TL;DR
Solved the tedious manual process of distinguishing students with identical names in academies using an automatic suffix generation system. When there are 3 students named John Smith, they automatically become A, B, and C.
A Daily Challenge in Education Centers
“Teacher, I’m John Smith from grade 3!” “Oh, the John Smith from class 2 or class 5?”
This happens every day in education centers. Popular names can have 5-6 students with the same name in a single academy. In Excel, they’re usually managed like this:
John Smith (3-2)
John Smith (3-5)
John Smith (4-1)
The problem? Someone has to do this manually. Every time a new student registers:
- Check if there’s a duplicate name
- Decide how to distinguish them
- Manually add something after the name
It’s tedious, error-prone, and inconsistent.
The Power of Automation
Our system is simple. When duplicate names are registered, it automatically adds A, B, C.
How It Works
- First John Smith registers
- System: “No John Smith found. Save as John Smith”
- Result:
John Smith
- Second John Smith registers
- System: “Oh, there’s already a John Smith”
- Existing John Smith → Automatically changed to
John Smith A - New John Smith → Saved as
John Smith B
- Third John Smith registers
- System: “There’s John Smith A and B”
- New John Smith → Saved as
John Smith C
Core Logic
Name input → Duplicate check → Generate suffix if exists → Auto save
Suffix generation rules:
- Start from A (alphabetical order)
- Maximum up to Z (supports up to 26 people)
- Deleted student’s suffix is not reused (prevents confusion)
Real Implementation Considerations
1. Campus-based Separation
Large academies have multiple branches. There’s no need to distinguish between John Smith at the Manhattan branch and John Smith at the Brooklyn branch.
Manhattan: John Smith, John Smith A, John Smith B
Brooklyn: John Smith, John Smith A (managed independently)
2. Display Name vs Actual Name
- Original name:
John Smith(unchanging) - Display name:
John Smith B(varies by campus)
This separation allows:
- Original name preserved even when transferring
- Automatic suffix generation appropriate for each campus
- Use of original names for statistics and overall queries
3. User Experience
Before (Manual)
Staff: "There's a duplicate name. How should we distinguish?"
Parent: "Um... add the grade?"
Staff: (typing) "John Smith (Grade 3)"
After (Automatic)
Staff: (just registers)
System: "Automatically registered as John Smith B"
Parent: "That's convenient"
Unexpected Benefits
1. Consistency
All duplicates are managed by the same rule. The result is the same regardless of which staff member registers.
2. Search Convenience
Searching for “John Smith” shows A, B, C all together. No need to remember the suffix.
3. Statistical Accuracy
Since original names are preserved, statistics like “total number of John Smith students” are accurate.
4. Scalability
If more complex distinctions are needed later, just modify the logic. For example:
- A1, A2, B1, B2 (more duplicates)
- 2024A, 2024B (yearly distinction)
- Automatic grade addition instead of numbers
Small Automation, Big Impact
Duplicate name handling might seem like a small feature, but it’s a task that happens dozens of times daily. Automating this means:
- Staff: Register immediately without having to think
- Students/Parents: Less confusion with consistent name display
- System: Automatic data consistency guarantee
The key philosophy is “What doesn’t need human judgment should be handled by the system.”
Of course, special cases (like wanting to distinguish twins) can still be manually configured. But 99% is handled automatically.
Conclusion
You don’t need complex algorithms or AI to create value. Simple automation is often enough.
What’s important is finding and solving real users’ repetitive inconveniences.
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