Case study · KDC
Chasing classes took up to twelve hours a week. We gave ten back.
Kunal Drum Class in Chembur, Mumbai ran on WhatsApp, spreadsheets and a web app that did not do the job. We built the system the school actually needed, and it is now live with students.
- 8–12 hrsa week spent confirming and chasing, before
- 10 hrsa week handed back
- Livewith students, classes confirmed in the app
- Loggedevery admin override, with a reason
Every change has a reason and a log.
01The brief
A drum school that ran on three tools, and none of them talked to each other.
Class confirmations lived in WhatsApp, the schedule and fees in spreadsheets, and the web app did none of the work. KDC needed one place that followed the school’s own rules for confirming, cancelling and making up a class.
02The problem
8 to 12 hours a week
That is how long the team spent confirming classes and micromanaging everything. An agency was then hired to build a web app. It did not solve the problem.
Missed classes
Multiple classes were missed and tracking was lost along the way.
Tools that did not work
The makeup (comp) class system in the earlier web app did not work, and its admin panel was broken.
Paying for the wrong thing
The agency did not build to KDC’s exact needs, and a premium monthly maintenance fee carried on regardless.
03Before and now
Before
- Class confirmations in WhatsApp chats
- Schedules and fees in spreadsheets
- A web app whose makeup credits and admin panel did not work
- A premium monthly fee for a system not built to KDC’s needs
- 8 to 12 hours a week of confirming and chasing
Now
- Students confirm or cancel in the app
- One schedule, one fee record and one activity log
- Makeup credits created and used automatically
- Deadlines and release times set once, by the school
- Ten hours a week handed back
04The goal
Give KDC one system that follows its own rules, so confirming, cancelling and making up a class happens without anyone chasing.
05Our approach
How we approached it.
Start from how the school really works.
We built from Kunal’s own rules for confirmation, cancellation and makeup credits, not from a generic booking template.
Put the rules in the database.
Deadlines, seats and credits are enforced by the database, so no screen can break them. The apps only ask it.
Design for the newest person in the room.
A first-time student and a first-day admin should both be able to use it without training. If they cannot, the design has failed.
Make every override leave a trail.
Admins can change anything, but each change needs a reason and is saved in an activity log that cannot be edited.
06What we built
One system, four jobs.
-
Confirm
A student sees the next class, the deadline and whether they are attending, and can cancel before it closes.
-
Make up
A cancelled class becomes a credit. Free seats appear for makeups, and the student books one in a tap.
-
Set the rules
Confirmation and release times are set once for each weekday. Every change asks for a reason.
-
Close a day
For a holiday or an emergency, staff close a day and choose whether students get a makeup credit.
Also in the system
- Student, parent and tutor logins
- Parents switch between children
- Tutor attendance and class notes
- Fees and payment history
- Search any student, see their history
- Reports in Excel and PDF
- An activity log of every change
07The result
The result.
The app is live with students, classes are being confirmed through it, and the team gets ten hours a week back.
- 10 hrs
Back every week
Admin time no longer spent confirming and chasing.
- Live
With students
Students confirm and cancel classes in the app, and multiple classes have been confirmed through it.
- 1
System, not three
Schedule, fees, credits and the activity log in one place, in place of chats and spreadsheets.
- Every
Override has a reason
Admins can change anything, but each change needs a reason and is logged.