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Parent Submitted Absences

Designing a Mobile Absence Experience to Reduce Operational Overload and Empower Parent Self-Service

Project Details

Role: Product Designer

Platform: iOS, Android

Team: Product Designer, PM, Engineering Lead

The 1× Problem

Childcare centers rely on accurate attendance to manage ratios, staffing, and daily capacity.
Yet absences were almost always recorded after a parent called, messaged, or mentioned it at drop-off. This created a chain of operational issues:

Directors couldn’t plan staffing with confidence
Valuable classroom spots went unused because centers didn’t know a child would be absent
Messaging threads were cluttered with absence notices
Parents had no true self-service workflow
Staff had to re-enter information manually, often long after the fact

And the signal was unmistakable:

Parent-logged absences was the #1 most-requested feature in Pendo.

Directors couldn’t plan staffing with confidence
Valuable classroom spots went unused because centers didn’t know a child would be absent
Messaging threads were cluttered with absence notices
Parents had no true self-service workflow
Staff had to re-enter information manually, often long after the fact

And the signal was unmistakable:

Parent-logged absences was the #1 most-requested feature in Pendo.

Directors couldn’t plan staffing with confidence
Valuable classroom spots went unused because centers didn’t know a child would be absent
Messaging threads were cluttered with absence notices
Parents had no true self-service workflow
Staff had to re-enter information manually, often long after the fact

And the signal was unmistakable:

Parent-logged absences was the #1 most-requested feature in Pendo.

Directors couldn’t plan staffing with confidence
Valuable classroom spots went unused because centers didn’t know a child would be absent
Messaging threads were cluttered with absence notices
Parents had no true self-service workflow
Staff had to re-enter information manually, often long after the fact

And the signal was unmistakable:

Parent-logged absences was the #1 most-requested feature in Pendo.

Why Now

The childcare software landscape has shifted toward parent autonomy. Parents increasingly expect to manage attendance, schedules, and daily updates directly from their phones.

For Procare, this was an opportunity to:

• Modernize a core daily workflow

• Reduce operational friction for directors

• Ensure absence data was structured, consistent, and more accurate

• Strengthen our mobile offering without disrupting current center workflows

And importantly, this feature aligned with a broader strategy:
Serve “the silent customer”, parents with streamlined, intuitive experiences.

Current State

Constraints We Had to Design Within

1. Mobile-first reality: Parents primarily log attendance on mobile, not desktop → design had to be fast, forgiving, and easy one-handed.

2. Attendance ratios: Absences feed directly into ratio calculations → incorrect entries create downstream issues.

3. Multi-child families: Most families have 2–3 enrolled children → logging one child at a time would create friction.

4. The calendar constraint: Our existing calendar component was outdated and inflexible.
To offer a “calendar view” for absences, we would need to rebuild the entire system component.

This became our core tradeoff.

1. Mobile-first reality: Parents primarily log attendance on mobile, not desktop → design had to be fast, forgiving, and easy one-handed.

2. Attendance ratios: Absences feed directly into ratio calculations → incorrect entries create downstream issues.

3. Multi-child families: Most families have 2–3 enrolled children → logging one child at a time would create friction.

4. The calendar constraint: Our existing calendar component was outdated and inflexible.
To offer a “calendar view” for absences, we would need to rebuild the entire system component.

This became our core tradeoff.

1. Mobile-first reality: Parents primarily log attendance on mobile, not desktop → design had to be fast, forgiving, and easy one-handed.

2. Attendance ratios: Absences feed directly into ratio calculations → incorrect entries create downstream issues.

3. Multi-child families: Most families have 2–3 enrolled children → logging one child at a time would create friction.

4. The calendar constraint: Our existing calendar component was outdated and inflexible.
To offer a “calendar view” for absences, we would need to rebuild the entire system component.

This became our core tradeoff.

1. Mobile-first reality: Parents primarily log attendance on mobile, not desktop → design had to be fast, forgiving, and easy one-handed.

2. Attendance ratios: Absences feed directly into ratio calculations → incorrect entries create downstream issues.

3. Multi-child families: Most families have 2–3 enrolled children → logging one child at a time would create friction.

4. The calendar constraint: Our existing calendar component was outdated and inflexible.
To offer a “calendar view” for absences, we would need to rebuild the entire system component.

This became our core tradeoff.

The Tradeoff: Calendar or No Calendar?

A calendar was the most intuitive way for parents to see upcoming absences. Directors liked it too.

But the reality:

Our current calendar couldn’t support this workflow
Rebuilding the calendar would require cross-team coordination and major engineering investment
Adding a new, one-off calendar inside this feature would create design system fragmentation

A calendar was the most intuitive way for parents to see upcoming absences. Directors liked it too.

