Sep 19 2024
Being a member of the MESH01 Tester Community requires you to be passionate and willing to have fun!
For some, product testing is a passion. To give brands the feedback they need to make impactful decisions, the tester needs to be interested in both the product and the process. This is why MESH01 asks you to fill out an extensive profile when you sign up to be a member of the tester community. This allows them to pair you with brands that align with your interests and hobbies. This, by default, affirms that the feedback you provide will be relative and helpful.
I’m a tinkerer; the kind of person who likes technical things. I like to see how they work, what they’re made of, and what they can do for me. Then I look for areas of improvement, if there are any, by using the product in the environment it was intended to be used in. I am also an outdoor enthusiast who relies on the clothing, footwear, and gear I take into the outdoors. That’s probably why I was recruited for a Jetboil stove test in 2019 (long before I was hired as a MESH01 employee). As an early subscriber to the Jetboil style of camping stove, it was right in my wheelhouse.
That’s not what landed me the job here at MESH01. The two things are unrelated. That said, I wanted to share my experience as a MESH01 tester community member. It’s an experience like no other, as no one is concept and product testing the way MESH01 is.
In The Beginning
I grew up on an old family farm reading the notes my grandfather left behind in his workshop and shed. I was always a curious kid and needed to see how things worked. My grandfather’s notes taught me how to use tools and machines properly. They showed me how to service those machines so that they would keep running. I knew how to gap spark plugs before learning how to do multiplication. At eight, this led me to ruin a remote-controlled car my brothers bought me for Christmas.
Then came the world of Tech Ed in Middle School where I learned the basics of construction and house wiring. In seventh grade, I wired up two new outlets in my room. Using the money I made from doing odd jobs around the house and yard, I bought the tools and supplies I needed to build a small shed in our yard. My grandmother was both furious and proud.
Since then, anytime something went wrong and needed to be fixed, I just figured it out. When something needed to be built, I built it. That need eventually boiled over into a passion to modify everything. If I got a pair of hiking boots, I had to change out the laces right away. A new knife? I had to have a lanyard on it. Even my backpacks were toiled over. I once even sewed a hydration sleeve into a daypack. Heck, not being able to find the perfect knife for everyday carry and my outdoor life led me to start my own knife company so I could design and finance the production of that knife.
I’ll admit I am picky. But, as a customer and end-user, I expect things to look and perform above and beyond their intended capabilities.
My Brick and Mortar Days
Being a tinker in love with the outdoors, all the products associated with outdoor adventuring piqued my interest. Backpacks. Tents. Sleeping bags. This was the mid-90s. All of the major backpack brands had just started switching from external frame packs to internal frame ones. It was a whole different approach to backpacking and camping and I found myself knee-deep in the middle of it.
At the same time, I began working in a camping store. I took on the menial tasks of sweeping and taking out the trash. I was also tasked with reorganizing a backroom full of old bits and pieces of camping gear. From pack buckles to lantern generators and beyond, I would set myself up in that storage area every day after school, and if I wasn’t stocking shelves, I was going through all of these great parts that had been pushed aside as trends changed in the camping world.
Before I knew it, I was 18 with hair halfway down my back, listening to the Grateful Dead. I spend my days outfitting people to go hiking, camping, kayaking, you name it. I got close to so many products from The North Face, MSR, Princeton Tec, Old Town, Thule, Eureka, and Yakima (to name a few). In my spare time, I would toil over their product catalogs. I yearned to pick up on the unique aspects of their new products. Anytime there was a training clinic on those products, I made sure I went. I even started going along to meet reps to help pick out the products we wanted to carry in the store for the next season.
But it was Thule and Yakima that I embraced the most. I spent many days and nights standing on ladders in the parking lot of the store racking out vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Soon, the store started carrying spare parts so I could repair old and damaged racks. I was already carrying a knife and a Leatherman multitool but soon found myself carrying a Thule Tool in my pocket so I could be ready for the next rack install or repair.
Then I got a job working for Thule.
The Fit Viking
The late 1990s through the early 2010s was a big time for Thule. Not only had it been confirmed that they were designing and building some of the safest roof racks on the planet, but products like the Hull-a-Port, Hullavator, and even the X-Sporter, showed the world that they weren’t a one-trick pony. The products also excelled at dependability and ease of use. Desirable aspects that started with the initial installation and carried on throughout the life of the product.
I came in and worked as a Technical Representative for the West Coast and then the East Coast. Stores and field reps would call in and we would troubleshoot products, discuss new products, and keep everything flowing smoothly. When the phones were slow, I would tinker with whatever spare parts were lying around the office.
My tinkering caught the attention of a few people who saw that my skills could better be applied in product development and they graciously pushed to have me moved to that department. That resulted in me becoming the North American Fit Specialist. This was a job in product development that had me working with the product development process.
It was intense and wonderful. From 2007-2015, if you bought something from Thule, I most likely was part of the design team. If It was a base rack, I was the only person in North America designing, testing, and confirming that they fit your vehicle. Everything I did required hands-on interactions and using the products as intended. I would spend hours in our test area and out at car dealerships getting bits and pieces to work together, safely.
“Everything I did required hands-on interactions and using the products as intended.”
