This is part of the course material we are using for Design Thinking & Entrepreneurship. We are using it to track different "personas" in our design process. We store all the details in a database (Google Sheet). The method then converts the data into an App allowing everyone to use and view. The beauty is that as we have more people in the team working together, as soon as the Google Sheet has been updated, the result will be reflected in the App. We are taking advantage of a web based spreadsheet such as Google Sheet is easy to share and collaborate.
This is our problem statement:
We will like to work as a team that consists of many members;
We will like to collect our findings together and be able to update those findings over a period of time;
We will like to be able to use that information in a super user-friendly manner
We don't want to too much time coding
So, here is what we will do:
Step 1: Open up a Google Sheet and invite all members to have the editing right of that Google Sheet
Step 2: Define and update different parameters of the content
Step 3: Connect the Goolge Sheet to a service called Glide App which allows us to see the result in an App, which can be viewed on a mobile phone or a browser.
Google Sheet & Google Drive:
Create a few columns with any categories you like in your Google Sheet. In our case, since we are doing a "persona" study in Design Thinking, we are adding a picture to each person. The picture is first stored in our Google Drive (same account as the Google Sheet). Then you can select the picture and get the shareable link. You will need to set the access to "Anyone with the link"
Glide App: https://www.glideapps.com/
Glide App allows you to convert a google sheet into an App with literally no coding. You can also try it for free.
Sign up on Glide App with your Google account (easiest). (I normally create another google account to do testing like this, since they will always ask for permission to access your Google Drive.)
Follow the instruction and click on "New Project". Then click on create a Glide App and select the data source from your Google Sheet.
Once you have done that, you will be directed to the main page. Your App is ready. Just like that. You can select different views. I play with card view and list view. (On the right side of the screen, you get to choose all the options.)
And, finally, you can select "Publish". You will be given a unique web link that contains your app. You can use it to share with anyone to use.
Have fun. The great thing about this is that every time you update your Google Sheet, the App content will also be changed. So, you can really work as a team and share data.
Try it!