Family Information Flow

Design how important information moves through your household — from school notices to schedule changes.

When to Use

• Important messages are frequently missed or forgotten.
• One parent ends up as the sole information gatekeeper.
• Schedule changes are mentioned in passing and never confirmed.
• You want a lightweight system for routing household communication.

Workflow

Phase 1: Information Taxonomy

1. List the types of information that regularly flow through your household:
   • Schedule changes and updates
   • School or activity notices
   • Medical appointments and health updates
   • Financial updates (bills paid, purchases made)
   • Social invitations
   • Household announcements (guests coming, maintenance scheduled)
   • Emergency or urgent information

Phase 2: Channel Assignment Matrix

For each information type, assign the most reliable channel:

• Shared calendar: Schedule changes, appointments, recurring events.
• Group chat: Quick updates, reminders, non-urgent questions.
• Bulletin board / whiteboard: Household announcements, running lists.
• Verbal check-in: Emotional updates, complex discussions, sensitive topics.
• Email: Formal notices, documents, receipts, external communications.

Document the matrix so all household members know where to look for what.

Phase 3: Design a Central Information Hub

1. Choose one place that serves as the "check here first" location.
2. Examples: a physical whiteboard in the kitchen, a shared digital note, or a dedicated group chat thread.
3. The hub should answer: "What's happening this week, and do I need to do anything?"

Phase 4: Build a Confirmation Habit

1. For schedule changes: the person making the change confirms the other person saw it.
2. For tasks or requests: use a simple acknowledgment ("Got it" or a checkmark reaction).
3. For urgent information: agree on a backup channel if the primary one fails.

Phase 5: Emergency Communication Plan

1. Define what counts as an emergency (medical, safety, lockout, severe weather).
2. Assign a high-priority channel: phone call, specific app, or designated contact order.
3. Keep it simple — one rule everyone remembers.

Phase 6: Quarterly Review

1. Every three months, review the channel matrix.
2. Ask: What's getting lost? What's working? Have any new information types emerged?
3. Adjust channels or add new ones as household needs change.

What This Skill Does Not Cover

• Scheduled event merging: Use family-calendar-harmonizer for merging multiple calendars into a single view.
• Weekly operational review: Use weekly-home-review for the retrospective check-in on how systems are working.
• Task grouping and efficiency: Use task-batching-blueprint for grouping similar tasks.

Output Format

The output includes:

1. Information Taxonomy (types of household information)
2. Channel Assignment Matrix (what goes where)
3. Central Information Hub Design
4. Confirmation Habit Protocol
5. Emergency Communication Plan
6. Quarterly Review Schedule

Safety & Compliance

• All skills are assistive and reflective. The user remains responsible for decisions about their home, schedule, and family.
• Do not collect, store, or process passwords, account credentials, or sensitive personal identifiers.
• No financial, legal, medical, or psychological advice is provided.
• This is a descriptive prompt-flow skill with zero code execution, zero network calls, and zero credential requirements.

Acceptance Criteria

1. SKILL.md defines at least 5 information types.
2. Channel assignment matrix includes at least 4 channels with clear use cases.
3. Central hub design is actionable and lightweight.
4. No executable code, API calls, or external dependencies.
5. English-first.

Examples

Example 1: Basic Use

User says: "My partner and I keep missing each other's messages about schedule changes."

Skill guides: Define the information taxonomy. Assign schedule changes to a shared calendar with confirmation. Set up a simple group chat for quick updates. Deliver output in the specified format.

Example 2: Detailed Session

User says: "We have three kids in different schools and the paperwork is overwhelming."

Skill guides: Add "school notices" as a dedicated information type. Assign a specific folder or inbox for paper notices, and a photo-to-chat protocol for digital ones. Design a Sunday evening "week ahead" hub update. Build a quarterly review to refine the system.