Concept & Exploration

What If Station Trainer
Looked Like This?

Quickbase gives us API access to build custom interfaces on top of our existing data. Here's one idea of what our training evaluation experience could look like—mobile-first, purpose-built, same backend.

Where We Are Today

Our Station Trainer Program in Quickbase works—it gets the job done and the data goes where it needs to go. It was designed as a desktop application, and most of us are using it on our phones on the ramp. There's an opportunity to make the day-to-day experience much smoother without changing anything under the hood.

The table layout works well on desktop but requires horizontal scrolling on phones
On mobile, evaluation forms show every category in one long scroll—takes time to find what you need
Trainers log hours on a separate page from evaluations—two stops at the end of each shift
No quick visual summary of where each trainee stands across all their training categories

A Custom Skin via Quickbase API

Quickbase exposes a full REST API that lets us build any website or app on top of our existing data. We can create a custom mobile-friendly interface—with our SSO login—that reads and writes to the same tables. Everything under the hood stays exactly the same. We just get a better front door.

📱

Mobile-First

Designed for how we actually use it—on our phones, one-handed, between flights.

Step-by-Step Evaluations

Tap a trainee, pick a category, walk through skills one at a time. No endless scrolling.

Integrated Hours

Log shift hours and review evaluations in one flow. No more double entry on separate pages.

📈

Smart Progress

See at a glance which trainees are on track and who needs attention.

💡

Contextual Guidance

Evaluation rules and reminders surface exactly when relevant, not as a wall of text.

🔗

Same Backend

All data stays in Quickbase. SSO unchanged. All downstream integrations preserved. Zero migration.

Try It Yourself

This is one example of what a custom skin could look like. It's a fully interactive prototype—tap through it below.

Navigate: Trainees → Tap a name → Choose a category → Evaluate skills

Quickbase Makes This Easy

Quickbase provides full API access to all of our app data. A custom website can connect to it just like the built-in interface does—reading trainee records, writing evaluations, logging hours. SSO works the same way. Nothing in the existing system needs to change.

Mobile Web App
Quickbase REST API
Quickbase Database
SSO via SWA ID — unchanged
Progressive Web App (PWA)—could be installable on any phone, even work offline
Quickbase RESTful API—read trainee data, write evaluations, log hours. All CRUD operations supported.
SSO integration—authenticates through Southwest's existing identity provider. No new credentials.
Zero data migration—reads and writes directly to existing Quickbase tables. All existing reports, dashboards, and integrations continue to work.
Independent deployment—the custom site runs alongside Quickbase, not instead of it. Quickbase could even link to it directly.

Suggested Approach

A lightweight web app built with React—fast, maintainable, well-supported
Hosted as a static site—could live on Southwest's internal infrastructure, or a CDN like Cloudflare Pages
No heavy backend required—the app talks directly to Quickbase's REST API
Minimal footprint—the entire app would be under 1MB, loads instantly on any device
Could be linked directly from within Quickbase, or accessed via a standalone URL with SSO

Let's Talk About It

This is a concept and a starting point, not a finished product. If the training program team is interested in exploring this further, here's what the path could look like.

1
Walk through this prototype together—what resonates, what's missing
2
Verify Quickbase API access and confirm what's technically possible
3
Build a working proof of concept with real data from one station
4
Test with a handful of trainers and see if it actually helps
5
Go from there based on what we learn
Matthew Simoes
Station Trainer — DEN
matthew.simoes@wnco.com
April 2026