This is quite cool. Makes me philosophical: isn't it odd, that this is like an Excel template? Like a "domain model" template? In this case, presented nicely in a TUI that makes basic CRUD workflows work.
Most SaaS companies are just that:
1) Curated domain model (stored in their cloud db)
2) Some way for users do to almost raw CRUD on the tables
3) Curated high-level domain specific workflows that do n CRUD calls underneath
So many of these SaaS apps could have been a simple Excel / domain model template like Micasa.
But it seems like we haven't "cracked" the perfect UI on top of relational DBs.
Excel: Good: raw CRUD. Bad: too many degrees of freedom + the possibility to edit the domain model itself. That's too much for most users.
TUI: Good: raw CRUD with some guardrails, limited possibility to adjust the domain model / not by accident. Keyboard shortcuts, for professionals. Bad: inaccessible for non-tech end users + hard to build good UX for high-level domain specific workflows.
Full Web UI: Good: accessible for all. Great for high-level domain-specific workflows. Bad: looks and works different every time. Raw CRUD possible, but always a compromise with editable data grid libraries.
Most SaaS companies are just that: 1) Curated domain model (stored in their cloud db) 2) Some way for users do to almost raw CRUD on the tables 3) Curated high-level domain specific workflows that do n CRUD calls underneath
So many of these SaaS apps could have been a simple Excel / domain model template like Micasa.
But it seems like we haven't "cracked" the perfect UI on top of relational DBs.
Excel: Good: raw CRUD. Bad: too many degrees of freedom + the possibility to edit the domain model itself. That's too much for most users.
TUI: Good: raw CRUD with some guardrails, limited possibility to adjust the domain model / not by accident. Keyboard shortcuts, for professionals. Bad: inaccessible for non-tech end users + hard to build good UX for high-level domain specific workflows.
Full Web UI: Good: accessible for all. Great for high-level domain-specific workflows. Bad: looks and works different every time. Raw CRUD possible, but always a compromise with editable data grid libraries.