SitSafe Child Care App. Empowering Modern Parenting.
Transforming Child Care: Smarter Parenting Starts with SitSafe
Childcare can be expensive, inconsistent, and hard to access. Parents often rely on informal networks WhatsApp groups, neighbours, or word-of-mouth to find help, but these options lack structure, trust, and reliability.
SitSafe was designed to fill that gap: a community-led platform where parents could exchange childcare hours instead of money. The goal was to make childcare more affordable, accessible, and built on shared trust.
My Role
As the sole designer on this university project, I led the process end to end, from initial research and concept validation to wire-framing, prototyping, and testing. While the project was academic in nature, I treated it like a real-world product, validating decisions with real users and iterating based on feedback.
Understanding the Problem
To understand how families navigated childcare, I interviewed eight parents and eight volunteers. Cost was the most consistent barrier. Many parents turned to informal help, but coordination was difficult and unstructured.
Initially, I considered a volunteer-parent platform, but parents expressed discomfort around unfamiliar caregivers. They felt more confident exchanging childcare time with other parents they could get to know. That insight shifted the direction toward a time-based, parent-to-parent exchange model.
Defining the Solution
SitSafe needed to go beyond a babysitting marketplace. It had to support trust, transparency, and ease of coordination.
I designed core features around:
• Verified parent profiles
• A time-credit system for exchanging childcare
• Scheduling tools to offer or request help
• Peer ratings and feedback for transparency
The vision was a support network, not a transaction.
Designing for Simplicity and Trust
I created low-fidelity wireframes in Figma and tested early concepts with parents. Usability was key—parents wanted a tool they could use without friction.
Testing revealed that scheduling and tracking time credits had to be crystal clear. I refined the interface so parents could:
• View who’s available at a glance
• Post their own availability
• Track hours given, received, and remaining
The design emphasised a warm, trustworthy tone relying on accessible language, friendly visuals, and clear navigation.
Iterating with Feedback
One of the biggest challenges was the session history screen. Parents struggled to understand how credits were calculated and displayed. I redesigned the layout to prioritise clarity, adding visual indicators and simplifying labels.
Another pain point was flexibility. Parents couldn’t always match with another’s availability. Since the system was time-based (not money-based), I introduced a way for requesting parents to negotiate preferred times, adding flexibility without breaking the exchange model.
Success Metrics & Design Impact
While SitSafe is not yet live, I measured success through usability testing and projected key impact areas for future deployment.
Usability Testing Outcomes
-90% of participants completed the booking flow in under 2 minutes.
-100% of testers described the interface as “clear” or “very clear.”
-83% (5 out of 6) said they would trust the app with their children.
Projected Impact (Post-Launch Goals)
-Reduce sitter search time by 50% compared to traditional childcare platforms.
-Boost parental confidence in peer-to-peer childcare through:
-Verified sitter profiles
-Transparent community reviews
SitSafe wasn’t just about childcare—it was about building a trusted support network for parents.
