product even got to the app.
On the software side, the challenge flipped. The combination of sensor and app needed to create a platform where skaters could track their own performance, speed, height, number of landed tricks. But raw performance data isn't naturally compelling to a recreational rider the way it is to an elite athlete. The app needed to let skaters see how high they went, how fast, attach scores to it, and compare their performance against other skateboarders, turning a solo sport into something social and competitive. The UX/UI challenge was making that comparison feel like fun, not surveillance: the design leaned heavily on gamification and clear, easy-to-read statistics.
SPINNOV’s Role
SPINNOV worked alongside USPC and Capetech to validate and develop the Skatrixx concept. Specifically:
Assessed the technical and economic feasibility of a simplified, scalable sensor system for consumer use
Designed the single-sensor hardware for unobtrusive mounting beneath a skateboard deck
Developed the companion app UX/UI, translating raw motion data into speed, height, and trick-count metrics
Built gamification elements into the platform, including scoring and rider-to-rider comparison
Optimised the system for everyday consumer use, distinct from the research-grade SenSkate platform it builds on
