Introducing new ways to harness the power of AI, build apps, and connect data

We are over one week into this (I realize it was rolled out at different times to different accounts), and all we've seen from Airtable is a vague "we're working on it".  It certainly does not reflect well on their code management, but I suppose that is to be expected since they seem to recreate the wheel constantly rather than build on the wheel they have and adapt that as necessary.  (Why else would we have three different forms available from them, so I have to go back to the standard view forms to use prefill but I can't make those forms look anywhere as professional as the forms in the interface.)

I've lost a week on a key project (which I believe would have let to an new Pro client for Airtable and would very quickly grow to enterprise level.)  Even worse, the person trying fast track approval is concerned now with starting and having changes made by Airtable without adequate notice and the ability to opt out on changes.  So, no fast track, and on the normal track the "suggestions" are starting to pile up.

I'm not expecting any type of response, but I'm frustrated and can't understand why a company would put all that effort into building a U/I addition to their product and then intentionally sabotage it.

Just a little more opinion (based on facts).

In late 2020 there were rumors of an "interface" like view feature that would revolutionize how we build Airtable apps. It was [rumored] to be based on open web standards. [YAY!] And it was likely to support open access to HTML and CSS along with the already successful script extensions.

Fast-forward to the actual Interfaces launch, a closed and proprietary architecture that ostensibly locked everyone out from customizations. [BOO!]

This, and perhaps hundreds of community messages and perhaps thousands of support conversations, would never have occurred had Airtable stayed the original course and designed its Interfaces feature using open web standards.

As you ponder what to do in the face of this isolated, but deeply impactful UI/UX train wreck, it's apparent there are many lessons for Airtable to learn from this, including -- but not limited to -- baking into the release opt-out options for all things related to UI/UX deployments. Shame on Airtable for not installing this common approach to sustain backward compatibility.

But there are also lessons to be learned for the community.

Complacency towards lock-in. Y'all loved Interfaces until you didn't. You encouraged Airtable to sustain a closed and proprietary approach with implicit acceptance. You encouraged the creation of new features to improve your apps in the context of this closed and limiting design choice. The community data shows that you did not ask for greater agility or the ability to take command of your future in the [likely] event Airtable decided to support interests that were not perfectly aligned with your own.

I [personally] assessed the Interfaces launch with several tests of version 1, and I advised anyone (who would listen) to be very cautious. Given the closed nature of this aspect of the product, it was a logical and rational reaction. At the time, customers were pretty drunk on Interfaces, just as they were slightly inebriated concerning AI. Most of my suggestions -- to find a better way to build interfaces -- were rejected. There's a small slice of customers who are not impacted by this release at all - they avoided lock-in.

Airtable vastly owns the UX segment for no/low-code platforms. It is highly respected by people in tech and customers alike. But it is not impervious to demise. Think carefully about your next step - I believe we're at the knee of another curve that will fracture the monolithic architectures of no-code solutions.

@Stephanie_Sosa  Please remove or let us hide the left navigation panel- it is causing so much trouble for all of my teams. 

@Bill_French Thank you for your thoughts and insight. I agree with much of what you say, especially the universal law, that when you are at the top, there's no guarantee that the curve won't go down. And that curve is often the result of only a couple of decisions. Sometimes even just one.

I am not a developer. I know little about coding and the whole technical background. I run a small company and I came to Airtable last year because of the dawn of AT interfaces. I know nothing about how they are built and what that means. From my very personal perspective I could care less about all that if there were a sense that a (any) product is developed in the best interest of the sum of the needs of its customers. And by that I mean especially the base, not only the big marketed brands dumping large amounts of money. While this interface issue has only a mild impact for us at the moment (because we all use huge displays) the fact that noone from higher management is addressing this head on makes me cautios about the future. Just be forthcoming and tell us: "We have a vision and we will not dillute that with the input of our small sized customers." I would be dissappointed but very greatful for such honesty. I guess the greatest problem ist the unknown. And the only way to interpret what that means at the moment is "We just don't care". No matter how many product managers you send into the ring to make marketing-lingo infused promises. This is the time that someone else steps up to the plate to address the greater issue that this situation appears to stand for.

