Quickbase

Our apps were built by outside consultants but are maintained internally by finance and operations staff not IT

Our Estimator still has trouble navigating in a quick base. I’m not sure how difficult because I’m the only person to edit apps. I think it’s too hard for others in my company, but may be perception based on other areas of company struggle we have. They don't even try to figure out simple computer problems but rather come to me first.

It's fairly easy for non-technical citizen developers to build an application. We have seen team members without any development experience, doing wonders with Quick Base. It needs an understanding of QB configurations for which training/videos are available with Quick Base university. Using its API in code pages need little experience of handling it and can make better by introducing intellisense for users assistance.

To get the basics up and running it is not hard. With a little understanding of how a database works and what relationships are you can be off and running. Quick Base provides a ton of training now to help start people on the path and make sure they are going to build something silly.

Building relationships, functionality for pulling data from multiple tables into one table, and other similar higher functionality within Quick Base required some third-party support to become familiar with the ins and outs of how that works within Quick Base. For simple projects, such as due date tracking, quality performance templates, and other simple functions is fast, easy, and simple to build, design, and implement.

Quick Base is a citizen developers platform and no code / low code tool, however to deliver a feature set beyond the basic moving a spreadsheet of data to a database structure, requires someone within the organization or an outside experienced builder to really champion and develop the a complete solution. Without the extra efforts and expertise of someone who understands what the end results should look like and how to structure the data and the related tables to deliver these results, I could see this tool being only "kind of" used, ie just another tool where we stick data. The more advanced features and thus more expertise required from the designed/developer, is where the efficiencies and value begin to shine and create buy in from the end users. Quick Base does not require the ability to code, but it does require the ability to see how to how to structure data to deliver the desired results.

As long as you have a basic understanding of databases and a bit of a logical mind, you can build an app.

It is easy to set up an app for non-technical developers, as long as you have a strong App Diagram of how your app will be structured. I feel where app builders run into issues is when this vision is not clear, so they have to go back and rework table-to-table relationships or need to recreate or change a field type to get the data output required.

Someone that has never been acquainted with a relationship driven software would have great difficulty grasping the concept. It was very stressful learning the system when first introduced. There wasn't a lot of training available 4 years ago. Now there is an ample amount. I think today it would be much easier to create an application fresh into the game and would actually be a great training method for new employees to get acquainted with the system.

A citizen developer has to have some understanding of relational databases, data types, and formulas. I have found that people with experience in Microsoft Access or advanced Excel functionality are able to pick up quickly. They have recently developed the Quick Base University with training courses and those have been very helpful.

For a simple design, QB is amazing, it can literally be as easy as drag and drop. When keeping Apps on a basic level a person with no or little technical experience can develop a working functional App, Quickly, that suits their needs.

Quickbase is easy enough for a non technical person to develop simple apps and reports, but I've found it easier to develop the core functionality of the app myself and allow the non technical user to have the ability to make changes and fine tune the small stuff like field names and reports.

I was creating advanced, connected apps in 4 months. A person off the street could learn to build basic apps in a day.

I do not know how to code at all. The extent of my knowledge is you need to add a parenthesis to the end of a sentence if you start it with one! I have built pretty detailed apps without having to code really anything and if I did have an expert question Quick Base was always there to help!

To me, some computer knowledge is required for building apps in Quick Base. The complexity of your app in Quick Base is directly related to your understanding of logic and computer programming. A knowledge of Microsoft Excel and it’s included functions would help someone to be able to develop more complex apps.

We only have one department out of three that has built their own application. They enjoy being able to have their own customization right at their finger tips. Although they still come to us for questions or if we are able to do something outside of the norm, they enjoy utilizing it. I would say that the level of difficulty for them might be 6.

Moderate. Have to be IT-minded, though not actually know much about IT.

Basic understanding of how a Database works, and what you are trying to achieve are the two skills you need to be able to create an effective app.

They will train anyone with basic skills. Easy to learn and use.

Even though marketing touts ease of use for non-techs, I have not seen that in our company. Even those users who are more comfortable with spreadsheets and lists of data, it would be a significant stretch to expect them to build even a simple app with a few tables. Without a grasp of relational databases - how tables relate to each other and the importance of data normalization, the probability of creating and maintaining a usable app in an effective and efficient manner would be very low.

Quick Base is very easy to get started. For more robust advanced applications you will probably need to get some help from a certified developer or Quick Base Service Partner.

Most of our citizen developers have a pretty easy time building apps. When they want some advanced level stuff, then they ask for help from our more experienced users. We also use a third party Quickbase consultant MCF for things that require complicated solutions.

Obviously, it's difficult to say things like "easy" or "hard" for a general audience. I would say that Quick Base is easier to figure out and configure than a really complicated Excel worksheet -- but, then, I have little experience in Excel and don't find it intuitive. Finding help to do what you want to do is usually pretty easy and Quick Base is improving the range of things you can do and the ease with which you can do them all the time, so development gets both better and faster.

Coming from an engineering background, I have a little technical experience and have taken a coding course in college. I believe that makes Quick Base extremely easy to use. With a clear idea, building an application takes little time; maintaining an application is more labor intensive if requirements are constantly changing.

The level of technical know-how required to build a Quick Base app is very minimal. There is no help needed from IT personnel, and the time required to build an application can be days instead of weeks or months. I've seen business professionals with no coding experience build a simple Quick Base application within a day.