On-Demand Service Platforms: Architecture for Home Services Apps

The on-demand economy has transformed how we access services—from rides to food to home repairs. Building SiMahir, a home services platform connecting Indonesian households with skilled professionals for laundry, AC servicing, electrical work, and plumbing, taught us how to architect platforms that handle the unique complexity of service marketplaces.

The Home Services Challenge

Unlike product marketplaces, service marketplaces must handle:

• Time-based inventory — Professionals have limited hours
• Geographic constraints — Services are delivered in person
• Variable scope — Jobs rarely go exactly as planned
• Trust requirements — Strangers entering homes
• Quality control — Ensuring consistent service standards

SiMahir needed to solve all of these while being accessible to users with varying technical sophistication.

Platform Components

Customer Mobile App

The customer app needed to make booking services as easy as ordering food:

Service Selection:

• Browse available services by category
• View pricing and estimated duration
• See provider ratings and reviews
• Check real-time availability

Booking Flow:

• Select service type and specifics
• Choose date and time slot
• Add address and access instructions
• Confirm and pay

Active Job Tracking:

• Provider en-route tracking
• Real-time status updates
• Direct communication with provider
• Emergency support access

Provider App

Service providers needed tools to manage their work efficiently:

Availability Management:

• Set working hours and days
• Block time for breaks or personal appointments
• Manage service area coverage
• Handle emergency schedule changes

Job Management:

• View upcoming appointments
• Accept or decline new requests
• Navigate to job locations
• Document work with photos

Technical Architecture

Scheduling Engine

The heart of an on-demand platform is its scheduling system. Ours handles:

Availability Calculation:

• Provider working hours
• Existing bookings
• Travel time between jobs
• Buffer time for overruns

Smart Matching:

• Skills matching (not every technician handles every job)
• Geographic optimization
• Provider preferences
• Load balancing

Location Services

Home services require sophisticated location handling:

Address Management:

• Indonesian address parsing (often non-standard)
• Landmark-based instructions
• GPS coordinate capture
• Access point documentation

Routing:

• Optimal route calculation
• Real-time traffic consideration
• Multi-stop optimization
• Arrival time estimation

Handling the Unpredictable

Home services rarely go exactly as planned. We built systems to handle the unexpected:

Scope Changes

When a simple AC cleaning reveals a bigger issue:

• Mid-job scope expansion workflow
• Customer approval required
• Price adjustment transparency
• Documentation requirements

Cancellations and Rescheduling

Life happens on both sides:

• Flexible cancellation policies
• Automatic rescheduling options
• Provider protection for last-minute cancellations
• No-show handling

Results

SiMahir has achieved strong product-market fit:

Key Learnings

1. Provider Experience Matters Equally

Happy providers deliver better service. Investing in provider tools and support pays dividends in customer satisfaction.

2. Transparency Builds Trust

Clear pricing, real-time tracking, and honest communication reduce anxiety when letting strangers into your home.

3. Design for Edge Cases

The unusual situations—scope changes, no-access, disputes—define customer experience more than smooth transactions.

4. Local Context is Critical

Payment preferences, address formats, communication styles—everything needs localization beyond simple translation.

On-demand service platforms are complex organisms with many moving parts. Success comes from relentlessly focusing on the experience for all participants—customers, providers, and operations teams—while building technical infrastructure that can handle the inherent unpredictability of real-world services.