Building a Potty Training App

Over the holiday break I started on something new. I always build something to learn something, it's just how I best learn. So I wanted to learn about some of the new extensions to apple health, realtime notifications, etc. I also wanted to play with LLM's and some of the new 3D generators. So I set out to build a potty training app. But not just any potty training app one that both a small kid and an older kid would want to use, one that parents would get valuable feedback from, and one that used the latest in technology to pull it off. I set off with ChatGPT to help me build it.

The features

As you set out to build anything you need to understand the core features and this was no different, I started with the need for a timer. I wanted my son to sit on the potty for 10 minutes and he was anxious, playing games, running in and out, I was frustrated. But then I tried setting a timer in the clock for 10 minutes and telling him to sit until the timer went off… IT WORKED! but having to set my phone in there with the timer while he just played on his wasn’t the best. If I just had something that could hold his attention for the 10 minutes then I would be perfect. So I incorporated little games, and again it worked! So with this success in hand I had an idea in mind.

Let’s build a custom app that at it’s core had a timer function with little mini-games or activities that could hold a kid’s attention for 10 minutes. I’ve seen similar things like Colgate’s Hum toothbrush for kids we even used it with our kids and they loved the challenge and virtual gifts. So I set out to make something similar. But let’s not forget the adults, they will be the reason the kid uses the app so we’ll need an incentive for them… Apple Health! What if we could track the success rate and offer suggestions for potty training!

After confirming all of this with ChatGPT I came up with the following list of features:

• Core

  • A timer system with notifications to help both parent and kid keep a schedule

  • A way to track success or attempt and graph that for the parents over time

  • Interactive “Busy” activities to keep a child occupied during each attempt

  • Virtual rewards to keep the child engaged and positive

  • A compelling theme to excite

  • COPPA compliance (Minimal data collection, Parent Opt-In)

• Optional

  • Parent dashboard with better than Apple health diagrams and training tips

  • Hydration and Hygiene tracking (Could help)

  • Overall mission tracking (set an end goal)

  • Parent data sharing (in a COPPA-compliant way)

  • Add-ons like character expansions, mission expansions, themes, etc.

Free or Paid

This is another area where ChatGPT helped, I needed to do market research on how many users I would potentially have and how to monetize the app, mainly just to cover the cost of me developing it and any little bit I can make to make my personal dev fee smaller :)

The market research showed that a $.99 app would cover the cost of development since the app is likely to have high churn. Kids only potty train once, and the app is not likely to be of use past that. For those who need it longer, having in-app purchases for things like hydration or hygiene will help extend past the potty training phase. But all in all it’s a one time throw away purchase.

All of the freemium models would require some kind of advertising or hinder the functionality of the app by having to gate features so a one time purchase with the possibility of in-app purchases made sense.

So What’s the Theme?

Potty Heroes is an amalgamation of several of my kids’ favorite TV shows. Paw Patrol, Wonder Pets, and similar franchises where teamwork, engaging characters, and fun missions are at the heart of the experience. Each Potty Hero is designed to represent an essential aspect of the potty training journey, ensuring the app is not only helpful but also highly relatable to toddlers and young kids.

The characters are inspired by popular emojis, giving them a universal appeal and an instant sense of familiarity. From Captain Flush, the brave leader who embodies confidence and courage, to Splashy the Soap, the bubbly hygiene expert, each character adds its own charm and expertise. The goal was to make the heroes not only educational but also fun, creating a cast that kids would eagerly interact with.

I used a combination of image generation, editing, and 3d model generation and animation tools to create the characters… or at least enough to continue for now.

Let’s get coding

I wanted to start fleshing out the interface and some of the initial work to get a sense of how hard this was going to be. I was pleasantly surprised that it’s come together so well and I was able to get more work done than I thought I would.

I was able to get the 3d model integrated with an animation and create a screen for consent.

I was also able to stub out a “Heros Dashboard” and get all of the access flow integrated!

What Should I Include in the Next Update

That’s it for now, my next thing to tackle is to build the first game and timer and then notifications.