Top 5 Design Practices That Excel Your Business

As an online spreadsheet tool, Sheets has many of Excel’s features, combined with real-time update capabilities and collaboration features. No matter what program you use or what data you work with, a good spreadsheet data structure can change the way you work, increase productivity, and give you better data.

Excel your business

Preparation of a good table

The first of our absolute best practices for Excel is to choose an organization standard before developing a spreadsheet. Stick with it for as long as you use the chart. The organizational standard sets the stage for all future users who end up with the spreadsheet. A shared standard improves communication and saves development time. Standardized organization may include cell formatting, general layout, color scheme, sorting.

Create worksheets with the future in mind

In the future, you may encounter situations that were not present when you started setting up the table. Maybe you need a place for values ​​that depend on events that need to change over time. Try to consider as many future factors as possible that might force you to change the worksheet. Longer life means you waste less time creating a replacement sheet. Good preparation is therefore one of the most important Excel tips we can give you.

Build in data verification

Building in data validation such as audit tests, alerts and automated checks is a good way to avoid any harmful changes or additions to existing work. It is important to include this right away when creating the sheet. If you don’t, you’ll often forget about them later. Data validation is an excellent way to build a solid foundation for spreadsheet maintainability.

Organize the flow of information

Try to organize the worksheets so that the information always flows from left to top and right to bottom. This makes it much easier for the user to understand how the table works. Placing them at the beginning increases clarity for the user, which is especially useful for user-oriented tables. When managing the flow of information, avoid cross-dependencies, as they greatly reduce comprehensibility. Always avoid circular references if a reference to any previous data is required.

Keep your timeline consistent

Keep the timeline consistent across all sheets, even if it results in blank rows. Consistent timelines greatly improve spreadsheet clarity and reduce the risk of incorrect formulas. Truncating four months to quarterly data may provide a clearer proposition in terms of presentation, but also increases the risk of incorrect totals.

Conclusion

Good design makes it good for your business. Companies that are accustomed to investing in design reap the benefits, receive UX improvements, and are prioritized to more effectively influence their strategic decisions. Simply because they embrace and reinforce design for business best practices to educate their teams and learn from their experiences for better leadership.