Peekaboo Daycare

Twenty years in business and almost no presence online, which meant parents searching for a daycare couldn't find them, and once a child was enrolled, admissions ran entirely on paper. We built a site that actually shows up in search and an admissions dashboard that replaced the paper trail with something the staff could run day to day.

The challenge: Twenty years of reputation, invisible online

The reputation was real and local, built over two decades. But parents looking for daycare start by searching, and Peekaboo effectively did not appear, so the shortlist was formed without them on it.

Enrolment had its own problem. Once a family did find them, admissions ran entirely on paper. Forms, records and enrolment status lived in folders, and the state of an intake was whatever the person holding the file happened to know.

The solution: Found first, then enrolled properly

• A site built to be found: Structured and written so a parent searching for daycare in the area actually reaches them, rather than a brochure that only works once you already know the name.
• An admissions dashboard: Enrolments moved off paper into a system staff can run day to day, with each application's status visible rather than filed.
• Records that stay together: A child's enrolment information lives in one place instead of spread across forms in different folders.
• Built for the people using it: Designed around how the staff actually work, on the basis that a system nobody opens is worse than the paper it replaced.

More on how we approach web application development.

Business value & impact: Visible to parents, manageable for staff

These were two different problems, so they needed two answers rather than one new website.

• Parents can find them: Twenty years of reputation is now reachable by the search that starts most enrolment decisions.
• Admissions off paper: Intake status is something to look up rather than something to ask the person holding the folder.
• Less administrative drag: Staff time moved from managing paperwork back towards the children.

For twenty years we ran on paper and phone calls, with almost no way for parents to find us online. ShiftTech built us a website that actually gets found and an admissions dashboard that replaced the paperwork. Our team can finally keep up.

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