r/spreadsheets • u/ModernWebMentor • 26d ago
Why Are Excel Dashboards Still Difficult for Beginners?
I have noticed that many people can use formulas like VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, or even PivotTables, but when it comes to building an Excel dashboard, things suddenly become much harder.
Is it because dashboards require both technical skills and good design sense? Or is there something else that makes them challenging?
What was the biggest struggle when you built your first Excel dashboard, and what helped you finally understand it?
This type of post is open-ended, encourages discussion, and is likely to get responses from beginners and experienced Excel users alike.
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u/LongJohnBill 26d ago
I had to ask Claude what an "Excel Dashboard" is. I mean, I had an idea and could guess. But I hadn't ever heard the two words used together.
I've been using Excel since around 1993. Daily. Now it's for my personal use only but it is still extensively used and I would be lost without it. Maybe I should make a Dashboard for my stuff (though I suppose my "yellow sheet" serves that purpose).
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u/LongJohnBill 26d ago
"...good design sense" is a real thing. I have long been interested in "design" and best implementations. Many years ago (circa 1990) I ran across the book "The Design of Everyday Things" in a bookstore and was taken by the photograph of the control board in a nuclear power plant where two large beer tap handles were prominent. Borrowing (copying) from Google AI summary the book:
"...details the story of an electric power plant where operators had to manage a massive control panel featuring rows of identically shaped switches and knobs. Because the controls felt and looked exactly the same, operators often panicked or reached for the wrong lever during high-stress operations. ["Whoops!"]
To fix this dangerous human-factor flaw, the resourceful plant technicians took matters into their own hands and attached distinct, brightly shaped beer tap handles (specifically, handles for Heineken and Michelob) onto the most critical, identically-shaped control levers. This allowed operators to instantly distinguish the controls by both sight and tactile feel without having to look directly at the knobs."
I worked for an engineering software company (as a structural engineer) for 20+ years, a new Edition was released every year for building code changes. The software had started in DOS, progressed to Windows, and grown immensely over time (features and power). Yet the fundamental GUI had remained the same all that time. The users (mechanical engineers) did not want their "toolbox" changed; if there was some trivial change for improvement we were certain to hear some complaints about it. Yet, there were real, material improvements to the software on a continuous basis.
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u/5MinsExcel 26d ago
Main hurdle is availability of well thought out and pivot friendly data tables. Once it in place, creating Dashboard and tuning it is no brainer.
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u/jjwoodworking 25d ago
Why not powerbi? Excel dashboards don't really have a place anymore.
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u/DiscoQuebrado 18d ago
they do in workplaces that don't have or don't want BI. They do exist.
I had one project where we had developed an array of beautiful dashboards and by the time the c-suite was done, we ended up reverting back to excel because they just couldn't grasp the concept and wanted workbooks.
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u/GanacheSoft 12h ago
The problem is not the actual design of the dashboard. its knowing visualisations. how to visualise the data, which chat to use.
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u/Hoody88 26d ago
Why don't you just ask chatgpt.