FamilyMatters
Web Application

Users & Use Cases

Requirements

The chosen solution must be cost-effective, user-friendly, easily accessible, and secure, adhering to HIPAA compliance standards. These requirements are crucial to ensure that the system meets the needs of the HR department while maintaining data integrity and security.

Platforms

Several potential solutions were evaluated based on the identified requirements. For each solution, I compared the features, tested the platform to ensure it would meet the application requirements, and read the documentation to understand the development philosophy and approaches.

• Airtable: Although it offers a user-friendly interface and functionality, Airtable is not HIPAA compliant under its free, team, or business plans. Additionally, the free version is limited to 1,000 rows per table. The team plan costs $20 per user per month, amounting to $100 per month or $1,200 per year for five users.
• Salesforce Platform: This robust platform costs $25 per user per month, totaling $125 per month or $1,500 per year for five users. While it meets the requirements for accessibility and security, its higher cost may be a consideration.
• Microsoft Access: This solution is outdated, and Microsoft is ending support, shifting resources to the Power Platform instead. Therefore, it may not be a sustainable option moving forward.
• Power Platform: Priced at $5 per user per app per month, the Power Platform offers a modern and scalable solution. For five users, this amounts to $25 per month or $300 per year. Additionally, it is HIPAA compliant, making it a strong contender.
• Zoho Creator: At $8 per user per month, the annual cost for five users is $480. Despite meeting the cost and compliance requirements, the users did not favor this option for unspecified reasons.

Proposal

In the follow-up consultation, I presented my findings and recommendations to use Power Platforms due to the comprehensive documentation, competitive pricing for our use cases, HIPAA compliance, and easy integration with existing Microsoft 365 product suite. I submitted my project proposal and timeline, and after it was approved, I got to work.

Power Apps offers two application development philosophies: canvas-driven and model-driven. Canvas applications are similar to mobile applications, focusing primarily on designing user flows. In contrast, model-driven apps are more like web applications, emphasizing the presentation of data through dashboards and tables. For our use cases, model-driven applications are more suitable.

With low-code platforms, there’s less control over UX/UI design because components and functionality are prebuilt, meaning the design has to conform to the limitations set by the platform.

I first migrated the current database to Dataverse, Microsoft’s integrated database for Power Apps. Then, I created table schemas for clients and employees to match the existing database, then used Power Query to prepare, sanitize, transform, and import the data into Dataverse.

With the database fully migrated and ready for consumption in Dataverse, I began to design the necessary table views. The table views match the users mental model, splitting the tables into employee and client tables and views.

Views

The reports requested could be fulfilled by preparing different table views and data filters. In this way, reports can be instantly “generated” by switching to the table views. These views were created using reference reports previously generated by quickbooks.

Forms

Power platforms provide a customizable form to easily input new objects into tables. The client provided their paper forms as a base, which I optimized for digital consumption by providing field defaults and calculations based on previously inputted fields. While I did raise some concerns regarding the information architecture, the client insisted on keeping the format as they were already familiar with it.

Testing and iteration

I tested the application for each use case and edge cases, made the necessary changes, and submitted the prototype for testing and user feedback. After meeting all core requirements and functionality, I focused on making optimizations.

Product Delivery & Handoff

Handoff included product delivery and documentation to ensure user adoption and success. The documentation covered tips, common use cases, how to update the app, use filters, and general Power Apps basics such as environments, testing, and pushing changes. I also configured licenses, user permissions, and changed the application into a managed solution for easier version control and updates.