tiny-dots-planner
Meghna Rajawatthe "Routine Rescue" framing and the Parent/Toddler dual-mode split are the two things that would make it feel different from the dozens of generic trackers. A few thoughts on where I'd push back or sharpen it: What's working Now → Next is the right abstraction. Toddlers can't parse a timeline; they can parse two cards. Don't let a designer talk you into showing the full day in Toddler Mode. Transition timer is the highest-value feature on the list. It's the actual pain point parents search for at 7pm. Routine Rescue is the emotional differentiator. Most apps implicitly score you; this one forgives you. Where I'd tighten it Cut the mood check-in from MVP. Five mood states is a lot of taps for a parent holding a screaming toddler. Ship with three (\xf0\x9f\x98\x8a /\x20\xf0\x9f\x98\xa4 /\x20\xf0\x9f\xa4\x92) or infer nothing at all in v1 and add it once you see whether parents actually use it. Be careful with "smart adjustments." If the app silently reshuffles the day, parents lose trust fast. Show the shift explicitly: "Woke 75 min late → nap moved to 1:15, bedtime 8:15. Keep this?" Suggest, never auto-apply. Insights need a minimum data threshold. "Nap days were more consistent when lunch happened before 12:30" is a correlation claim from maybe 6 data points. Gate insights behind ~2 weeks of data and phrase them as observations, not findings — which you're already doing, but the copy needs to hold that line everywhere. Notifications are the real product risk. iOS/Android background timers and reliable push are where this gets hard, and where a web-first build will disappoint. Worth deciding early whether this is a PWA or native. MVP, reordered by build sequence Toddler profile + routine templates Visual routine editor (parent) → Now/Next view (toddler) Timers + Done/Skip Schedule shift on late wake Routine Rescue Parent dashboard + weekly patterns That's auth, a real database, two distinct UIs, background timers, and a dashboard — which is exactly the kind of thing 8080.AI can plan and build end to end, rather than just a landing page. Want me to turn this into a proper spec — data model, screen list, and a phased build plan — or prototype the Now/Next screen so you can see whether the interaction actually feels right?
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System Requirements
System Requirements Document for tiny-dots-planner
1. Introduction
tiny-dots-planner is a toddler routine app built around two ideas that separate it from the dozens of generic trackers: Routine Rescue (the app forgives the parent instead of scoring them) and a Parent/Toddler dual-mode split (two genuinely different user interfaces over the same routine). The product intent is to get a family through the day with a toddler: the parent builds and adapts a routine, the toddler sees only what is happening now and what happens next, and any adjustment to the day is shown explicitly and confirmed rather than silently applied.
The audience is:
- Parents — the operators of the product. They create the toddler profile, build and edit routines from templates, run and watch timers, review and confirm suggested schedule shifts after a late wake, reach for Routine Rescue when a day derails, and read the parent dashboard with weekly patterns.
- Toddlers — the second in-product mode's user. They cannot parse a timeline; they can parse two cards. They see only Now → Next, the current activity, its transition timer, and the move to the next activity.
The current work is creating designs first: this document fixes the screens, states, palette, typography, shape language, and interaction/motion direction before build, so the Parent/Toddler split and the forgiving tone are visible in the design rather than retrofitted later.
2. System Overview
tiny-dots-planner is delivered as an application with an owned identity, a real database, two distinct UIs (Parent Mode and Toddler Mode), background timers, and a parent dashboard. The accepted current behavior is:
- A toddler profile that anchors every routine, timer, shift, and pattern.
- Routine templates as the starting material for routines, and a visual routine editor in Parent Mode for building and editing them.
- Toddler Mode: a two-card Now → Next view with a transition timer and Done / Skip actions. The full day timeline is never shown in Toddler Mode.
- Transition timers and Done / Skip as first-class controls, including correct timer state when the app is backgrounded.
- Schedule shift on late wake: the shift is shown explicitly ("Woke 75 min late → nap moved to 1:15, bedtime 8:15. Keep this?") and only applies after the parent confirms. Nothing is auto-applied.
- Routine Rescue: a forgiving recovery flow for a derailed routine that never scores, grades, or shames the parent.
- A parent dashboard with weekly patterns, and insights gated behind roughly two weeks of data and phrased as observations, not findings.
The build sequence
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