But the reality:

Our current calendar couldn’t support this workflow
Rebuilding the calendar would require cross-team coordination and major engineering investment
Adding a new, one-off calendar inside this feature would create design system fragmentation

A calendar was the most intuitive way for parents to see upcoming absences. Directors liked it too.

But the reality:

Our current calendar couldn’t support this workflow
Rebuilding the calendar would require cross-team coordination and major engineering investment
Adding a new, one-off calendar inside this feature would create design system fragmentation

A calendar was the most intuitive way for parents to see upcoming absences. Directors liked it too.

But the reality:

Our current calendar couldn’t support this workflow
Rebuilding the calendar would require cross-team coordination and major engineering investment
Adding a new, one-off calendar inside this feature would create design system fragmentation

Decision:

We removed the calendar from MVP and created a clean list-based summary instead. This kept scope realistic while still giving parents a clear way to review what they submitted.

Decision:

We removed the calendar from MVP and created a clean list-based summary instead. This kept scope realistic while still giving parents a clear way to review what they submitted.

Decision:

We removed the calendar from MVP and created a clean list-based summary instead. This kept scope realistic while still giving parents a clear way to review what they submitted.

Decision:

We removed the calendar from MVP and created a clean list-based summary instead. This kept scope realistic while still giving parents a clear way to review what they submitted.

My Role

Defined the parent → staff → attendance system flow

Mapped how absences move through the ecosystem and what data each party needs.

Identified risks around partial-day absences

Despite inconsistent scheduling data, I designed a workflow that could still accommodate them without breaking ratios.

Shaped the MVP with PM & Engineering

Aligned on a right-sized scope that delivered value without inheriting calendar technical debt.

Created logic for batch logging

Designed a multi-child selection model that fit Procare’s patterns and reduced friction.

Introduced structured data (reasons, who logged it)

Improved reporting, accountability, and downstream billing accuracy.

Validated workflows with directors & parents

Ensured the flow matched real-world communication patterns, not hypothetical ones.

Solution

Submit an Absence

Batch Logging

Upcoming Absences

Staff View

Submit an Absence

Mobile-first, thumb-reachable layout

Clear hierarchy → one choice per step

Frictionless path for multi-child families

Structured reasons reduce support load

Automate

Use AI-driven insights to curate, create, and schedule posts across multiple platforms. Our tool optimizes post timing and content for maximum engagement, while you focus on strategy.

Analyze

Track your performance with real-time analytics and reports. Our AI continuously learns from your audience interactions, helping you refine your strategy and grow your social media presence effortlessly.

Submit an Absence

Batch Logging

Upcoming Absences

Staff View

Submit an Absence

Mobile-first, thumb-reachable layout

Clear hierarchy → one choice per step

Frictionless path for multi-child families

Structured reasons reduce support load

Automate

Use AI-driven insights to curate, create, and schedule posts across multiple platforms. Our tool optimizes post timing and content for maximum engagement, while you focus on strategy.

Analyze

Submit an Absence

Batch Logging

Upcoming Absences

Staff View

Submit an Absence

Mobile-first, thumb-reachable layout

Clear hierarchy → one choice per step

Frictionless path for multi-child families

Structured reasons reduce support load

Automate

Use AI-driven insights to curate, create, and schedule posts across multiple platforms. Our tool optimizes post timing and content for maximum engagement, while you focus on strategy.

Analyze

Submit an Absence

Batch Logging

Upcoming Absences

Staff View

Submit an Absence

Mobile-first, thumb-reachable layout

Clear hierarchy → one choice per step

Frictionless path for multi-child families

Structured reasons reduce support load

Automate

Use AI-driven insights to curate, create, and schedule posts across multiple platforms. Our tool optimizes post timing and content for maximum engagement, while you focus on strategy.

Analyze

Outcomes & Organizational Impact

Even though development is paused, the design work created lasting value:

⭐ Reusable parent → staff communication framework

This structure is now informing future features involving parent-initiated actions.

⭐ Identified systemic attendance data gaps

Revealed inconsistencies in scheduling, attribution, and ratio dependencies — now influencing broader roadmap priorities.

⭐ Cross-team alignment on a high-signal feature

PMs, directors, support teams, and engineering now share a unified understanding of how absences should flow.

⭐ A strategic foundation for parent autonomy

This project moves Procare closer to a modern, mobile-first attendance ecosystem.

Reflection

Designing this feature clarified a simple truth:
Parents already behave like active participants in attendance, the product just needed to meet them there.

This project was less about inserting a new flow and more about re-architecting how absence information moves across people, systems, and daily operations.

It set a foundation for a future where parents can manage attendance the way they manage everything else in their lives: clearly, confidently, and on their phones.