They named me the Fit Viking. Partially for the way I looked and for the job I was tasked with doing. I bridged the gap between marketing and product development. I taught all of our internal reps and field reps how to use our products. In the spring, different regional rep groups would have training clinics, and they had me tag along to help train what we called “the kids on the floor”. These were people who worked at different brick-and-mortar stores across the country that did what I did when I worked for Mickey Finn’s – they sold, installed, and maintained roof racks and accessories.
I loved sharing my passion for these products with the people who spoke my language. And they would share their feedback with me. I would bring this feedback to the table when we had concept and planning meetings. That information inspired some of the greatest changes in design and functionality and kept Thule at the top of the aftermarket roof rack brand rankings for years.
Same Dog, New Tricks
Engineering was something I never considered being involved in. I was perfectly content with sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm through sketches and long-winded diatribes in hopes that a certified engineer would catch what I was saying and run with it. But Thule wanted me to be less reliant on other people so that I could be both more efficient and impactful.
Unfortunately, changes in the company structure meant some changes for me, but I left Thule with a lot of knowledge about the product development process and automotive racks. However, I soon realized that the world of aftermarket automotive racks was a niche market. So, when I left Thule I was faced with either moving on from product development or turning my passion into something more potent.
This is when I taught myself how to be an engineer. I went to a few classes to help acclimate myself to SolidWorks, which is the 3D modeling software most companies use to design and prototype their products. My biggest hurdle wasn’t math and tolerances, but the interface. Once I got used to the menu commands, the building became easy. First I was making parts – then I was making complex models. Within a year of dedicating my time to SolidWorks, I became both a Certified Associate in Mechanical Design and then a Certified Professional.
But I didn’t do it just for the career advancement. I loved what I was learning. Now I knew what made things tick on a very detailed level. The product wasn’t in my hands, but I could interact with it and make changes on the fly.
So what did I do with this new talent?
I spent ten years honing it. At one point, I worked with a company designing medical carts. I also did a lot of consulting with companies in the outdoor product world, knife world, and even some stuff with the military.
During that time, I also became an active member of the MESH01 Tester Community.
Nick LeFort: MESH01 Tester Community Member Since 2014
Back when I was at Thule, I was given the opportunity to travel quite a bit. This allowed me to attend tradeshows and meet other people in the outdoor gear community. At some point, a friend of mine in the industry told me about MESH01 product testing. They said MESH01 was building a community of testers around a product testing platform that allowed those people to work directly with brands in designing new products. They were looking for new members who were passionate about the things they tested and who wanted to have some fun testing that stuff out.
It sounded good to me. When I got home, I signed up and filled out the extensive profile. It asked all the usual questions you would expect – contact info, and personal info, but it also took a deep dive into my activities. Instead of compiling a generic list of the things I liked to do, it asked me to answer questions like:
- The average duration of activity
- Intensity level
- Equipment Information
- Terrain Information
Each set of questions was curtailed to the particular activity as well. When I listed fishing, it asked me what kind of fishing I did and what kind of environment I did it in. The questions surrounding hiking went as far as to ask me the average weight of my pack. From the very beginning, it was obvious to me that the more I put into the profile, the more opportunities I would have to test products.
Over the course of the time when I was an active member of the tester community, I worked on the aforementioned JetBoil concept test. There was also a pretty lengthy tent survey. There were also a couple of great physical tests – one for Hoka and another for The North Face. These tests were both involved and rewarding. I had a sense that I was getting to experience something only a few people would be able to before the product hit the market.
The Product Development Cycle
Having worked closely with the product development cycle when I was at Thule as well as a couple of other companies gave me critical insight that no two companies developed a product the same way. However, they’re all looking for a way to determine that they have a successful product before it launches. They’re also eager to make any impactful improvements for product updates. Being a member of the MESH01 tester community helped me adapt to the needs of each brand as they worked through that process.
As a member of the tester community, the big ask was always for critical feedback. Brands are prepared to receive both positive feedback and recommendations where their product needs to be changed to meet the demands of their consumer. In fact, they expect it. The unique part of working with the MESH01 product testing platform is that you’re not just writing technical paragraphs to try and get a brand to understand your train of thought in the feedback you’re sharing. In some cases, you’re sharing photos of what you experienced. In other instances, you may be asked to focus on a particular aspect of the product. The whole process is finely tuned for each product and brand.
If I had to say one thing about the MESH01 platform and both the concept and product testing process is that it is streamlined and impactful. The more you give, the more a brand gets. I will also add that it can take time to be picked for a test. Do not get discouraged. Make sure your profile is robust and be patient.
Now It’s Your Turn
Working for MESH01, I am no longer an active member of the tester community. Looking back on it, it was a lot of fun. I never felt pressured to do anything and I knew my feedback was valuable to the brands asking for it.
If you’re enthusiastic about the products that you spend your money on – you might be the next great addition to the MESH01 tester community. With over 70,000 active community members, I can tell you that it’s diverse and welcomes people from all walks of life. You just have to want to participate.
As a MESH01 community member, you represent the customer for the brand you’re conducting a test for. You are picked for these tests because these brands feel that you’re going to provide honest and in-depth feedback to help them make critical decisions in their product development process. It’s free to sign up, all you need to offer in return is time.
If you think this is something you’d have fun doing, you can sign up here.
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