Dilemma – User Field or Linked Record Field?

[JBJ]

Hi there,

We're building a decision-making helper tool on Airtable to reduce the number of meetings at work. For each decision to make that requires the opinion of more than one person, we intend to have people use a dedicated Airtable interface. Someone will create the topic to be discussed on it and then add the relevant participants to the topic.

But I'm having a hard time choosing the type of field for the `Participants` field on our database. I feel like it could be both a User field or a Linked Record field. In both cases, I managed to get a `Participants Count` field: in one case with a formula, in the other case with a Count field. I don't know which field type to pick because I don't have a clear overview of each choice's fallout.

What seems the best approach according to you?

Thanks.

[Ron_Daniel]

I'd use linked records for the users. That way, you can retain the data of who approved even after they're gone (no longer Airtable users). You can also use the linked table to see things like what people are working on/need to approve/etc.

Also, I'm unaware of any downsides to just using a "Count" field rather than a formula to get the number of participants.

[JBJ]

@Ron_Daniel, thanks for your prompt reply, which confirms my initial instinct.