Pawsitive Care App developed by DVT’s Nicole-Lee Scholtz.
Nicole-Lee Scholtz is an Intern at DVT, a Dynamic Technologies group company. One of the tenets of technological development in which DVT strongly believes in its ability to change lives. As a DVT intern, Nicole-Lee has embraced this philosophy.
Outside of her work life, Nicole-Lee is an animal lover. With three beloved dogs of her own – Tiana, Chloe, and Luna – she knows just what it takes to be a responsible, and organised, pet owner. This is what inspired her to develop a pet care app.
She says, “As an animal lover, I have always known that pets are not just animals but also family members. They provide us with unconditional love, comfort, and companionship. But with pet ownership comes great responsibility, and it can be challenging to keep up with their needs, especially when they have medical conditions.”
It wasn’t just a love of animals that inspired her, however, as she adds, “My experience with pets and medical conditions began when between them, my three dogs were diagnosed with arthritis, epilepsy, and cancer. As you can imagine, that was a lot of medication to give and keep track of.” Fresh out of high school and working her first job in hospitality, Nicole-Lee’s hours were unpredictable and not exactly conducive to routine. “Working really early and late hours made it tricky to give them medication timeously and to keep track of how they were doing,” she explains. “It was a challenge and I needed something to improve the situation.”
Nicole-Lee developed the Pawsitive Care app with pet owners like herself in mind. The app is designed to help owners manage their pets needs more efficiently. It aims to make the user experience as straightforward as possible, ensuring that the user does not get lost in the app’s interface. Easy-to-use and intuitive, it provides an effective and efficient solution to a fairly common problem.
In addition to daily reminders for medication and appointments, some of the app’s features include a platform for storing medical histories, a journal to log pet-related events, a means to communicate with your vet, and a pet weight and health tracker in order to correctly monitor their progress. This makes it easier to recognise any potential problems, too.
Designing the app was a labour of love, as well as an excellent learning experience. Nicole-Lee explains, “When I started working on Pawsitive Care, I still needed to gain experience with app design. However, I was determined to create it. I spent several months learning about design, Swift, and Xcode, using components such as UICollectionViews, UITableViews, and Core Data. As I progressed, I realised that there were many aspects I still needed to learn, such as unit testing, which is an essential part of an application’s success.”
The Pawsitive Care app is proof that technology doesn’t just change human lives – it can change our companion animals’ lives too. Nicole-Lee says, “With Pawsitive Care, I aim to provide a solution to help pet owners take better care of their pets. The app is planned for release in 2024 after I have completed the DVT Graduate Programme.” Until then, she’ll continue improving the app and making changes and additions as she gains experience and as pet owners make suggestions to help improve her offering.
If you have any suggestions to improve the app, message Nicole-Lee on LinkedIn.
