Data can be both a science and an art. For companies in the pet industry that are bringing new technologies to pet owners for their pets, this is important to remember because not everyone looks at data the same. What a data analyst reads from software producing analytics about pet health and data may not mean the same or even be understood clearly by a pet owner without analytics experience. Because Fi has a specific audience of pet owners looking to keep better track of their pet’s fitness, location, and health, they needed to find a way to turn data science into an art. Through an effort to create data visualizations that are easy to understand in their app, they can help pet owners see and track this data for their pets. Fi has done a great job creating data visualizations in their app that allow their audience to easily view, interpret, and track their dog’s health habits.
Steps and Activity Tracking
To an analyst at Fi, tracking a dog’s steps and activity can give them first-hand data that will help them learn about breed trends so that they can share ideal step goals that pet owners should aim for with their pets based on age, gender, size, weight and other aspects of their specific pet. They can then turn this data from being “science” to “art” and find creative ways to use bar charts that are easy to interpret for a pet parent to track the steps their dogs are taking day to day or week to week and make sure they meet those goals that they set for their dog to help get pets to a better fitness regimen.
Sleep Monitoring
Fi’s app also allows you to analyze your dog’s sleep. It can look at the science behind the data to see when your dog is sleeping deeply or just napping lightly. They can see when there are interruptions in the pet’s sleep and share this information in the app with their customers, which the owner can then use to track and show their vets if they notice that their pet is having issues with their sleep. This could be a sign of emerging health issues, and their app ensures that customers won’t miss anything when it comes to their pet’s health.
Keep Your Dog in Shape
The Strain Score metric inside the app helps Fi customers balance a dog’s activity. This way, an owner can ensure a healthy balance between the pet’s activity, rest, and sleep for their breed. If this data was viewed by a customer the way the analysts at Fi see it, they may not understand how to find the data specific to their breed, and you cannot compare a small-breed dog fitness regimen to a large-breed dog regimen. You would need to know data based on your breed to better understand what good health looks like for your pet. This is another way that Fi has used their easy-to-navigate app to help their pet parents provide better care for their pets.
Series 3 Live Tracking
The most important feature that I personally find to be an amazing addition to Fi’s dog collars is the ability to live track your pet. Sometimes, pets can be startled or see something that they want to chase after, and this can lead to them slipping out of a harness. As the website states, “When your dog is lost, every second counts. Series 3 offers instant live tracking on GPS in lost dog mode so that you can track your dog’s every move.” This is a feature that can bring comfort to every pet owner. The app can show the customer a map, and they can easily see what street their pet is on, track them down, and recover them quickly.
As we can see, Fi has done a great job turning the science of their data into an art through their products and app. The ability to track a pet’s data and use this type of technology to share the science behind that data in a visually appealing way with pet parents allows pets to get better care. It also allows shared access between pet owners and dog walkers so that everyone can see a dashboard and the pet’s data can always be up to date. This will allow owners to catch on to health issues faster if signs should appear and alert health care professionals if needed.
