Building Simple Automations
The build loop
Building a simple automation follows a repeatable loop: define the outcome, identify the trigger, map the steps, add conditions and error handling, test, then publish and monitor. Concepts to know: workflow (the ordered set of steps), step/action, mapping (wiring one step's output into the next step's input), branch (conditional path), loop (repeat over a list), and error path (what happens when a step fails). Also understand test data versus live data, and versioning - changing a published workflow should be done deliberately, not by editing it in place while it runs.
Traps to watch for
Questions often punish skipping the mapping step: if step two expects a field that step one never produced, the run fails at runtime, not at design time. Another trap is assuming a loop is needed when a single action suffices, or vice versa - if the input is a list of five items, one action runs once, a loop runs five times. Watch for error-handling distractors: a workflow with no error path simply stops on failure and may leave partial side effects. Also expect the "test in production" trap - validating with real customer records instead of test data is the wrong answer.
Rule of thumb
Build the smallest version that produces the outcome, test it with sample data, then expand. Worked example: when a new row appears in a sheet, look up the customer, and if found, send a welcome message; if not found, log to an exceptions sheet. That is trigger → lookup → branch → action on each path, with an explicit error path. Notice every step's output is consumed by a later step - that is correct mapping.