Combined daily routine¶
Overview¶
For multi-pet households, individual animal routines do not exist in isolation. One animal's walk time is another animal's crate time. Feeding happens in sequence with separation protocols. The day is interleaved.
The combined daily routine provides a single timeline view across all animals on an account, reflecting how a carer actually experiences the day.
Discovery¶
Job stories¶
Viewing the day:
- When I am looking after multiple animals, I want to see one combined timeline for the whole day, so I know what to do and when without flipping between individual profiles.
- When two animals have activities at the same time (one goes in the crate while the other gets walked), I want to see both entries together, so I understand the coordination required.
- When an activity applies to all animals (wake up, toilet break), I want it shown once rather than duplicated, so the timeline is not cluttered.
Managing the timeline:
- When I need to add a new activity for one animal, I want to do it from the combined view, so I can see how it fits into the existing day without switching contexts.
- When I update a timeline entry in the combined view, I want that change reflected in the individual animal's routine, so I do not have to update it twice.
- When I update a timeline entry on an individual animal's profile, I want it reflected in the combined view, so the two are always in sync.
The "5 Whys" - digging deeper¶
Starting statement: "We need a combined daily routine view."
- Why? - "Users with multiple animals need to see the whole day at a glance."
- Why can't they just look at each animal's profile? - "Because the animals' days are interleaved. Shirley's walk starts when Mavis goes in her crate. Looking at them separately loses that coordination."
- Why does coordination matter? - "Because a carer experiencing the day lives it as one continuous flow, not as parallel tracks. They need to know: what do I do right now, and for which animal?"
- Why can't a document do that? - "A document can list it, but it cannot merge entries from multiple animals into a single ordered view that updates when individual profiles change."
- Why does it need to update automatically? - "Because if the owner changes Shirley's walk time, the combined view must reflect that immediately - otherwise the carer is working from stale information, and the coordination breaks down."
Root requirement: Multi-animal households need a single, automatically synchronised view of the day because the animals' routines are interdependent, and a carer experiences them as one continuous flow.
Event storming¶
| Event | Who triggers it? | Who cares? | What happens next? | What could go wrong? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combined view opened | Account user | The user viewing the day | All animals' timeline entries merged and ordered by time | Animals with no routine entries show gaps, confusing the viewer |
| Entry added from combined view | Account user | Individual animal's profile, combined view | Entry created on the specific animal's routine, combined view updated | Entry assigned to wrong animal, time conflicts not surfaced |
| Entry edited in combined view | Account user | Individual animal's profile, combined view | Both views reflect the change | Edit affects wrong animal, sync fails silently |
| Entry edited on individual profile | Account user | Combined view | Combined view reflects the updated time or content | Combined view not refreshed, carer sees stale data |
| Entry removed from combined view | Account user | Individual animal's profile, combined view | Entry removed from both views | Accidental deletion of critical routine step |
| Animal added to account | Account user | Combined view | New animal's routine entries appear in combined timeline | Empty routine for new animal creates confusing gaps |
| Animal removed from account | Account user | Combined view | Animal's entries removed from combined timeline | Removal leaves orphaned "All animals" entries that referenced the removed animal |
Requirement highlights¶
MVP¶
- Unified daily timeline across all animals on the account
- Entries associated with a specific animal or all animals
- Add and edit entries from the combined view, synced with individual profiles
- Bidirectional sync between combined view and individual animal routines
See MVP deep dive for detailed requirements.
Future¶
- Sharing the combined daily routine view with recipients
- Drag-and-drop reordering of timeline entries
- Conflict detection (overlapping activities for the same animal)
- Recurring schedules or templates (e.g., weekday vs weekend routines)
- Professional account combined views (how this applies to boarding facilities, etc.)