Deepak's Saturday Shift

On a busy Saturday, Deepak opens the app once, sees eleven to six at the accessories counter, and never needs to open it again.

Who this is for

Vikas Tayde runs Shree Mobile Point near Jaistambh Chowk in Amravati. Two boys work with him through the week. On Saturdays the shop fills from eleven, so his wife's younger brother Deepak comes down from Badnera to stand at the accessories counter. Deepak has his own job the rest of the week. He needs one thing on Saturday morning: what time to come and what time he can leave.

How the job is done today

Every Friday night Vikas types the same message. Kal 11 baje aa jana. Some Fridays he is pulling the shutter down at ten and forgets. Then Deepak either reaches at half nine and stands on the footpath drinking tea, or reaches at twelve when the rush has already started and Vikas is alone at two counters. The two regular boys have their off days written in a notebook under the cash drawer, in Vikas's handwriting, with pen lines through whatever changed. If Vikas is at the wholesaler in Nagpur, nobody in the shop can tell you who is meant to be there tomorrow.

The screens, in order

1. Your shift — The one screen Deepak opens, showing his name, his day, eleven to six, and the accessories counter, in letters big enough to read while walking.
2. The week — Lets Vikas see all seven days and every person on them at one glance, so he knows before Friday night whether Saturday is covered.
3. People — Holds the four or five names Vikas actually works with, so he never types a name twice.
4. Set a shift — Puts one person on one day between two timings, in about as long as it takes to say it out loud.
5. Share it — Hands Vikas a ready link for one person that he sends on WhatsApp the way he sends everything else.

What it keeps track of

• People — name, phone number, which days they usually come, what they are paid for a day
• Shifts — who, which date, start time, end time, where in the shop they stand, any note like bring the charger stock
• Shop days — the date, open or closed, whether it is a heavy day like a festival Saturday

The one decision that matters

Does Deepak need an account or not. One way, everybody signs in with a phone number and a code, which gives Vikas a proper record and lets Deepak check next month too. The other way, only Vikas signs in, and everyone else gets a personal link that opens straight to their own timing with no name to type and nothing to remember. Go with the link. Deepak opens this thing four times a year at most, standing at a bus stop in Badnera, on a phone with two hundred megabytes free. A sign-in screen is where he gives up and rings Vikas instead, which is exactly the phone call this app exists to remove.

What to leave out of the first version

Leave out attendance marking, hours totalling and daily wage calculation. Vikas already pays Deepak six hundred in cash on Saturday evening and neither of them wants that counted by a phone. Also leave out leave requests and shift swapping between the boys. They swap by shouting across the shop, and it works. Adding those turns a thing Deepak opens once into a thing he has to keep watching.

How you would know it worked

Three Saturdays in a row, Deepak reaches the shop at eleven and Vikas realises on Saturday evening that he had not sent the Friday night message and had not needed to.

Build it

Paste this in and let it run.

I run a mobile phone and accessories shop and I want a small app on my phone to keep the shift timings of the three or four people who work with me. I should be able to add a person with their name and phone number, then set which day they are coming, from what time to what time, and where they will stand in the shop. My wife's brother Deepak comes only on Saturdays, so he must not have to make an account or remember any password. I want to send him a link on WhatsApp that opens straight to his own name and shows just that Saturday's timing in big letters and nothing else. On my side I want the whole week on one screen and I should be able to change a timing in two taps when somebody asks for leave.