Introduction

Building business software with Airtable can streamline your operations and enhance efficiency. Follow these six steps to create a custom solution tailored to your needs.

The Steps

Building business software with Airtable can streamline your operations and boost productivity. Follow these 6 steps to ensure your software meets your business needs effectively.

1. Map Your Existing Process

Brain Dump Your Actions: Start by listing every action you take to complete your process. Don’t worry about perfection—just get everything down. Include who is responsible for each task, be it a role or department.

Visualize with Swimlane Diagrams: Use tools like Miro to create a swimlane workflow diagram. This helps visualize the steps and responsibilities across different personas or departments. Here’s a workflow diagram template for a smoother experience.

Organize Chronologically: Place your steps in chronological order within the respective swimlanes and connect each step to the next. Mark decision points and outcomes. Test your diagram by following each step to ensure the process flows correctly.

2. Define Software Requirements

Write User Stories: Adopt the Agile Software Development Methodology to write user stories. This sets the vision for what you’re building. Each user story should represent an ideal user experience within your business constraints. Learn how to write good user stories here.

Create a Requirement List: Compile a list of requirements based on the desired improvements from your mapped process. This list will guide your development in the next steps.

3. Model the Database

Design Your Database: List the tables, fields, field types, and relationships based on your user stories. Good database design can satisfy some user stories outright.

Documentation Tools: You can use a spreadsheet or document for this, or skip straight to configuring your database in real-time. We offer free SOPs and tools during our consultation calls to help with this step.

4. Develop Features

Modify Database Architecture: Align your database setup with each user story. Set up views and interfaces to interact with your data effectively.

Advanced Features: You may need to develop automations and integrations to meet all requirements. If you need help, our development team is available for advanced features like custom scripts and third-party integrations.

5. Validate the Build

Test Each User Story: Ensure each feature supports the desired requirements without bugs or issues. Testing varies by component:

• Automations/Integrations: Test with various inputs to ensure expected outputs.
• Tables/Fields: Verify that all attributes and types are correctly set.
• Views/Interfaces: Check that data is displayed as expected in all views and interfaces.

6. Create SOPs and Technical Documentation

Document the New Process: Create detailed SOPs to standardize the new process. Include:

• Resources and Tools Needed: List everything required to complete the process.
• Step-by-Step Instructions: Clearly outline each step.
• Additional Notes and FAQs: Include links to workflow diagrams and a video walkthrough for visual learners using Loom.

Role-Specific SOPs: If multiple roles are involved, separate the action items for each role to provide focused guidance. Store these SOPs centrally, such as in Airtable, for easy access.

Conclusion

Following these steps will help you build robust business software with Airtable, tailored to your specific needs and processes. If you need additional support or tools, our consultation calls are designed to provide everything you need to succeed.