May we please have an update? The recently added sidebar is causing great concern and frustration with my users, and the anxiety of not being able to address this personally/directly isn’t helping. 

Hi!! I just found out that the collapsable sidebar is now available!. we were listened hehe!.  

Omg so much better. So so much better. I'd still prefer to have it fully hide like the views pane in grid view, but goodness gracious so much better. Thank you.

Hi folks! Shannon on the product team, back again with an update. 

Thank you all for the continued input throughout this thread. 

I’m excited to share that we have released an update to the new navigation. It is now possible to collapse the left navigation, and continue to use it as needed. Hover over any interface icon to see and select from its list of pages. 

There are a few more changes to help improve the building experience with preview and moving between data, automations, and interfaces coming soon.

@Shannon_Anahata Thank you

@Shannon_Anahata - Thank you, this is a big help.

>>> ... the collapsable sidebar is now available!. we were listened hehe!

@Tristan-ARG Actually, you were ignored until it became apparent that they should have listened more carefully before making this devastating change. I get it - the weight is suddenly lifted, and the product has resumed its stellar UX. We are all compelled to applaud, but should we?

I'm happy for everyone who is now happy. But I feel awful that this great community of consultants and business users had to endure this completely avoidable event. I wonder if Airtable will learn from this or repeat it again soon.

Legacy UI behaviors cannot be underestimated because all historical success is predicated upon them.

The lesson is simple -- when making significant UI changes that impact UX -- include an opt-out option.

Instrument the opt-out option to gather analytics about customer preferences. User behavior analytics is the fastest and least expensive way to listen to 100% of your customer base.

I agree with @Bill_French here. What is so frustrating is we get a quick paragraph of "oh, we fixed it." I think we all need some recognition for what the last few weeks have been like. Accountability, and then how Airtable will proceed moving forward. I remember when editable share view links were clawed back; when that happened, there was a whole page long apology which explained how it happened and why that isn't a direction Airtable is headed in (I didn't agree, but they explained themselves). 

Why doesn't Airtable take a more active role in talking with customers here in the forum? The silence, still, is deafening. 

Dear Airtable,

as I don't really know where else to write my thoughts, this thread and its dominant theme seems like a good place. So here goes:

Some thoughts about our relationship

I have been meaning to write you for some time now. We are not dating anymore. You had me hooked rather quickly and for some time now we have been in a serious relationship. I entrust you with some of my greatest secrets and believe me, I don't do that with just anyone. And just because I am paying you for our realtionship, that doesn't mean I don't care about your side either. I don't take things for granted and I hope the same goes for you.

Just know, in here, in this community forum, I don't need your marketing persona. You have me! You don't have to excite me about things or sell them to me. Either I'm excited by what you do or I am not. And no, I don't need to be happy about everything all the time. And yes, surely a little romance keeps our relationship alive but on the overall I need straight-talk. Just tell me how it is and I promise to do the same. Please don't follow this utterly boring path of the Tim Cooks of this world who tell me everything is the greatest, fastest, most super-duper thing since whenever. I can decide that for myself. Just be yourself. Do what you do best. That's how I like you best.

Right now we are having a trust issue. You are making me feel like you don't really listen. Perhaps I am being unfair but that's how you come across. Perhaps you could work on that? A lot? I know there are many things to consider in your world. But if you could make me feel a little more like my small bucks are no less to you than the big bucks of others, I would really appreciate it.

I love the work you do. Now it's your turn.

Respectfully,

Tobias

Bill French said:

"I'm happy for everyone who is now happy. But I feel awful that this great community of consultants and business users had to endure this completely avoidable event. I wonder if Airtable will learn from this or repeat it again soon."

Shannon said:

"There are a few more changes to help improve the building experience with preview and moving between data, automations, and interfaces coming soon."

THAT IS NOT REASSURING, BUT RATHER EXTREMELY CONCERNING.

Shannon, I'd strongly recommend you get out ahead of the next disaster by running these "Few More Changes Coming Soon" ahead of your client base here.

