Case file, system build from a prototype
The plan was all there. The system under it was not.
Each December, police officers and firefighters in Jonesborough, Tennessee take local kids shopping. Shop with a Cop and Firefighter came with a detailed prototype. Turning it into a working system was the job.
- Starting problem
- A detailed prototype that ran in a single browser
- Role
- Season one scope, the working system, security, launch
- What shipped
- Three public forms and the staff system behind them
- Verified outcome
- Staff signed off. Registration opened on its own on November 1, 2026.
Keep the prototype as the blueprint.
The program had done careful work. Its prototype covered every form, field and rule, along with the household numbering, the shopping sheets and the printable forms. That plan stayed the blueprint for the whole build.
A prototype states the plan. It cannot run a program. The working system, the security and the launch were still ahead, and they were the job Tri-Cities AI Lab was hired to do.
Scope season one to the jobs that take the most staff time.
The first decision was what to leave out. Season one went after the jobs that take the most staff time, and the rest of the plan waits for a later season.
Build the public forms for phones and for everyone.
Child registration, sponsor sign-up and volunteer sign-up are three public forms, built to WCAG 2.1 AA and working on phones. All three have spam protection.
Keep the decisions and the sending in staff hands.
Staff sign in with a single-use link sent by email, so there are no passwords to manage. A review inbox lets them approve or deny with recorded reasons, and they assign the event at approval. Household numbers are assigned automatically, and the roster keeps a full change history.
Staff also assign sponsors. Each sponsor gets one email with every shopping sheet attached, and sheets print for children the program shops for. Email goes out only when staff choose to send it. A printable forms library and spreadsheet exports cover the rest of the office work.
Protect the records, and test away from them.
This system holds family records, so it also has to end them. They delete automatically 90 days after the season's last event. A separate review copy gave staff a place to test everything without touching real families.
True now.
- The system is live at swacf.jonesboroughtn.org, on the town's own domain.
- Three public forms take child registrations, sponsor sign-ups and volunteer sign-ups.
- Review, numbering, shopping sheets and email run from one working system.
- Staff tested it thoroughly and signed off.
- Registration opened on its own at midnight on November 1, 2026.
Not measured.
How much staff time the system saves. Registration opened on November 1, 2026, and a full season has not run on it yet. A number goes here only after it has been measured.
Every screenshot on this page shows made-up test families. No real family data appears here.
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