School Zone
Rethinking a daily ritual for 50M+ families
Why I Built This
School pickup affects 50M+ American families daily, yet the experience hasn't evolved since the car line was invented. Parents idle for 20-40 minutes with zero visibility into their position. Schools broadcast dismissal over intercoms. Caregivers coordinate via group texts. I saw an opportunity to apply the same location intelligence that powers ride-sharing to a space where the stakes are higher and the users are more stressed. This isn't just a productivity app—it's a trust system for families.
Who We Designed For
Parents and guardians navigating the daily school pickup routine
Working Parents
Professionals who need to optimize pickup timing around work schedules and conference calls
Caregivers & Nannies
Non-parent guardians who need verified access and clear handoff protocols
School Administrators
Staff responsible for dismissal safety who lack tools for real-time coordination
App Preview
Inspired by iOS 26 native library for a native experience.
Real-time queue with ETA
Real-time queue with ETA
Afternoon pickup context
Flexible access controls
Safe arrival confirmation
Process
Talked with my wife and other parents from our school to understand daily pickup frustrations. Mapped the information asymmetry: parents have no visibility, schools have no scalable communication channel, and caregivers operate on trust and text messages.
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Went with a contextual/state-based architecture allowing for a more context-aware experience. The UI adapts based on time of day, location, and user role—surfacing relevant information exactly when needed.
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Built a CoreLocation wrapper with three operating modes: passive (significant location changes), active (GPS polling), and aggressive (continuous updates). The scheduler activates the right mode based on time and proximity. Implemented 5-ring geofencing with entry/exit handlers.
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Designed four distinct home screen states, each optimized for its context. Morning surfaces drop-off actions. Afternoon transforms into a queue-centric UI. The transition animations communicate state changes without requiring user attention.
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Implemented the guardian system with Apple Wallet integration for guest passes. Each pass contains a cryptographic payload verified against the school's roster. Time-windowed access and revocation ensure security without friction.
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AI Collaboration
Tools
Approach
Treated Claude as a senior engineer for architecture discussions. The 24-state context matrix emerged from a conversation about how to model the problem space. Claude helped stress-test the permission model by generating edge cases I hadn't considered (divorced parents with alternating custody, emergency contacts with time-limited access).
Example Prompts
Model school pickup as a state machine. What are the states, transitions, and guards?
Design a geofencing strategy that balances position accuracy with battery life. Target: <3% drain per pickup window.
How would enterprise IAM patterns (RBAC, ABAC) apply to family permission structures?
Generate edge cases for a guardian permission system that handles custody arrangements.
Key Learnings
AI excels at generating edge cases humans don't think of
Framing problems formally (FSM, ABAC) produces better AI collaboration
The best prompts describe constraints, not solutions
Location-based apps require physical testing—simulation only goes so far
Battery optimization is a design constraint, not a polish item
Trust systems need visible verification rituals, not just cryptographic correctness
Features
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Have a passion project or experimental concept? I love exploring new ideas and building things that push creative boundaries.
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