Outdoor gym, test passed.
11 Mar 2026
In this moment:
Rosie Sherry
Gary Hawkes
I took my girls down to the park. They did a bit roller skating at the skatepark whilst I hung out at the outdoor gym.
I thought I'd riff following on from Gary's post on an outdoor gym failing tests. My use of the outdoor gym passed the test, at least for me.
I used each part of the gym, intentionally, just to think it through, to see if it worked. I could use them all, as a relatively fit and able bodied 47 year old. There was a cycling machine that was stiff, it was definitely in need of care and repair.
But I hadn't thought about the pathway to it until Gary's post, you catch a glimpse of it on the left hand side of the photo, there's basically a cemented pathway to the gym, which aids accessibility. It connects to the main pathway of the park.
My only commentary is that much of the equipment probably isn't very usable for those in wheelchairs. I can't help but think that some simple bars for more callisthenics exercise would be a really simple yet accessible thing to have. We don't always need fancy machines.
In both cases, the outdoors probably met the spec, but are they quality? π
By comparing the two, I definitely learned to have more of a sense of appreciation for the level of quality I am afforded with my local outdoor gym.
Maybe sometimes recognising quality is about levels of appreciation and exposure to enshittification.
I thought I'd riff following on from Gary's post on an outdoor gym failing tests. My use of the outdoor gym passed the test, at least for me.
I used each part of the gym, intentionally, just to think it through, to see if it worked. I could use them all, as a relatively fit and able bodied 47 year old. There was a cycling machine that was stiff, it was definitely in need of care and repair.
But I hadn't thought about the pathway to it until Gary's post, you catch a glimpse of it on the left hand side of the photo, there's basically a cemented pathway to the gym, which aids accessibility. It connects to the main pathway of the park.
My only commentary is that much of the equipment probably isn't very usable for those in wheelchairs. I can't help but think that some simple bars for more callisthenics exercise would be a really simple yet accessible thing to have. We don't always need fancy machines.
In both cases, the outdoors probably met the spec, but are they quality? π
By comparing the two, I definitely learned to have more of a sense of appreciation for the level of quality I am afforded with my local outdoor gym.
Maybe sometimes recognising quality is about levels of appreciation and exposure to enshittification.
Rosie Sherry
CEO & Founder at Ministry of Testing
She/Her
I've been working in the software testing and quality engineering space since the year 2000 whilst also combining it with my love for education and community. It turns out quality, community and education go nicely hand in hand.
π MoT-STEC qualified
Simon Tomes
Good test report and reflections. Thanks for sharing.
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