Moasure case study
Designing Smarter Play Spaces
Learn how Moasure transformed playground planning for All Play
Related Industries:
Playgrounds
Houston, Texas
11-20 Employees
John Cole
Sales Manager
John Cole
Sales Manager
Houston, Texas
11-20 Employees
Moasure’s impact at a glance:
Measurement time saved:
95%
Favorite feature:
Speed and accuracy
Moasure user since:
2024
About All Play
When it comes to designing safe and engaging playgrounds, accurate measuring is non-negotiable, especially when you're navigating essential fall zones, elevation changes, and oddly-shaped, interlocking spaces. John Cole, Sales Manager and experienced playground installer with All Play, is also the Little Tikes Commercial Representative for a 33-county area in Southeast Texas. Moasure has completely changed the way he and his team work, both when planning new sites, adding new play zones, and maintaining existing ones. What once took John several hours to capture now takes minutes, and the results are safer, smarter, and more accurate.
The Challenge
Capturing Complex Playground Sites
John works in playground design and installation across the Lone Star State, where no two job sites are the same, each requiring a custom design. In addition to the actual play equipment, many playgrounds feature multiple different surfacing types, including wet-pour rubber surfacing, asphalt, loose rubber mulch, resin-bound stone, and bark chippings.
Accurately calculating the correct quantities of each of these materials using traditional measuring methods is no mean feat, especially when you add in curved edges and intricate spaces – this was a challenge that John faced on every single project he worked on. From sloped surfaces to irregular borders, and tight clearances between fixed structures, capturing accurate site data is critical – not only for design, but for safety.
“Playground equipment… each of these components has a fall zone, so we have to have, on average, six feet from every component clear of other equipment or obstacles.”
Traditionally, a simple rectangular area would be measured with a wheel, and that would be perfectly straightforward – but freeform areas weren't quite so easy. Capturing these spaces was a manual and time-consuming process for John and his team, often involving multiple tools, guesswork and repeated site visits. Some projects could take a full day just to measure, and this would eat into project timelines, as well as profit margins. On top of that, the team would then have to draw the measurement diagram out on return to the office, adding even more time to the project.
“The Moasure definitely saves money. When it comes to time – ultimately time is money – and spending less time out here allows us to be with more customers, get more playgrounds designed, and sell more playgrounds!”
The Solution
Moasure's Layered Approach to Accuracy
When John discovered Moasure in 2020, everything changed. After a colleague stumbled upon motion-based measuring and was impressed with how it worked, John decided to give Moasure a go too, and he hasn’t looked back since. The tool’s ability to measure around curves and arcs, navigate elevation changes, and work within confined or obstructed areas made it ideally suited to playground work. It didn’t take John long to get to grips with how Moasure’s motion-based measuring technology works:
“The learning process has been pretty intuitive. I think the biggest thing for me that was part of the process was to walk quickly. It was kinda different in that you’re thinking if you walk slower it’ll be more accurate, but it’s that balance of walking quickly and then setting it down easy.”
In addition to offering turnkey installations of brand-new parks, the All Play team also take on retrofit projects, where new equipment is incorporated into existing layouts. This adds another dimension to their measuring and design process, as the installation site is not a blank canvas, and other play equipment needs to be taken into consideration. For this application specifically, the Layers feature has been a game-changing addition to John’s Moasure device:
“The Layers feature is very useful when it comes to playground design, because if there’s an existing playground in the area, each playground has a use zone – if we’re trying to incorporate new playground equipment into an older playground, we’re able to measure out the old playground, which allows us to identify the use zone for that older equipment, and then we can get new equipment closer up to it, so it allows us to incorporate new equipment easily into a design.”
Even more valuable, is the ability to revisit past projects with confidence – instead of hunting through drawers and folders for manual drawings and measurements scribbled on scraps of paper, the Moasure app offers the ability to conveniently store all of your measurements digitally, neatly saved into organized folders, even without cell phone signal or Wi-Fi. It's even possible to add new layers to previously-saved measurement diagrams, integrating new play zones into existing layouts:
“I can look at that drawing, pull it up from months and years ago, and I know it’s accurate. So when it comes to redoing that playground down the road, we’ll use the same data.”
