Airtable

La gestion de projet ressemble davantage à une véritable expérience de création qu’à un processus monotone et ennuyeux. À mon avis, Airtable est l'outil idéal pour gérer vos projets de marketing ou de conception graphique.

Avantages

Interface utilisateur visuellement attrayante
Systèmes de suivi des tâches flexibles
Beaucoup de modèles de projets à choisir

Inconvénients

Potentiellement déroutant sans instructions
Autorisations utilisateur limitées
Interface Anglais seulement

I have used AirTable in several areas of my life, but the best example is with a high school program I volunteer with. We have 150 students with 15 advisors, with over 100 data points, in 20 locations. Prior to AirTable, keeping track of everything was a nightmare. Something as simple as trying to contact a student involved either all advisors adding all 150 students into their phone contact list (and update every year) or calling the lead advisor who had to look through a stack of papers to find a number. With AirTable it was as simple as typing in their name and pressing their cell number which automatically dialed them up. I could go on and on about how much AirTable has changed the way I do many aspects of my business and personal life, this was just an example to show how easy it makes things.

Avantages

The fact that basically all database applications I tried were basically meant for enterprise-level businesses, and generally required a steep learning curve to even set up. I only needed basic database functionality, and to be able to easily edit single or groups of entries. AirTable solved this perfectly. Also, the team over there seem to be constantly adding on new functionality, which I see and realize that could solve problems I did not even realize I had. The best part is just how easy it is to use. I have some people on my team that are far from tech-savvy, and with a quick overview, they were even able to utilize it.

Inconvénients

Their forms have a bit to be desired, but that is mostly just the appearance when I send them out. Also when sorting and filtering, it requires 3 or so clicks, when I think they could make it one.

Despite it's cost and some features we'd still like to see, Airtable is an absolute no-brainer for us. We can track our constituents and their engagement so much more easily than with Excel or a random CRM that doesn't really match our needs. I also have moved most of my content planning, resource banking, quote caching, and attendance taking to Airtable. It's honestly SO multifunctional!

Avantages

First: It's a database that is actually aesthetically attractive. AND it's easier to use and manipulate than Excel. AND you can custom build what you need, rather than finagling a pre-built CRM for your specific needs. Also all of the different visual ways of looking at the data/records are key.

Inconvénients

There are some features that are still lacking. Like the ability to read what's in a cell and do something with that information. It's also quite expensive, especially for a non-profit like us.

We use it to manage almost every single area of our weekly running. Leaders update their group's attendance online, people submit their details and photo online and as mentioned above we use it from COVID-19 health checks and contact tracing.

Avantages

When the pandemic hit, within a few weeks, we had a custom-made solution which allowed members to do the health check from home and sign in and out of venues all using a QR code or weblink.

We now have a COVID protocol with contact tracing and have been infection free for 5 months thanks to our AirTable App which does health checks from home and contact tracing also.

Inconvénients

As a charity with many volunteers, if we used the paid version, it would be very expensive. We are using the free tier at the moment but will need to upgrade soon.

Airtable has very specific uses that would be hard to replicate anywhere else with another piece of software. It has many flaws and drawbacks, but once you accept them (and find ways to circumvent them) it can be quite a handy and interesting piece of software.

Avantages

When I first started to use Airtable, I came away deeply frustrated with it's usability. It's sometimes slow, straightly obtuse to use and has many "pending features" that would be extremely helpful for some of the simplest of tasks.

However, there came a time when I had to organise a league table for a tournament over the internet, and all of sudden, Airtable clicked.

What Airtable is good at is creating a database of entries for a specific use, so for example, making an internet registration form where a user can enter data and "register" their interest in a particular thing is so quick and easy to do.

I created an application form which auto stored the data into a highly organised table that I could then use however I wanted (I created a league table from the registered users with ease and shared the results of the league as the scoring progressed) - all via the internet, I don't know of a way that I could have achieved this without AirTable, Google Docs would have been a possible solution, but Airtable allows you to add attachments easily (so images, etc) as well as allowing you to manipulate (And hide) data in any way you can think of using Rollups and Lookups - two of it's most powerful features.

Once you get used to it, Airtable becomes useful, and I can see myself using it again and again when I want to organise a very specific and distributed task on the internet.

Inconvénients

Don't think this is Excel in a different disguise, it's not, it's not as adaptable and not as powerful as Excel. You couldn't use it to track a project or manage a holiday system or anything like that, but creating a full customer list for a newsletter? Yep, easy, that's the kind of thing it DOES do really well.

It could use a few more features on the free tier of the software (the paid tier unlocks "blocks" - which is a strange name for plugins, which allow you to view the data in different visual ways but ultimately it's not as well integrated as it should be and therefore has a limited use)

Another thing is that Airtables mobile interface is woeful compared to it's desktop version, and for some reason you can't access the desktop website via mobile. I have no idea what compelled them to make this decision but it's something they need to address in the future. The mobile layout is next to useless.