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Would you/Do you use a mobile app for chore management?

4K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  garbageman83 
#1 ·
Hi! I hope it's ok if I ask this here - I won't be posting any links I'm just looking for feedback from parents.

Me and my boyfriend started developing an app for chore management few months back and we got some feedback that it could be useful for parents too. The app we're making is something like snapchat for chores. We didn't want to use any apps that required a lot of typing (and taking photos instead of typing is something we do now:)) so this is why we came up with this.

The basic premise is that you come home, see a pile of dirty dishes , take a photo, assign it to a member of your household, the task shows up in his "my tasks" view and he gets a notification, when he does the dishes, he takes a photo of the empty sink and cleaned dishes and the app sends it back to you and it shows up in feed where you can also view the before/after. This serves as a proof the chore was completed and it's also motivational - the chore is done better if we plan on taking a photo.

We've also developed a library of common chores and tasks so that the app imports everything based on bundles you choose (there's a "wizard" where you say you have 2 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, a backyard, a hamster and a car) and all you have to do is edit those tasks if you want and assign them to everyone in your household. We really want to minimize the set-up, because this is what turned us off from using other available apps.

We have some other features in mind - like statistics, gamification, different types of permissions...But this is not done yet.

As I said, it is still in development and is currently used only by us and some friends and family - mostly by families with teenagers and we found they are using the app as a family social network.

I'm looking for feedback and ideas and thoughts about how you manage chores, reward systems you use, if a chore chart is good enough for you and that's it :) I heard about the "daily docket" system and it works with that, also about the kanban system, and I heard that seeing a photo of something creates a better mental note and we remeber the chore better, so we're working with this.

I don't want to use this wonderful forum as an advertising tool (and we're not making money with this app:)). It's just that the plan changed a lot: from doing an app for couples that live together (ourselves), we've come to making an app for familes too. If you have any ideas, I'll be really grateful if you pitch in!
 
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#2 ·
I think the app sounds pretty cool! I could see myself using something like that.

At this point I don't have kids old enough to use an app like that, but I do regularly experiment with new methods of keeping my own tasks organized. I've found apps generally too bulky to deal with. Lots of time setting things up, not a lot of flexibility, etc.

Good luck on your venture! Let us know if you put out a product.
 
#3 ·
I think you're totally on point about apps being too bulky! But I do really want an app, because I keep my phone with me at all times and so does everyone in my family, so this is why for me this is the most logical solution, so I'm on a quest to make it as simple as possible.
Thanks for your input.
 
#4 ·
Hi everyone! So, more than a year ago, I was here asking for feedback about a photo chore management app idea we had - now we developed it and launched it! It's a free app, so I hope this doesn't count as advertising (if it does, I'm sincerely sorry and please remove this post). It's available for iOS and Android and it's called Homey - Chores and Rewards.

We already managed to get several thousands users, but I would love to hear your feedback on it, since forums like this one have been really important for me when I was still working on the idea. I think actively seeking feedback is even more important now that we're in the "improving" phase.

Please, please, let me know what you think. Even if you hate the whole idea!
 
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