Product prototype · Communication platform
Helping child care centers stay connected with parents through real-time updates and automated communication.
A modern child care management platform built to improve communication between care providers and parents. Centers share daily updates, announcements, activities, and important information through one centralized platform — instead of relying on phone calls and consumer messaging apps, where updates get missed and communication drifts out of sync.
The platform is built around simplicity, accessibility, and trust. Parents get a clear, consistent view of their child's day; caregivers get a single place to communicate, with automated notifications taking over the manual follow-ups that used to eat into time better spent on care.
The opportunity originated from a collaborator on the QA team during work on the school ERP product. Drawing on challenges observed in child care centers, the proposal was a platform to help providers communicate with parents more effectively and reduce their dependence on scattered, informal channels.
The problem was concrete and human — parents left out of the loop, caregivers buried in manual follow-ups — and stood out immediately as worth exploring.
To understand the space, I reviewed existing child care applications and analyzed their workflows, supported by recordings and demonstrations of tools currently used in the market.
That research surfaced recurring gaps: weak or missing notification mechanisms, communication that fell through informal channels, low parent engagement, and user experiences with clear room to improve.
I framed the platform around the communication workflows that mattered most: a parent communication dashboard, child activity updates, announcement management, administrative screens, and a clean, accessible interface for both caregivers and parents.
The aim was simplicity and trust — making consistent, centralized communication the path of least resistance rather than one more task.
I built the prototype with a React and TypeScript frontend on a Firebase backend, with authentication and role-based access protecting sensitive child information.
During evaluation, automated parent communication emerged as the highest-leverage improvement, so I researched and integrated email notifications using Brevo — letting the platform send updates and announcements automatically, and demonstrating how communication could move beyond traditional messaging.
The goal was deliberately not a finished product, but a tangible prototype that could be evaluated and discussed. I built quickly to validate the concept, then refined it as evaluation revealed new opportunities — the Brevo-powered notification system being the clearest example of an improvement identified and implemented mid-iteration.
The prototype is currently being reviewed and discussed for future direction and feature prioritization.
The project strengthened my ability to turn an idea into working software quickly, validate concepts through prototypes, study existing products to find improvement opportunities, implement communication and notification systems, and collaborate closely with stakeholders throughout product discovery.
A single place where parents see updates, announcements, and their child's activity in one consistent view.
Caregivers log activities as the day unfolds, giving parents a real-time window into their child's care.
Centers compose and publish announcements once, reaching every relevant parent through the platform.
Automated emails push important updates the moment they're posted, so nothing depends on a manual reminder.
Parent and guardian details are organized centrally, keeping the right people connected to the right child.
Caregivers, administrators, and parents each see and act on only what their role allows.
A clean, responsive interface works on the phones parents check through the day, not only on a desktop.
Every update builds a chronological timeline, so a child's day reads as one continuous record.
Challenge
Centers were juggling phone calls and consumer messaging apps to keep parents informed — so updates were missed, communication was inconsistent, and every gap turned into another manual follow-up.
Solution
A centralized parent-communication dashboard makes updates, announcements, and activity logs the default channel, so the same information reaches every parent the same way — without anyone chasing it.
Challenge
Keeping parents informed in real time without piling more work onto caregivers.
Solution
An automated email notification system, built on Brevo, sends updates the moment they're posted — replacing manual reminders with a reliable, hands-off channel.
Challenge
Children's information is sensitive; not every user should be able to see or do everything.
Solution
Authentication with secure role-based access scopes exactly what caregivers, administrators, and parents can view and manage.
Challenge
Parents check in from their phones across the day, while staff work from the center.
Solution
A mobile-responsive interface keeps the experience clean and accessible on any device, so updates are easy to post and easy to read.