Introduction

Subset is built with automation in mind to save time and money. Our app allows people to build fully automated and unbreakable tools and workflows in a spreadsheet-like interface with many of the best practices that you’d find in traditional programming. In this blog post, we'll explain some key automation features, examples and benefits of these features, and how that ultimately makes our app and templates easy to use, modular, and compatible with other automation tools.

Designing a User-Friendly Interface

Designing a user-friendly interface was a critical part of building our app. We wanted to create an interface that was easy to use and familiar to most people. We decided to use a spreadsheet-like interface because it's a format that most people are comfortable with. People are used to working with spreadsheets, and they understand how to use them. By using a spreadsheet-like interface, we make it easy for our users to create workflows without having to learn a new interface.

We also made sure that our interface was intuitive. We wanted to make sure that users could easily find the features that they needed. We made sure that our interface was organized and that users could quickly find the tools that they needed to create their workflows.

How We Built Our App with Automation in Mind

We built Subset with reusable spreadsheets in mind. The main question was how can we create a tool that allows you to build spreadsheet tools where an end user can use it without knowing anything about spreadsheets or how the original creator built the tool. Today, if you receive some spreadsheet template, it’s very difficult to make changes without #REFing out the file.

One spectrum of this was to build a user interface that was easy to use and understand that was seperate from the creator or builder interface. You can learn more about this here.

For a builder, we wanted to create an interface that was similar to a spreadsheet because it's a familiar format that most people are comfortable with. From here we went through every manual user interaction that folks make when building and updating a spreadsheet, for example, updating function ranges, adding and deleting rows or columns, dragging formulas down or to the right, filtering data, sorting, removing duplicates, and more and created the ability to manually configure and automate these to the builders liking.

The Benefits of Building with Automation in Mind

Giving people the ability to build fully reusable and automated tools has many benefits. We make it easier for our users to create workflows that are efficient, reliable, and scalable. This leads to a more productive workforce and a more successful business.

In addition to saving time for themselves, these templates can be shared to the rest of their team to be used without any additional hand-holding. One of the key benefits of building with automation in mind is that it makes the app more accessible to non-technical users. Automating tasks can be intimidating and overwhelming for people who don't have a technical background. By providing a user-friendly interface, we make it easy for anyone to create workflows that automate their tasks.

The last benefit is that it helps to reduce errors. Manual data entry is prone to errors, and these errors can be costly. By automating data entry, we reduce the risk of errors, which saves time and money in the long run.

Designing a Modular App

Designing a modular app was another critical part of building our app. We wanted to create an app that was easy to automate, and that could be automated in a modular way. This means that each component of the app can be easily automated without affecting the rest of the app. This allows our users to build workflows that are efficient and reliable.

We designed our app to be modular by breaking it down into smaller components. Each component of our app can be automated separately, which makes it easier for our users to create workflows that meet their specific needs. By designing our app to be modular, we also make it easier to maintain and update.

Spreadsheet Templates as a Result of Automation

The result of all of these automation tools is that it’s extremely easy to build fully reusable and downloadable spreadsheet templates from our template community. These spreadsheet-like mini-apps are easy to use and understand, and it allows users to get value out of it instantly. By using our template, users can reduce errors and save time and money in the long run.