Moasure also integrates seamlessly into John’s design workflow – he utilizes the export PDF or JPEG functionality to transfer measurements out to Little Tikes Commercial’s proprietary software, Play Creator. The Moasure diagram is laid as an underlay in the software, and once that’s scaled out, play components can be dropped into the design:
“Once we’ve got everything in Moasure, we export it and bring it straight into our CAD software. That saves a ton of time – the layout is already done. All we have to do is drop in the new components.”
By replacing hours of manual measuring with minutes of precise, digital data capture, Moasure has given John and his team the ability to plan smarter, safer, and more creative playgrounds. From streamlining workflows, to maximizing every inch of available space, Moasure has become an indispensable part of All Play’s process, one that not only saves time, but raises the standard of every project.
“My favourite aspect of Moasure is just the speed at which you can measure a playground, and that it’s accurate. Ultimately, the least amount of time that you have to mess with measuring something out, get back to the office and start the design process, and then of course get the proposal out to the customer.”
“It’s very accurate – even if you had to walk around something, it doesn’t detect that, it just gives that point to point... it’s easy to use.”
The Result
Faster Surveys, Safer Designs
Using Moasure's motion-based measuring technology to capture new and existing playground sites, John and his team have significantly cut their measuring time, while simultaneously increasing the quality and accuracy of their designs. Their results are incomparable to what they'd produce using traditional methods, and where irregular shapes are concerned, it's safe to say that there's no going back.
“We were talking about the old way of doing it… we were either guessing to some degree or not maximizing the space. That’s the thing about it. We could get close, but not too close. But to actually maximize the space, Layers is invaluable.”
Moasure’s technology has advanced massively since John started using his Moasure ONE to streamline All Play’s playground design process, with several major app updates having been released in that time, as well as regular new tutorial and demonstration videos. These app updates are provided to all Moasure users completely free of charge, encompassing features such as Cut & Fill, Layers, and even the ability to automatically make volume calculations.
“The product has really developed over the years from the standpoint of the features that are available, from the layering aspect, which is extremely handy, and to the app itself, very intuitive. And then of course there’s all the instructional videos that you have access to, because there are some features you may not use quite as often, so those instructional videos allow us to get a refresher course.”
John now takes his Moasure device to every single site, and wouldn’t be without it. It’s not only a measuring device – it’s a conversation starter as well, with inquisitive kids quite often asking questions, and clients always intrigued to know how that pocket-sized device can capture so much useful information, accurately.
“Of course, customers are curious as well – I think we’ve probably recommended it 100 times for somebody to get a Moasure, it just depends on what they do.”
Moasure has also become a vital part of ensuring every play space meets safety standards, that access ramps are ADA compliant, and enabling easy leveling of sites with the ability to calculate volume:
“Every time we go out to a jobsite, we will use Moasure, because it ultimately… from the layout of the equipment and how it’s going to sit in the area, to accurately reflect what the customer’s gonna get, to even use it for elevations and volume on a project where we had to raise up, add dirt into an area to raise it up, that allows us to calculate the volume as well. Most of the time just for the actual layout.”
And when asked what John would say to anyone who thinks Moasure is just a gimmick?
“You must not actually need a good tool. If you talk to somebody that measures on a daily basis, you’ll know… it’s not just helpful, it’s essential.”
Scaling Smarter, One Playground at a Time
With two Moasure devices in the All Play team – one Moasure ONE and one Moasure 2 PRO – two teams can be out measuring for playground installation at the same time, reducing how long it takes to measure, and also saving time on drawing out designs back at the office.
“If you measure on a daily basis, you need a Moasure. The accuracy of it, the ease of it, makes it worth the money – every penny of it. I got the first one, the Moasure ONE, so we’ve been using it about five years now, and the accuracy of it is well worth it.”
As demand for playground installations continues to grow, Moasure is helping John and his team to keep up, without cutting corners. With his Moasure device in hand, John’s able to carry out faster site capture, and seamless design integration – he also has greater confidence in meeting safety compliance standards, which is a non-negotiable.
“Moasure lets us work smarter, not harder. We’re not just saving time, we’re building better playgrounds.”
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“It’s very accurate… even if you had to walk around something, it doesn’t detect that, it just gives that point to point. All of those features combined make it so accurate that it’s easy to use.”