I created a form for the user to fill in information that would all go to the appropriate fields. However when they got to selecting people (for POC, for people designated to work on it, etc), they wanted to be able to select one or more people (ad infinitum) at a time from drop box or a check list that would then be stored as part of the task. At the time, a quick google search showed that a lookup field for list values would do exactly that. At first i wanted to do 1 field 1 fact like you mentioned, but figuring out a way to dynamically add fields based on the user filling in forms seemed less efficient considering how many people they could list (e.g. if the user put in 20 people working on one task, the table would need to have 20 fields one for each separate person who is working on the task...).
A contact is a person. I was just assuming Outlook terminology, apologies.
All this DB needs to do is allow the user to input tasks, subtasks (activities), POCs, the people who will work on it, etc. They need to be able to do this through forms so they don't directly touch the DB information (I have forms set up with easy UI). They need to be able to run queries through Access and they will only be using Access (so i'm not worried about whether it's compatible with other DB types). Lastly it needs to generate reports, which I have set up by referring to queries.
I am very familiar with Excel, but like i mentioned earlier have little experience with Access - sorry in advance for any noobish mistakes or design decisions! And thanks in advance!