Please do not repeat this disastrous user relationship fiasco.

I would have to agree with @TDY here. 

Once Airtable moved into the "development platform" area with Interfaces they created a whole new level of responsibility.  It's no longer just how your modifications impact your direct partner clients, it's also how they impact their partner clients as well.  

I've spent a lot of time in my career finding workarounds with other people's applications, but that doesn't mean I can expect I can expect everyone using my applications to be able (or willing) to do the same thing.  When I need to change something it becomes my responsibility to let them know...

• What I am changing
• When I am changing it (with a reasonable amount of notice)
• How they can see what is being changed (and if possible how they can try it for themselves)
• How they can let me know if they have any issues or concerns

That's not an all inclusive list, but it's a start, and I don't think it's too much to ask Airtable to do something similar.  

>>> That's not an all inclusive list, but it's a start, and I don't think it's too much to ask Airtable to do something similar...

In this regard, the all-inclusive definition is fleeting and likely never attainable.

All that and more can be avoided using conditioned feature paths for things that affect usability. If the user wants to stay on a legacy behavior, they should be allowed to do so, perhaps by default. New, experimental, unproven, and innovative UX features should be made optional.

If you want to advance your product faster and with greater insight, users need to be heard through data collected without friction and without humans spending lots of time filling out forms. Whatever data you get from humans will be biased. Voting with toggle buttons is far more precise and gets you the data you need to know how a new idea is being received.

I'm not advocating a model that isn't already used by nearly every product team except Airtable. And we know they're capable - they did this a few times in the past with attachment URL deprecation for example.

@Shannon_Anahata Thank you for making the sidebar collapsible! 

Now if there were only a way to move the sidebar to the top of the page, and instead of icons, perhaps we could get text of the names of pages. It's a much, much faster way to navigate for those of us with only a handful of pages. 

Still not super happy with how this all went down, as you can probably guess.

Thanks @Shannon_Anahata  ,

I've provided some initial feedback via the new Feedback form found within the Interface Edit. I think the biggest requirement that's come from this Interface update and the initial feedback, is that we're needing a simple toggle that allows users to toggle the recent updates on or off, at a time that suits them.

It's a simple ask, and has already been introduced for the HomeScreen Improvement project, and I feel it's much more warranted in the case of Interface UI updates.

Previously, I was able to specify the background color for each Interface Icon.  The colors provided an effective means of directing my clients to the most important interfaces in their workflow.  This was a great feature since I could help my clients to understand which Interfaces were transactional in nature, and which were fully for maintaining reference tables.  My preference is to make the application data-driven, so this was an important feature.

With the latest update, the ability to specify the Interface background color has been removed.  The color is defaults to the color assigned to the databases.  Why?  This undermines my ability to build effective applications for my clients.  Please reinstate this feature.

I agree with many of the thoughts shared in the thread.  Prior to each software release there needs to a prioritization of enhancements and issue resolution, followed by a thorough impact access across all client segments ( e.g. Plans).  Most of all, communication with the customer bases for what changes are in the pipeline, and their expected release…. These are all areas where Airtable should be seeking improvement.

Where did you hide the interface command menu in this newly designed side bar??? We can no longer delete or unpublish interfaces.... Let me guess... You hid it somewhere else that is elusive and inconvenient for everyone. You guys really need to do more user testing before you role out design changes as they are horrible and break current functionality with the product.

Yeah, it’s very confusing that Airtable has hidden away this functionality where it is very difficult to find. 

First, you have to enter "Edit" mode for your interfaces. Then, all the way in the top of the left margin, you will see some tiny text that says "Pages". Click on that, and you can delete interfaces.

Hope this helps! If you’d like to hire an expert Airtable consultant to help you with anything Airtable-related, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consultant — ScottWorld

Let me be the first to like something that should never be liked.

I started building an interface, and I could see the left navigation. However, at a certain point during building, it just suddenly disappeared. It did not collapse, it's completely gone. How do I get it back?

Nevermind, I figured it out. It goes away when all your pages are hidden.

+1 to having keyboard shortcuts to navigate between different pages in an interface!