Contrary to popular belief, “data can be fun and emotional”, claimed Jawbone data scientist Brian Wilt on stage at the ADMA Forum this week.
Jawbone, which makes wireless speakers and fitness monitoring wristband UP, is using its data to create utilities that help people live better and he said for that, understanding the context of the data is important.
One example was tracking sleep patterns of users in Dubai and noticing a significant shift in June and July, without knowing that the context for the shift is that the Muslim country is celebrating Ramadan, which means staying up later to eat after dark, the data itself means nothing.
By connecting people’s caffeine intake with the sleep monitor function in Jawbone UP through its CoffeeUP app, Jawbone claims it is helping change people’s behaviour for the better. They are more aware of how much coffee they drink and the impact it has on their sleep and thanks to nudge functions and push notifications on the phone app, are encouraged to take action.
That’s when the reams of sleep and fitness and consumption data it has on users “becomes useful and interesting’” said Wilt.
It’s more useful that traditional sleep trials that have been used to study the effects of caffeine, he said. Trials tend to only survey tens of people in either unnatural clinical conditions or rely on self-surveys which can be unreliable.
“You can’t tell anything from that,” he said.
From its sleep tracking data, Jawbone can also tell things like how many people changed their sleep pattern to watch the World Cup. More people in Perth did so with 6% of Jawbone UP users staying up later to catch games, 5% of people in Adelaide, 4% in Sydney and just 2% in Melbourne.
A third of users in Rome shifted their sleep to watch the game.
“We like taking the information and turning it into stories. The data can help identify which are the events that bring people together and change behaviours,” he said.
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