Building apps in QuickBase is fast and easy. However, careful planning is the key to success. In this session, QuickBase Sales Engineer Benjamin Buday will take you on a step-by-step process for diagramming an app's structure and creating an efficient blueprint for success. Whether you're building an app from scratch or customizing a current one, you'll walk away with the tools you need to match your app's structure to your business process and craft an elegant, powerful app.

2. Diagramming Your
QuickBase Apps
How to create blueprints for
your app before you build
Benjamin Buday
Sales Engineer, Intuit QuickBase

3. #EMPOWER2015
Benjamin Buday
Sales Engineer, Intuit QuickBase
From Boston, Massachusetts
Two years with Intuit QuickBase
Trains users, builds proof-of-concept apps
May have seen/heard him on QuickBase webinars!

4. #EMPOWER2015
Diagramming a QuickBase App
Agenda
• What is diagramming?
• Why should you diagram your app idea?
• What are some ways I can diagram?
• Defining Basic QuickBase Terms
• Diagramming Examples

5. #EMPOWER2015
What is Diagramming?
Diagramming is creating a visual display of your new app
idea, showing how data will flow through the app.
TasksProjects

6. #EMPOWER2015
Why Diagram an Idea First?
• Helps you decide what tables you’ll need
• Helps you decide how to relate them
• Helps you avoid unnecessary relationships, tables and fields
• Helps you decide in what tables fields should go
• Provides blueprints to any future owners/builders
• Can be used as reference to help new builders start their own
apps

7. #EMPOWER2015
What are some ways I can diagram?
• Software
– Microsoft Visio
– Gliffy
• By hand
– Paper
– Whiteboard

8. #EMPOWER2015
Defining Terms
• Tables
• Records
• Fields
• Relationships
- Special Fields
• Lookup Fields
• Summary Fields

9. #EMPOWER2015
Defining Terms - Tables
• Tables – containers that collect similar records
- A Projects table to capture projects
- A Tasks table to capture Tasks
- A Customers table to track your clients

10. #EMPOWER2015
Defining Terms - Records
• Records – like a document – captures specific information by way of
fields. Tables are comprised of similar records.
- Projects
- Orders
- Activities
- Calls
- Customers

11. #EMPOWER2015
Defining Terms - Fields
• Fields – pieces of data hold a specific value and are
part of a record. Many field types exist and can be
used for a number of purposes.
- Text fields
• Project name
• Description
• Status (multiple-choice)
- Numeric fields
• Financial values
• Quantities
- Date fields
- User Fields

12. #EMPOWER2015
Defining Terms - Relationships
• Relationships – relating tables to one another. Relationships allow you to
tie records of differing tables together, such as Projects and Tasks, or
Customers and Activities.
- Relationships are chiefly one-to-many, meaning one record in a table can have
many records from another table, such as one Project having many Tasks.
TasksProjects
ActivitiesCustomers
Invoices

13. #EMPOWER2015
Defining Terms – Lookup and Summary Fields
• Relationships allow you to make two special fields that interact with data
between two related tables:
- Lookup fields – allows the details/child table to look up to the master/parent
table and pull information down
- Summary fields – allows the master/parent table to summarize numeric and date
values from the details/child table

14. #EMPOWER2015
Defining Terms – Lookup and Summary Fields
• Relationships allow you to make two special fields that interact with data
between two related tables:
- Lookup fields – allows the details/child table to look up to the master/parent
table and pull information down
- Summary fields – allows the master/parent table to summarize numeric and date
values from the details/child table
TasksProjects
Fields
• Project Name
• Project Manager
• Priority
Fields
• Task Name
• Assigned to
• Status
• Hours Allocated
• Project Name
Fields
• Project Name
Lookup
Field

15. #EMPOWER2015
Defining Terms – Lookup and Summary Fields
• Relationships allow you to make two special fields that interact with data
between two related tables:
- Lookup fields – allows the details/child table to look up to the master/parent
table and pull information down
- Summary fields – allows the master/parent table to summarize numeric and date
values from the details/child table
TasksProjects
Fields
• Project Name
• Project Manager
• Priority
• Hours Allocated for
All Tasks
Fields
• Task Name
• Assigned to
• Status
• Hours Allocated
Summary
Field
Fields
• Task Name
• Assigned to
• Status
• Hours Allocated

16. #EMPOWER2015
Apply Your Knowledge
• Thinking of building a new app? Try diagramming it first and see what
your preferred diagramming style is – your methods will evolve the more
you diagram
• Have an existing app? Try diagramming it. Since app diagrams can be
good blueprints for future app managers, try taking an existing app you
built or inherited diagramming it out.
• Get some more ideas from QuickBase experts. QuickBase Sales
Engineers will be on-hand during Empower and would be happy to help
you get started with diagramming. Also, our QuickBase Service Providers
would be happy to help.

17. THANK YOU