Brainback
journalproduct

Designing the parent dashboard

The hardest privacy decisions we've made.

product
Mar 19, 20266 minDesign

The parent dashboard was the hardest surface to design in the entire product. Every decision had to hold two constraints at once: give parents real signal, and give kids real privacy.

We started with the metrics parents actually need. It turns out those are simple: is my child using this consistently, is the effort real, and is progress happening. Time-on-task, hints used, explain-back scores, recall streaks, and Brain score cover all three.

Then we spent a month deciding what parents should not see. The answers we landed on: no attempt content, no tutor responses, no explain-back text, no recall answers, no session titles. Effort patterns yes. Content no.

The compromise nobody asked for was the compromise nobody needed. Parents get the honest signal. Kids keep the space where they can be wrong without being watched. Both trust the product more for it.


Filed by Design on Mar 19, 2026. Under Product.

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