What Is Airtable? A Database That Looks Like a Spreadsheet
What Airtable is, in plain words: a base, tables, records and fields, and how linked records make it a database rather than a spreadsheet. Shown on a real requirements base for an online shop, with when a business analyst should use it.
Step by step
What it is
- What is Airtable?. Airtable looks like a spreadsheet but works like a database. That matters if you track requirements or stakeholders in a spreadsheet today. Here are its 4 building blocks, shown on a real requirements base.
- Base. This is a base called Online shop requirements. A base is the database for one project. It holds tables, the way an Excel workbook holds sheets.
Tables, records, fields
- Table. Each tab along the top is a table, and a table holds one kind of thing. The Requirements table holds requirements only.
- Record. Each row is a record. Track my order is one requirement, so it gets one row: one thing, one record.
- Field. Each column is a field, and every field has a type. Priority is a single select field, so everyone picks from the same MoSCoW words instead of typing their own.
Why it is a database
- Linked records. This is the big difference from a spreadsheet. The Owner of Track my order is not typed text. It is a link to a person's record in another table. Open the Stakeholders tab. Every person is a record here, with fields for role, influence and interest. The link shows on both sides. The Owns requirements field lists what each person owns. Airtable filled it in from the Owner links, so nobody typed it twice.
A record up close
- Record. Go back to the Requirements tab to look at one record up close. Click the expand arrow at the start of the Track my order row. The record opens as a card. The card shows every field of the record, from the ID down to the Description. That makes it easy to go through one requirement at a time in a review. Press Esc to close the record and go back to the grid.
When to use it
- When a BA uses it. Use Airtable when your work has several kinds of things that link up, like requirements, user stories, stakeholders and risks, each in its own table. For one simple list, a spreadsheet is still fine.
Recap
- Four building blocks. To recap: a base is the project, a table is one kind of thing, a record is one row, and a field is one typed column. When your lists need to link to each other, use Airtable.
Common mistakes
- Typing owner names as plain text. Typed names get spelled in different ways and don't connect to anything. Make Owner a field that links to the Stakeholders table, so each owner is a real record and their Owns requirements list fills in by itself.
- Mixing different kinds of things in one table. Putting requirements, people and risks in one table brings back the spreadsheet mess. Give each kind of thing its own table and connect them with linked records.
- Using a text field for Priority. With free text, people type High, must or M, and you can't group or filter cleanly. Use a single select field with the MoSCoW options so everyone picks from the same list.
- Making a separate base for each list. Linked records connect tables inside the same base. Keep requirements, user stories and stakeholders for one project as tables in one base.
When a business analyst uses this
Before sign-off on an online shop project, a business analyst keeps Requirements, Stakeholders and Risks as tables in one base. Each requirement's Owner links to a stakeholder, so they can open any person's record and see in Owns requirements exactly what that person is approving.
Questions people ask
Is Airtable a database or a spreadsheet?
It is a database shown in a grid that looks like a spreadsheet. Every field has a type, and records can link to records in other tables, which a plain spreadsheet can't do.
What is the difference between a base and a table in Airtable?
A base is the database for one project. A table sits inside the base and holds one kind of thing, like requirements or stakeholders, much like a sheet inside a workbook.
What is a linked record in Airtable?
It is a field that points to a record in another table instead of holding typed text. The link shows in both tables, so a requirement's Owner also shows up in that stakeholder's Owns requirements field.
