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Tinny Minny

Childcare is an essential need for many families, but most people don't realize how tedious it is to find the right care for their child until they are in the thick of it. A lack of a comprehensive, searchable, updated list of childcare services in the lower Mainland of BC leaves parents scrambling to find services at the last minute. Currently, parents are relying on word of mouth, different social networking websites and paying to be on multiple waitlists without any certainty of finding placement. A lot of the end result depends on luck - which is very stressful, given the time bound nature of the need.

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TinnyMinny is the one stop solution for parents looking for childcare in the lower Mainland. It will include a searchable list of licensed child care facilities - whether they are multi age centres or in-home daycares. It will provide high definition pictures, a complete list of facilities provided, their current open spots and even a way to save favourites and send a message to care centres.

Market Analysis

A quick overview of the current options for gathering information about childcare centres in BC. These lists do not include individual caregivers like babysitters or nannies. 

Objectives 

  • Improve customer satisfaction by reducing the hassle of finding appropriate childcare

  • Create a centralized hub of waitlists with increased visibility for parents

Success Metrics

  • Get 100 parents to complete paid registration within 6 months.

  • List 20 daycares with high definition photos within 6 months

Personas

  • Kathy is a mom, who is just recovering from delivering a baby and has to juggle caring for her infant, home and family, while also worrying about finding childcare at the right time so she can return to work. She wants to find the right fit for her child, which is a good mix of proximity, having certified childcare providers and a reasonable cost. She doesn't have the time to look at multiple websites and keep track of who offers what. She would like to be able to shortlist the best, tour them at her convenience and have the peace of mind of getting a confirmed spot before returning to work.

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  • Alex is an owner of a small in-home daycare centre who has been getting her admissions through referrals and word of mouth for the past 5 years. However, she cannot compete with newer daycare centres with multiple social media websites and does not have the manpower to respond to multiple emails and calls, while also running her daycare and making sure all the vacancies are filled. She would like to have one place to manage her waitlists, respond to new queries and immediately notify interested parents of vacancies.

Features for MVP/ User Stories

P0 MVP

Mobile App

  • As a parent looking for childcare, I want to see a list of suitable daycares near me or in the location that I choose, along with a map with search results plotted.

  • As a parent looking for childcare, I want to see clear pictures and facilities provided in a childcare centre that I select.

  • As a parent looking for childcare, I want to be able to create lists and keep track of places I have contacted or wish to contact.

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P1 Medium priority

Mobile App

  • As a parent looking for childcare, I want to be able to send a message to the centre and book a tour with a selected centre.

Web Dashboard

  • As a daycare owner or administrator, I want to be notified when a child is registered as needing care in my proximity.

  • As a daycare owner or administrator, I want to know the desired start date and be able to match it with upcoming openings in my centre.

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P2 Low Priority

  • As a parent looking for childcare, I want to see the latest inspection reports provided by the local health authority for any centre that I choose.

Web Dashboard

  • As a daycare owner or administrator, I want to have a booking calendar that allows prospective parents to schedule tours

  • As a daycare owner or administrator, I want to have a centralized platform to respond to messages to prospective parents.

Search

Filters

Results

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Wireframes

Launch Strategy

  • Target Market - Initial target market is the Tri-cities area. It is a smaller area with a high percentage of children under the age of 5 (almost 26% of the total youth population as reported in a 2018 report. Also, most of the parents looking for childcare in this area rely heavily on Facebook groups for their search, often with poor results.

  • User types or components - The initial launch will be to target the parents looking for childcare. This is to validate the hypothesis that a searchable map is a useful tool for parents in their search for childcare. Once sufficient parents have registered on the website, the childcare facing website can be launched.

  • MVP or full product - The initial launch will include only the MVP - a search function by location with filters such as age group and centre type. The results can be viewed as a list and on a map. Individual results can then be saved into different lists, once the user registers for free on the website. Users will also be provided with a button to communicate directly with Tinny Minny via Instagram and FB, to provide feedback, suggestions for future features, etc.

  • Distribution - Tinny Minny will be launched as a webapp, so it can be viewed both on a desktop and on mobile phones.

  • Rollout - A beta test will be done for approximately 20-30 users to gauge initial response, feedback and any bugs in the website.

  • Buzz - Create an Instagram and Facebook profile for Tinny Minny. Send out flyers to local FB childcare search groups to gather participants for the beta test. This will create some buzz prior to the launch and also product awareness. Once the MVP is launch, physical flyers can be posted in local community centres, libraries, play areas, etc.

  • Metrics to watch for -

    • Page visits - landing page vs specific daycare page, number of searches, area most frequently searched

    • Registrations

    • Daily active users

    • The daycares that are most frequently short listed

    • The sources through which people are finding Tinny Minny (search engine, FB, Insta, QR code on flyers)

Future Features

  • Updated list of verified nannies and babysitters in the area

  • Centralized waitlist with regular updates to parents

  • Automated follow ups to ensure waitlists are up to date

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