dacadoo – Health Score - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

Dacadoo CEO and founder, Peter Ohnemus started coding at a young age and previously held senior executive positions within several high-tech and software companies.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

Moving from a web-based solution to a mobile first approach had its challenges. It’s a comprehensive platform with many services, and to integrate all services in the native mobile apps (iOS/Android) was not easy.

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Peter Ohnemus is the founder of the dacadoo Health Score/dacadoo ag, Zurich/Switzerland. The patented dacadoo Health Score & Lifestyle Navigation Platform is being licensed to key Life & Health Insurance companies (Payers) and global healthcare operators (Providers). Peter has been involved in high-tech and bio-tech investments over the last 25 years and this had led to four IPO’s and multiple trade sells. Peter Ohnemus and his private investment firm Network Capital Holding are currently investing in high-tech and bio-tech start-ups. Peter is a frequent speaker and commenter on high-tech and healthcare globally. He has spoken at World Economic Forum (WEF), Fortune Brainstorm Health, Google Tech Talks, McKinsey’s Life Leaders CEO Forum, The Royal Society of Medicine, Stanford LIGHT Conference, CommunicAsia, Mobile World Congress, European Health Forum by the EU, Economist Global Healthcare Forum, Mobile Health Summit DC, European Tech Tour, Red Herring, WWW/Digital Disease Detection, etc. Over the last 10 years Peter has been board member of Rothschild Bank, Tele Denmark (Switzerland), Esbatech, CommerceOne, etc. Peter occasionally teaches digital innovation, entrepreneurship and economic impact at Universities such as HSG - Switzerland, Bocconi - India. Peter lives outside Zürich, is married and has 5 daughters.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

Not having any preferences.

How long have you been working on this app?

Dacadoo was founded in 2010, the first generation of the platform went live at the end of 2011. The first mobile app was launched on iOS in 2011, then Android and Blackberry native apps were added. Blackberry was abandoned in 2013, since then we have 3 apps: 2 mobile apps for iOS and Android, and 1 web app in responsive design. Currently the dacadoo apps run on version 3.6 and are constantly improved and updated.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

Inactivity is a global concern. People spend 60% of their day in the workplace, mostly doing sedentary work. Healthcare costs explode. With all the health and fitness-related wearable devices and applications on the market, it has never been easier for people to get access to a variety of health and fitness-related data. This is also a problem, as no one can handle such a multitude of data and make sense out of it without any support. This is exactly what dacadoo does: it simplifies the health status of an individual into just one number – the patented dacadoo Health Score – so that it can be universally understood. Dacadoo does support healthier habits of its users in a fun and engaging way. It makes health individually measureable. As we have a focused B2B2C go-to-market approach, we added corporate features for our B2B partners who launch a white label version of dacadoo to their consumers/clients. Sub-branding capabilities, analytics, group functionalities, chatting to communities, etc. have been added, plus of course the needed support tools to make this work (admin console, etc.).

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

Dacadoo has a holistic approach to health, looking at body, mind and lifestyle (exercise, nutrition, stress, sleep) data. Given the comprehensive approach, we calculate a Health Score to measure health and make it tangible. Around that we’ve added engagement features such as gamification, social features, reward systems, etc. to motivate users to remain active. Building a comprehensive solution is way more complex and resource intensive thing than a vertical app focused around walking only, or weight loss only, etc. The Health Score moves up or down depending on how body, emotional well-being, and activities (workouts, daily steps, nutrition, stress and sleep) change. The Health Score is a scientifically calculated number based on 300 million person - years of clinical and real-life data. The dacadoo Health Score is globally patented.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

The dacadoo platform and related client-facing apps are constantly improved and updated. Minor improvements and new features are introduced on a quarterly basis.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

Thank you for using dacadoo and we hope we are succeeding in helping you to keep and/or adopt a healthy lifestyle.