CASE_STUDIES / #PROJ-001 / PAWS_PARADISE
DEPLOYED·FULL-STACK·2023 — PRESENT

Designing a Constraint-Driven Booking System for Pet Services

A multi-role admin platform handling real-time booking logic, dynamic pricing, slot management, and customer operations for a US-based pet lodging and daycare business.

PLATFORM
Full-Stack Web + Mobile
STACK
Next.js, GraphQL, Node.js, AWS EC2
ROLE
Full-Stack Developer
STATUS
Active · Production
[ DASHBOARD_SCREENSHOT.PNG ]
01

The Challenge of System Complexity.

The pet lodging platform needed to coordinate multiple service types — lodging, daycare, and grooming — with distinct booking rules, time-based slot management, per-pet configurations, and real-time service combinations. In parallel, the system needed to ensure accurate billing, transactional consistency, and real-time visibility for staff across all devices and service scenarios. The challenge was not building individual features but designing the interconnected system that is operationally reliable and scalable.

01_ROLES

Multiple Service Roles

Admin, staff, and customer roles each needed distinct permissions, views, and workflows within the same system.

02_SCHEDULING

Temporal Constraints

Each service type had unique time rules — lodging by night, daycare by day-slot, grooming by appointment window.

03_PERFORMANCE

Physical Unit Management

Real-time room and slot availability had to reflect check-ins, check-outs, and maintenance states across 90+ units.

04_PRICING

Financial Integrity

Pricing varied by service, pet size, duration, and add-ons. Calculations needed to be accurate and auditable.

05_NOTIFICATIONS

Operational Visibility

Staff needed real-time updates on arrivals, departures, and occupancy without manual refresh or data lag.

06_SCALE

Maintainable Practice

The codebase had to remain clean and extensible as new service types and business rules were added over time.

02

THE SOLUTIONS

To address these challenges, I designed a constraint-driven system where booking logic, pricing, and resource allocation are separate composable components, maintained through a unified API, and remain auditable across every workflow.

01 / UNIFIED BOOKING ENGINE

Unified Booking Engine

A single booking service handles the orchestration of form steps, deposits, service selection, pet assignment, unit allocation, and confirmation — keeping the booking flow consistent and auditable across service types.

BOOKING_FLOW.STEPS
[ STEPS_VISUALIZATION ]
02 / TIME_BASED_AVAILABILITY

Time-Based Availability & Conflict Detection

Availability checks run against existing bookings with overlap detection and buffer logic. This eliminates double-booking and ensures accurate slot counts across lodging, daycare, and grooming simultaneously.

WEEKLY_AVAILABILITY.GRID
[ CALENDAR_VISUALIZATION ]
03 / RESOURCE_ALLOCATION

Resource Allocation System

Rooms and grooming slots are modeled as allocatable resources with state machines — vacant, reserved, occupied, under maintenance. Real-time unit maps give staff visual clarity across all 90+ units at once.

UNIT_MAP.STATUS
[ UNITMAP_VISUALIZATION ]
04 / PRICING_ENGINE

Composable Pricing Engine

Pricing is computed from a rule graph — base rate × duration × pet size + add-ons − discounts. Each transaction is broken down line by line so clients and staff see exactly what they're paying for and why.

PRICE_BREAKDOWN.RECEIPT
[ RECEIPT_VISUALIZATION ]
05 / FINANCIAL_SYSTEM

Transaction-Safe Financial System

All billing is processed in atomic operations with invoice and receipt generation. Payments are logged with references, enabling full audit trails, refund tracking, and revenue reporting.

TRANSACTIONS.LEDGER
[ TABLE_VISUALIZATION ]
06 / ADMIN_SYSTEM

Configurable Admin System

An admin layer allows business owners to configure service types, pricing rules, grooming schedules, and unit configurations without touching code — making the system adaptable as the business grows.

ADMIN_CONFIG.PANEL
[ CONFIG_VISUALIZATION ]
03

THE IMPLEMENTATION

To make the system usable in real operations, I designed a workflow-driven dashboard and booking experience.

01

CENTRALIZED DASHBOARD

A single view for daily operations — check-ins, check-outs, occupancy counts, and active bookings across all service types.

[ DASHBOARD_STAT_CARDS ]
02

BOOKING MANAGEMENT + ROOM VISIBILITY

Staff can view all active bookings filtered by service type, with real-time room assignment and status.

[ BOOKINGS_TABLE ]
03

STEP-BASED BOOKING FLOW

A 6-step guided flow ensures all required data is captured before confirmation — service, pets, dates, units, add-ons, summary.

[ BOOKING_FLOW_STEPPER ]
04

REAL-TIME AVAILABILITY & UNIT SELECTION

Unit selection updates live based on dates and service type. The visual unit map lets staff assign rooms with full context of what's occupied.

[ UNIT_MANAGEMENT_MAP ]
05

DYNAMIC PRICING & SUMMARY

The booking summary computes totals in real-time as options change. Discounts are applied and broken down per pet.

[ BOOKING_SUMMARY_PRICING ]
06

GROOMING SCHEDULE SYSTEM

Grooming slots are managed on a weekly calendar. Staff can add slots, view bookings by time, and avoid scheduling conflicts.

[ GROOMING_CALENDAR ]
07

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Invoices and receipts are generated per booking with full line-item detail. Revenue is tracked in the reports dashboard.

[ RECEIPT_REPORT_DASHBOARD ]
04

KEY DESIGN DECISIONS

SEPARATED CONCERNS

Booking, pricing, availability, and notifications are decoupled services — each independently testable and replaceable.

VALIDATED STATE

Every booking step validates before proceeding. Invalid states are impossible by design, not caught after the fact.

DESIGNED FOR REAL WORKFLOWS

Every feature was designed around how staff actually operate — not theoretical use cases. Real data, real edge cases.

MADE CONSTRAINTS VISIBLE

Pricing breakdowns, unit states, and booking summaries expose system logic to users — building trust through transparency.

05

THE IMPACT

The platform is actively used in production by a US-based pet lodging business. It replaced a manual booking process, reduced scheduling errors, and gave staff real-time operational visibility across all service types. The system handles lodging, daycare, and grooming bookings simultaneously with consistent data integrity.

Eliminated double-booking through conflict detection
Automated pricing calculations across all service types
Real-time room and slot visibility for 90+ units
Full invoice and receipt generation per transaction
Multi-role access with distinct staff and admin workflows
Scalable architecture ready for new service types