7 tips for building a well-loved app with quickbase
TRANSCRIPT
7 Attributes of a Scalable App that is Beloved by All
Rich Crum
Co-Founder, VeilSun, Inc.
James Cosman
Co-Founder, VeilSun, Inc.
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① Introductions
② Why is Adoption Important?
③ How Human’s Interact with Software
④ The 7 Attributes of Scalable Apps that are Beloved by All
⑤ Q&A
AGENDA
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About Your Presenters
James Cosman
•Co-founder, VeilSun
•6 years in QuickBase serving 100+ clients
•Business Process Background
•MBA, Rice University
Rich Crum
•Co-founder, VeilSun
•25+ years in technology development and implementation
•11 years in QuickBase serving all company sizes
•Masters, Telecommunication Management
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What VeilSun Does
Build QuickBase
Fix QuickBase
Extend QuickBase
Support QuickBasePictured: Qscheduler – VeilSun’s most popular extension
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VeilSun “By the Numbers”
133 Clients served
#1 THE top-reviewed
Solution Provider
31 Industries served
41 5-Star Reviews
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Estimated worldwide loss per year from failed IT Projects*:
Adoption Matters!
$6.2 Trillion
* Sessions, Roger. The IT Complex Crisis: Danger and Opportunity
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Where do you know these robots from?
R2-D2 from
Star Wars
War Games
Rosie from
The Jetsons
Samantha
from “Her”
HAL from
2001: A Space
Odyssey
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How We Communicate with Software
“[Users] want personality, they want something that will joke or be more present.”- From “Speak up! Advertisers Want You to Talk with New Apps”. NPR 2013
"Media are treated politely, they can invade our body space, they can have personalities that match our own, they can be a team mate, and they can elicit gender stereotypes. Media can evoke responses, demand attention, threaten us, influence memories, and change ideas of what is natural. Media are full participants in our social and natural world.”- From “The Media Equation - How People Treat Computers, Television, and New
Media like Real People and Places” 1997
Clifford Nass
Stanford Professor
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What attributes DO you want?
What do you want in a Co-Worker?
What Attributes DO you NOT want?
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Communicate the need for and purpose of the
new application
Enlist champions to help
Build excitement around the app
“This app is not a threat, it is your best friend!”
Introduce early and communicate frequently
Introducing your App
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Think deeply and get professional feedback about
your app’s architecture BEFORE building your app,
considering:
1. How your data relates
2. The workflow you want to achieve
3. Reporting needs
4. Data volume
App Architecture Is Key to Scalability
Tip:Try LucidChartwww.lucidchart.com
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Creating Workflow in QuickBase:
Define RolesTip:
Download our Roles Definition Worksheetinfo.veilsun.com/empower2015password:Empower15
For each Role, define:
1. Their primary functions in
QuickBase (what they will do)
2. Their reports
3. Their homepage
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Creating Workflow in QuickBase:
URL ButtonsYou can write buttons to:
Add Records
Move records from one table to
another
1-Click editing of an existing record
Direct users to a specific form
Much more! Learn more at
info.veilsun.com/empower2015
These Things
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Project Builder
•By VeilSun
•Templates held outside of your live tables
•Pre-choose task
Creating Workflow in QuickBase:
“Record Generators”Tools that allow you to create many records at 1x
Copy Parent-Child
• Native
• Easy setup
• Template model
•Trigger actions automatically
•Extremely flexible
•No coding necessary
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Native Tools
• QuickBase Sync
• Email Notifications (use w/ caution)
• Table-to-Table Import
Creating Workflow in QuickBase:
Some Other Helpful QuickBase Workflow Tools
Third-Party Tools
QScheduler
Project Builder
FileUp+
FormNav
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Building an Attractive User Experience
Cell Colorization• Statuses
• Conditions
• Priorities
Icons• Statuses
• Conditions
• Priorities
• Buttons
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① Define an app’s “job” early and
constantly evaluate against this “job”
② Identify and measure against Success
Metrics
③ Get constant feedback
Does it do its Job?
Tip:Download our App Feedback Appinfo.veilsun.com/empower 2015
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① Change Management Plan
② Planned releases and roadmap
③ Continual feedback loop
④ Yearly “Health Checks”
Components of a Well-Supported App
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① PLAN your app
② COMMUNICATE your app
③ EVALUATE your app
④ SUPPORT your app
In Summary Development isn’t evenhalf the battle